Welcome to the eighth edition of LeftHooked! LeftHooked is a monthly (for now) aggregator and review of the best, or at least most important, writing from major socialist left publications, broadly defined, from the anglophone world, brought to you by the comrades at the Hampton Institute.
As I get started with this new and exciting project, with the great support of Colin Jenkins and the whole Hampton team (who are still largely volunteers [to helps us change that, consider supporting our Patreon, as all of our content remains entirely free to access!]), I’m open to suggestions for improvements to the format, structure, and content, as well as interesting articles, podcast episodes, and even books to review and include in future editions of LeftHooked. For all such input, please email me at: LeftHooked[at]protonmail.com.
As always, for standard submissions to the Hampton Institute, submit at hamptonthink[at]gmail.com.
Beyond your (hopefully ongoing) support for the Hampton Institute and this new project, beyond my deep abiding hope that this project will contribute in some small way to the success of our shared struggle for a truly free, equal, and democratic world, my only request is for your patience as I work to produce and improve LeftHooked over the coming months and (fingers-crossed) years!
-Dr. Bryant William Sculos, Founding Editor & Curator of LeftHooked
LeftHooked #8 (AUGUST 2020)
COVID-19
Chance Lunning, writing for New Politics, provides a detailed exploration of the challenges of education during a global pandemic, particularly in the US, in “Pandemic as Portal?” Surely we could re-open schools but that would require spending a lot of money that the neoliberal capitalist establishment simply won’t consider—if decades of austerity, and the past almost-a-year, are any indication. Maintaining consistent online schooling requires a lot of funding as well, but definitely a lot less than trying to make in-person education work (which can’t be made entirely safe, at least not as things stand with the pandemic and the grotesquely inadequate response to it in the US and several other countries as well).
On the role of borders in making the global pandemic all the more violent, Niamh Ni Bhriain wrote “The Deadly Politics of Colonial Borders Under COVID-19” for ROAR. This one is a real deep-dive. Nuanced and powerfully researched and argued.
The Labors of Labor
For Spectre, Ashley Smith produced a valuable interview with famed socialist sports industry analyst Dave Zirin on the NBA players wildcat strike in response to the murder of George Floyd—and amidst the ongoing pandemic. This was a strike that was immensely powerful until President Obama made some phone calls, which thoroughly dismantled the momentum. A tragic but worthwhile case study—one that is well-examined in this interview in comparison to other examples of sports’ activism, particularly from athletes of color.
In the realm of a perhaps different—perhaps not— kind of labor, Sara Lee and Alexandria Holmstrom-Smith continued their informative debate over what the socialist perspective on (commercial) surrogacy should be, which began in the Summer 2020 issue of New Politics.
And on the value of Frankfurt School critical theorist Erich Fromm to contemporary socialism, Kieran Durkin writes on the revolution of hope for Jacobin. As many young socialists are sadly unfamiliar with Fromm’s contributions to socialist thought, plagued somewhat by his association with the Frankfurt School and the New Left, this article has the chance to reignite interest in Fromm’s work.
Again, from Spectre, we find the first and second parts of Kate Doyle Griffiths’ critical discussion of Kim Moody’s rank-and-file approach, the first part introduces the critique and the second part focuses on social reproduction. Part three comes in September.
Imperial Banality
Published online in August for Current Affairs, Samuel Miller McDonald wrote an essay in the true sense of the term. His “Empire of the Same” is a sprawling, creative examination of the anti-nature and all-around homogenizing cultures of empires and contemporary imperialism.
In quite a different way, Devon Bowers’ well-researched article for the Hampton Institute on sexual assault and UN peacekeeping shows how something as heinous as that has become a kind of imperial banality too. Sadly, but necessarily, Devon will have more on this subject in the coming months.
Lastly in this section, prominent communalist theorist Abdullah Öcalan wrote on how the experiments in Rojava can serve as a basis for a radically democratic form of anti-imperialist postcapitalism (my word) for Jacobin, paying particular attention to the limits (and indeed reactionary function) of the nation-state form.
China: Their System & Resistance to It
Richard Smith, for Spectre, replies to Eli Friedman’s essay from July arguing that China is capitalist, with “Why China Isn’t Capitalist (Despite the Pink Ferraris).” While this argument isn’t entirely persuasive given that a lot hinges on the particular definition of capitalism that one uses (as opposed to disagreement over what is actually happening), Smith’s piece offers a lot of insightful analysis of how the Chinese political economy works.
And if you’re not sick of the important work put out by Spectre in their still-short existence, I recommend “Under China’s Thumb” on the new developments in Chinese politics vis-à-vis Hong Kong (and, though less of the focus here, the rest of the world).
Debating Racial Capitalism (cont.)
In July, Michael Walzer wrote a less-than-stellar piece on racial capitalism for Dissent. August featured a strong critique by Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò and Liam Kofi Bright of Walzer’s take (which, recall, weirdly included the admission that he wasn’t really sure what racial capitalism meant). For what it’s worth, here’s Walzer’s reply to their critique. I’ll leave it to you to decide who has the stronger case (albeit neither side in this iteration of the debate is the best representation of their particular position out there). Regardless, the concept of racial capitalism will be one that will continue to be important for both left scholarship and activism moving through the twenty-first century.
Introducing…Tempest
Finally, August saw the launch of yet another new leftist publication, Tempest. According to its opening editorial, “Tempest has two primary objectives: first, to create space in the newly radicalizing movement for structured discussion and debate, for reporting and assessment of our movement activities, to educate new socialists, and to seriously develop politics; second, though not subordinate, is the need to give voice to the political tradition of socialism from below and revolutionary Marxism.” Time will tell how effectively this is accomplished, but its initial contribution is solid. Here’s a look at two of its first articles, one that has a special resonance for all of us who are staunchly and aggressively opposed to the death penalty, by Lee Wengraf, and second is a strong piece by brian bean responding to Liza Featherstone’s essay (from July 2020) for Jacobin on how (and what) we should learn from the history of electoral successes of “left” candidates and campaigns.
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LeftUnheard
Podcast episodes I haven’t listened to…yet, but you (probably) should! I’m guessing they’ll be good, but the only promise I make here is that these are podcast episodes that are actually on my “to listen” list.
Check out Devon Bowers’ conversation with Green Party vice presidential candidate and socialist organizer Angela Walker for A Different Lens. Also, on my list is the first episode of A World to Win with Grace Blakeley, a new podcast from Tribune. Here Grace talks to former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.
LeftUnanswered
In each edition of LeftHooked I’ll conclude by posing a question or series of related questions for readers to think about. Some will be ones that have been asked (and ostensibly answered in various ways and to varying degrees) by those on the left before, but also ones that I think have renewed relevance or call for updated consideration, for what, in each instance, will be relatively obvious reasons. Other times, hopefully more often than not, these questions will be novel in some way. At the very least, the LeftUnanswered section will reflect questions that are on my mind and to which I’ve not found current or past conversations satisfying or convincing. My primary hope is that they will resonate.
Growing out of a couple of the essays included here this month, as well as countless others over many many years, the anglophone Left struggles with what do about China. While there remain important debates about how to categorize the political-economy of China, very few serious leftists consider China (and its government specifically) as anything other than an antagonist against any democratic form of socialism. Whatever the categorization it is an economic fact that, however one interprets it, China plays an enormous role in the global reproduction of capitalism—and is a core contributor to global imperialist relations. While some on the Left harbor illusions (perhaps delusions) in the radical potential of China’s system, the whole of the Left needs a better answer to the question of how we should relate to China, and the movements within it, in the spirit of socialist internationalism. And the question isn’t whether the Left should support or oppose China; I think the answer is clearly that we should oppose China. China isn’t going to be a positive influence on socialist internationalism, but that isn’t the same thing as having a clear and specific internationalist strategy to oppose them. The events in Hong Kong over the past year or so only make the answer more complicated, as does the Trump administration’s largely hostile line on China (which Joe Biden will probably continue in some form or another). Campist answers won’t help, but again, what should a specific positive socialist strategy be in relation to China, particularly from the perspective of the broad US socialist movement?
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Thanks for reading. And as my dad used to say before school, be a good human being!
