UK general election preview.
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Is is really the Brexit election, if Labour doesn't want it to be? We survey the parties' positions, and promises, and ask some big what ifs. Could there be a major realignment in the offing? And we make some predictions - which you can hold us to account for later on...
On Bolivia, Macron, Randian Chile.
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On the European Parliamentary elections. Is this the day the 20th century truly died? Traditional social democratic and conservative parties took a pounding. The Greens surged. The populists didn't surge - but are now entrenched. And the radical and populist Left has not capitalised. What's the meaning behind what are often purely symbolic euro elections?
Readings:
[pieces by Anton & Catarina coming shortly]
On migration and identity. The question of migration and borders has become increasingly fraught across different societies. Why has immigration become the means through which grievance is expressed? Where has 'white' identity come from? And how durable is identity politics as a force?
Readings:
Looking Closer to Home, Kenan Malik on EU and migration
The History and Politics of White Identity, Kenan Malik
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#BungaLive. Debate on the future of Europe, held at Queen Mary, University of London on 21 March 2019.
Europe After Brexit: Internationalism or Transnationalism?
Until now, most debates about Brexit have only considered the question from the viewpoint of Britain itself and the shambolic process overseen by the Tory government. However, Brexit raises issues that go beyond the UK – and beyond the nation-state. How should Brexit be considered from the global vantage point, and what are its implications for Europe as a whole? Should left wing parties and progressive movements seek to remain in and reform the European Union, or is exit the better option?
The path to internationalism always led through the nation-state, but European integration seems to open the prospect of transnational solidarity at the continental level, mediated by EU institutions. Does the EU provide the infrastructure for a better, progressive Europe that can be captured and reformed by the left? How viable is the EU as a long-term political project? And if it is not viable, should European lefts seek to exit EU institutions in each of their own countries? What might European solidarity look like in an EU that is cracking apart under the weight of its contradictions?
Speakers:
David Adler, writer and researcher; policy coordinator for European Spring. Based in Athens.
Catarina Príncipe, political activist; contributing editor, Jacobin. Based in Porto.
Lee Jones, reader in international politics, QMUL; co-founder, The Full Brexit. Based in London.
On the Gilets Jaunes - again. They won’t go away. They won’t be subsumed by other forces or institutions and, after more than three months, they’re not exhausted yet. Have the Gilets Jaunes punctured France’s depression and drift? How has ‘respectable opinion’ demonised them - and is there anything to the anti-Semitism accusations? Now that they have linked up with trade unions, how far can they go? Macron is on thin ice and European elections are coming up. What next for the 5th Republic?
Readings:
A Season of Discontent, Aurelie Dianara, Jacobin
Forgotten France Rises Up, Le Monde Diplo
France’s Class War, Le Monde Diplo
Macron’s Selective Anti-Racism, Jacobin
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We are live in London on 21 March, to debate the future of Europe. Come join us: bungacast.eventbrite.com
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On the rise of the 'digital party'. If politics has become distant from the people, what if a new model of party, leveraging platform technology, could bring the people closer to power? Paolo Gerbaudo talks to us about the various parties and movements innovating new organisational forms - 5 Star Movement, Podemos, the Pirate Parties. They bring in new members and more participation, but what if they also enshrine charismatic leadership? The digital party seems a step forward from the hollowed-out neoliberal parties of the past decades, but do they also reflect some negative tendencies of the tech economy?
Plus: Italy's M5S/Lega coalition, the sovereignty question, and Italians' contradictory attitudes to the EU.
Readings:
The Return of the Party, Paolo Gerbaudo, Jacobin
Ruling the Void, Peter Mair, NLR
Senso Comune organisation, Italy
The Experiment Interview on 5 Star Movement, Jacobin
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