The Working Class Intelligentsia
The Working Class Intelligentsia
Elton L.K.
The current moment has questioned capitalism, proposing fascism and socialism as viable alternatives. Italy a century ago went through a similar moment. Using the biography of Marxist critical theorist Antonio Gramsci we’ll discuss socialist theory and strategy, fascism, and a bunch of other stuff.
Cosmonaut Magazine - Socialism of the Oppressed: The Stakes of the Bowman Affair
I heard this podcast episode from the Cosmonaut podcast. It is an audio version of an article from the online magazine. I am sharing it because it complements our last episode on Jamaal Bowman, what the authors of this episode refer to as the Bowman Affair, but with much more rigorous analysis as it relates to the internal debate and structures of DSA. The CosmoPod Podcast Episode https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cosmopod/id1469843985?i=1000558965755 The Original Article “Socialism of the Oppressed: The Stakes of the Bowman Affair” by Jean Allen and Marisa Miale https://cosmonautmag.com/2022/04/socialism-of-the-oppressed-the-stakes-of-the-bowman-affair/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/theworkingclassintelligentsia/message
May 18, 2022
51 min
1.16 DSA Party Discipline, Palestine, BDS and Jamaal Bowman
Today’s episode is about proletarian discipline, party discipline. DSA has recently had an internal debate about Jamaal Bowman’s refusal to support the Palestinian solidarity movement BDS. GRAMSCI Gramci’s Concept of Subaltern https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subaltern_(postcolonialism) DISCIPLINE Jodi Dean’s Article on Discipline https://www.jacobinmag.com/2019/11/comrades-political-organizing-discipline-jodi-dean Republican Party Discipline of Liz Cheney https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/15/liz-cheney-wyoming-republican-party-trump DSA’s ban on democratic centralism https://www.dsausa.org/about-us/constitution/#P1N Leninist Discipline https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Party+dicipline Know Your Enemy #36 on Jan 6 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/know-your-enemy/id1462703434?i=1000529390998 ——————— DSA CAUCUSES AND ELECTION SLATES Libertarian Socialist Caucus https://dsa-lsc.org/2021/07/19/lsc-democratic-socialism-a-short-history/ Bread & Roses Caucus https://breadandrosesdsa.org/ https://breadandrosesdsa.org/convention-2021-slate/ The Green New Deal Slate https://keywiki.org/DSA_Green_New_Deal_Slate Socialist Majority https://www.socialistmajority.com/ Renewal Slate https://www.dsarenewal.org/our-npc-slate/ Other DSA Caucasus https://reformandrevolution.org/2021/09/08/whos-who-in-dsa-a-guide-to-dsa-caucuses/ ——————— PALESTINE & BDS History of Palestine https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/throughline/id1451109634?i=1000523361687 Israeli Settlements https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_settlement Natural Resource Extraction during British Mandate https://trafo.hypotheses.org/30714 1936-1939 Arab Revolt https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1936%E2%80%931939_Arab_revolt_in_Palestine Palestinians have sovereign authority over their natural resources https://imemc.org/article/wafa-un-general-assembly-passes-vote-affirms-palestinian-sovereignty-over-their-natural-resources/ DSA departed from the Socialist International https://www.leftvoice.org/DSA-Votes-for-BDS-Reparations-and-Out-of-the-Socialist-International/ NY DSA Revolutions Per Minute podcast on the BDS Movement https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/revolutions-per-minute-radio-from-new-york-city-democratic/id1450411809?i=1000524165027 J Street’s Rejection of the BDS Movement https://jstreet.org/wrong-way-oppose-bds/#.YcFAIy-cZQI ——————— JAMAAL BOWMAN DSA “Unity For Unity, not Unanimity: Palestine, Jamaal Bowman, and DSA” https://docs.google.com/document/d/1d_FBOWt5JqyFvQn5BQuqDBvLe67rLCXKbI0CABhJHx4/edit Jamaal Bowman https://www.jacobinmag.com/2021/11/democratic-socialists-j-street-bds-israel-palestine-iron-dome-aoc Jamaal Bowman Tempest Timeline https://www.facebook.com/tempestmag/photos/a.144058903928771/411153303885995/?type=3 DSA Caucus’s Response to Jamaal Bowman https://www.tempestmag.org/2021/12/on-not-expelling-jamaal-bowman/ DSA BDS & Palestine Solidarity WG https://palestine.dsausa.org/bowmans-j-street-zionist-propaganda-trip-to-apartheid-israel-must-not-stand/ DSA Statement https://www.dsausa.org/statements/on-the-question-of-expelling-rep-bowman/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/theworkingclassintelligentsia/message
Feb 9, 2022
1 hr 48 min
Finding the Timenergy to Invest in Self and Human History
This is my first bonus episode. By bonus, I mean that it isn’t really tied to Gramsci, though I will mention him a few times eventually. But this episode will be about the building of a working class intelligentsia. In this episode I will read the forward I wrote for a new book called Waypoint. Waypoint is theory pleeb’s first book. It is a collection of essays they wrote both academically, as well as those written critiquing the academy. Amazon.com - WAYPOINT: Timenergy, critical media theory, and culture war https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09M8QG8B9/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_ZYBSX12JJPFGJP9VETMK Theory Pleeb’s Website https://www.theorypleeb.com/ Theory Pleeb’s Podcasts https://www.spreaker.com/user/theorypleeb Theory Pleeb’s YouTube https://youtube.com/c/theorypleeb --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/theworkingclassintelligentsia/message
Nov 28, 2021
22 min
1.15 The Cotton Worker Strike of 1906 and the Seattle General Strike of 1919
Gramsci had a strand of Italian patriotism. His patriotism was a Marxist patriotism that believed in international cooperation of the working classes around the world, but he took pride in being Italian. He wrote this article about the Cotton Workers Strike trike of 1906 because it provided the workers an example of working class strength from their own history. Gramsci's narrative was intended to convince them that if they had done it before, they could do it again. Remembering the History of the Cotton Workers’ Struggle Il Grido del Popolo December 9, 1916 Selections from Political Writings 1910-1920 - [ ] ITALY 1903-1906 - [ ] JANUARY - APRIL 15, 1906 - [ ] APRIL 22 - JULY 18, 1906 - [ ] POSTSCRIPT: SEATTLE GENERAL STRIKE of 1919 1904 General Strike Italy’s first general strike. It was called by Chamber of Labour “The country would experience many general strikes in the years following 1904, with additional general strikes in 1905, 1906, 1909, 1911, and 1914.” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1904_Italian_general_strike Inter-Mountain Republican, May 9, 1906 https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=4073112 Inter-Mountain Republican, May 10 https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=4075101 Oldest Trade Union in Italy, formed in 1906 https://www.etui.org/covid-social-impact/italy/industrial-relations-in-italy-background-summary https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Confederation_of_Labour_(Italy) Wikipedia entry for the Seattle General Strike https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_General_Strike “When Workers Stopped Seattle” by Cal Winslow https://jacobinmag.com/2019/07/seattle-general-strike-1919-union-organizing A bourgeois paper warning against the Seattle General Strike https://depts.washington.edu/labhist/strike/images/news/Star/STAR_19190204_P1.jpg A bourgeois paper calling the strikers dangerous revolutionaries https://depts.washington.edu/labhist/strike/images/news/Star/STAR_19190205_P1.jpg Anna Louise Strong “No One Knows Where” https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/strong-anna-louise/1919/laborspeech.htm “General Strikes, Mass Strikes” by Kim Moody https://solidarity-us.org/atc/160/p3679/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/theworkingclassintelligentsia/message
Nov 16, 2021
27 min
1.14 Socialist Mode of Production and the Cooperative Movement
Socialism and Co-operation Published on: October 30, 1916 Published in: L’Alleanza Cooperativa Source: Pre-Prison Writings This podcast exists to strategize how the working class could replace the capitalist class as the hegemonic class. If we are to replicate their strategy we would need a socialist mode of production in place, and in operation, and a working class intelligentsia spreading a vision of a better world. As the working class takes control of the levers of power of the government it will need to scale up a socialist mode of production, a mode of production that aligns with the grand vision of socialism, a mode of production of which Gramsci believes has the potential of being far more productive than capitalism. We’ll discuss some alternatives towards the end, but on October 30, 1916 Gramsci published an article on the Italian Cooperative movement called “Socialism and Cooperation” in which he proposed cooperatives as a prototype of what a socialist mode of production could look like. - [ ] The Italian Cooperative Movement - [ ] Base & Superstructure - [ ] Gramsci’s Article - [ ] Postscript Know Your Enemy: The Windbag City https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/know-your-enemy/id1462703434?i=1000471890262 About Modern Northern Italy’s thriving worker-owned coops https://www.yesmagazine.org/economy/2016/07/05/the-italian-place-where-co-ops-drive-the-economy-and-most-people-are-members Turin Cooperative Alliance History https://www.fondazionedonguetti.org/wp/the-nature-of-the-cooperative-enterprise/glossary/consumers-cooperative/ Emilia Romagna region coops 10% https://geo.coop/articles/cooperating-we-mean-it-co-operative-movement-northern-italy Social Cooperatives in Italy: Lessons for the UK http://socialeconomyaz.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/SocialCooperativesInItaly.pdf The emergence of social coops for social care: Italy and beyond https://blog.p2pfoundation.net/the-emergence-of-social-coops-for-social-care-italy-and-beyond/2013/07/30?__cf_chl_managed_tk__=pmd_cUemBDzpXCGVzheCxG.XrCCBAxMtPxKUc0HBAGeBOcs-1633440125-0-gqNtZGzNAxCjcnBszRJl Base and Superstructure https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Base_and_superstructure Microsoft’s Net Income from 2002-2021 https://www.statista.com/statistics/267808/net-income-of-microsoft-since-2002/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/theworkingclassintelligentsia/message
Oct 16, 2021
41 min
1.13 The French Revolution, The Storming of the Bastille, and Sowing the Seeds of Revolution
The foundation of Gramsci’s ideas about cultural hegemony are grounded in the French Revolution. Before the Revolution no one could have predicted it. No one believed it was actually possible. According to Gramsci it happened because the Enlightenment created a vision of a better world. The French people stormed the Bastille because the National Convention made the impossible seem possible. Before the National Convention a French Republic was impossible. After the National Convention made the impossible possible, the French Republic became historically predetermined. The King did not realize it yet, but his resistance to the French Republic triggered the storming of the Bastille because the genie was out of the bottle. It was too late. The dream of the Enlightenment was now within reach. The king could not stop it. Show Notes “14 July” July 15, 1916 Avanti! Selections from Political Writings, 1910-1920 - [ ] Background - [ ] 1789 - [ ] 1790 - [ ] 1791-1792 - [ ] 1793 - [ ] 1794 - [ ] Gramsci’s Article - [ ] Postscript Storming of the Bastille https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storming_of_the_Bastille the French Revolution https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Revolution The Dig podcast on Occupy Wall Street with Astra Taylor https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dig/id1043245989?i=1000536617311 Black Lives Matter George Floyd Protests: 15-26 million https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Floyd_protests --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/theworkingclassintelligentsia/message
Oct 11, 2021
30 min
1.12 Armenian Genocide
The Ottoman Empire joined World War I in 1914. A minority of an ethno-religious community within their borders, a group of revolutionary Armenians, threatened independence, putting at risk the Empire’s ability to defend itself from the Russians. To this day Turkey claims the Ottoman Empire responded proportionately in their national interest, but the truth is that they deployed a massive logistical effort to kill and concentrate over a million Armenians in camps in the Syrian desert in 1915-1916. In 1916 Gramsci wrote a brief article attempting to bring awareness of the horrific event. Today we’re going to discuss the Armenian genocide, and Gramsci’s Article. - [ ] Turkey’s Denial - [ ] The Armenians - [ ] Ottoman Empire Program to Reduce the Armenian Population - [ ] The Bulkan Wars and World War I - [ ] The Deportations - [ ] Gramsci’s Article - [ ] Postscript https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_genocide https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Turks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_genocide_recognition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_recognition_of_the_Armenian_genocide --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/theworkingclassintelligentsia/message
Oct 11, 2021
28 min
1.11 Anti-Intellectualism vs. Working Class Culture
How did a kid from a village on the island of Sardinia, far from modern civilization, not only shape Italian history, but also become a groundbreaking philosopher innovating in the domain of cultural theory? The backwards peasant became a famous art critic in Italy’s hippest city. Gramsci developed a refined appreciation of art and literature, while retaining a desire to share his love of high culture with the peasants and factory workers of Italy. He became cultured and the smartest guy in the room without becoming arrogant. How did he do that? That’s what we’re going to discuss today. Published on: January 29, 1916 Published in: Il Grido del Popolo Source: The Antonio Gramsci Reader: Selected Writings 1916-1935, translated by David Forgacs - [ ] Anti-Intellectualism, Today and Italy in 1916 - [ ] Gramsci’s Biography - [ ] Know Thyself & The Enlightenment --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/theworkingclassintelligentsia/message
Oct 11, 2021
28 min
1.10 The Enlightenment, Part V - Socialism as the Fulfillment of the Enlightenment
- [ ] A Class-based Analysis of the Enlightenment - [ ] Economics over Ideas - [ ] Power: Ideas created false solidarity between the capitalists and the working class - [ ] Socialism as the true fulfillment of the Enlightenment --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/theworkingclassintelligentsia/message
Oct 11, 2021
16 min
1.9 The Enlightenment, Part IV - The Industrial Revolution
In the last few episodes we have been talking about the scientific, religious, philosophical and political aspects of the Enlightenment. Today we will cover the Industrial Revolution. The Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution were each distinct movements that overlap so significantly that it is hard to imagine one without the others. The Scientific Revolution lasted from 1543 with Copernicus’s earth-centric model to 1687, ending the historical age with Newton’s laws of motion and gravity. Many call out Descartes’ Cogito Ergo Sum in 1637 as the beginning of the Enlightenment, and the beginning of the French Revolution in 1789 as the end. Today’s topic, the Industrial Revolution, especially in England, is tied to the social changes occurring as science, technology and a growing capitalist class emerged unlike anytime before in human history, from about 1780 to 1840. There is no immediate causal relationship between the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution. Gramsci believed the Enlightenment was the moment in history when the capitalist intellectuals built solidarity and laid the foundation for a successful capitalist revolution. The capitalist class dethroned the aristocracy throughout Europe as the ruling class, and then stretched out to all ends of the earth. Concluding the Industrial Revolution and the coming to power of the capitalist class as the ruling class was the consequence of all of this is reasonable. The actual events of history are not so transparent, but I find Gramsci’s narrative to be quite plausible. He returns to it over and over throughout his writings, so we will spend a lot more time on it in the future. Today we will discuss the economic significance of the Industrial Revolution, and then spend some time critiquing the Enlightenment from the perspective of class analysis, and then talk about how socialism seeks to overcome capitalism’s failed attempt to fulfill the promises of the Enlightenment. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/theworkingclassintelligentsia/message
Oct 11, 2021
19 min
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