On the politics of consultancy
 
[Patreon Exclusive. Sign up @ patreon.com/bungacast]
 


The past 40 years have seen a whole range of things the state used to do itself outsourced to third parties. Now there is a turn against these practices. But can the state actually get stuff done, or is it doomed for its prior reliance on consultants?
 


It's not just the left the criticises outsourcing - the right now does too. How do these positions differ? And how are these questions related to another critique – that of 'bullshit jobs'? 
 
Readings & Links:


In Clover, Laleh Khalili, LRB (attached)


The Big Con — the case against consultancies (review of Mazzucatto & Collington), Diane Coyle, FT (attached)


Letter: Groundless assertions about a trusted profession (response from a consultant), FT


How PwC captured Australia, Shahar Hameiri, Unherd


Consultancies Have Been the Handmaidens of Neoliberalism, Nathan Akehurst, Jacobin


Radical Centrism: Uniting the Radical Left and the Radical Right, Ashwin Parameswaran, Macroresilience


The limits of government outsourcing, Martin Bortz, Pursuit


/267/ South Africa Mafia State ft. Benjamin Fogel

Excerpt: /363/ Outsourcing the State

The global politics podcast at the end of the End of History. Politics is back but it’s stranger than ever: join us as we chart a course beyond the age of ’bunga bunga’. Interviews, long-form discussions, docu-series.

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On your questions & criticism regarding pro-Palestine protests.
 
[Patreon Exclusive]
 
In this episode we focus on the discussion generated by our episode that came out in early May on the protests on US campuses. We discuss the issues along a few axes:


How do ideas of victimhood relate to the material reality of international politics?


What really are the aims of the protesters and how likely are they to achieve them?


Are we cynical in our approach or conclusions?


How do the protests relate to populism and the end of the End of History?


What is the proper basis of nationhood?


How do these protests relate to the millennial Left?


We also deal with your points on Civil War, the state funding of culture, and whether Joe Rogan is a good male role model.
 
Readings:


Vulnerability as Ideology, Peter Ramsay, Northern Star


The victimological imagination, Matthew B. Crawford, Substack

/416/ Aufhebonus Bonus (sample)

On MORENA and Claudia Sheinbaum's huge victory.
Mexico has elected its first woman president, tasked with extending the hugely popular AMLO'S legacy. What are her prospects and challenges? We ask:

What was the effect of NAFTA on Mexico, and particularly manufacturing?


How is US-China competition playing out in Mexico?


Why did Trump and leftist AMLO get along? What about Scheinbaum and Trump?


How does the politics of migration play out in Mexico?


How come there is no hardline Mexican right, especially given the problems of crime and drug trafficking?


Can other countries follow MORENA's example of centre-left success?

Links:

Mexico’s Political Revolution, Juan David Rojas, Compact


AMLO and Mexico’s Fourth Transformation, Juan David Rojas, American Affairs


Lessons of the AMLO-Trump Bromance, Juan David Rojas, Compact


/413/ Left-Populism That Works? (I) ft. Roger Lancaster

/415/ Left-Populism That Works? (II) ft. Juan David Rojas

On Zone of Interest and Holocaust film.
 
[Patreon Exclusive]
 
We discuss the winner of the Oscar for Best International Feature Film – one that split opinion, among critics and on the pod too!


How does the film fit in the pantheon of Holocaust films? Is it a Holocaust film?


How well does it deal with its obvious subject matter: the banality of evil?


Is the film neutral and detached or preachy, condescending, moralising?


What to make of the commentary around the film, including director Jonathan Glazer's statements? How does it relate to Israel/Palestine?


What to make of present-day Auschwitz? Should it be preserved?


Link:

The Zone of Interest is an extreme form of 'Holokitsch', Richard Brody, New Yorker


Is The Zone of Interest simply uninteresting? Toby Marshall, Substack


The Zone of Interest is about the danger of ignoring atrocities – including in Gaza, Naomi Klein, The Guardian


The Zone of Interest Reminds Us How Easy It Is to Ignore a Genocide on Your Doorstep, Juliet Jacques, Novara


The Banality of Evil is No Longer Banal, Maren Thom, Café americain


One-star review of Zone of Interest

/414/ Zone of Banality or the Authority of Evil?

On Mexico's elections.
 
[Full episode at patreon.com/bungacast]
 
Mexico goes to the polls this Sunday with the ruling centre-left MORENA party holding a commanding lead. Anthropologist Roger Lancaster joins us to preview the election and look at outgoing President AMLO's record.

What are the stakes in this election?


Has Mexico bucked the trend of class realignment? Where is the 'Brahmin Left'?


What is "republican austerity" and has this actually combatted corruption?


What do make of AMLO's use of the military? Militarising public life or domesticating the military?


What has AMLO done for the working class? And what might it do for itself?


What is AMLO's populism and has he rekindled class consciousness?

Links:
The AMLO Project, Edwin Ackerman, Sidecar
The Mexican Question, Ramon Centeno, Sidecar
The Struggle to Be Gay—in Mexico, for Example, Roger Lancaster

/413/ Left-Populism That Works? (I) ft. Roger Lancaster

On Futuromania and closing and opening of musical horizons.
 
We talk to renowned music critic Simon Reynolds about his new book. A counterpart of sorts to his famous Retromania (2011), Futuromania looks at the exciting futuristic music of the past and present. We discuss its themes to try understand whether the culture is still about to throw up something new.


Is talk about popular music stuck between the poles of “rockism” and “poptimism”?


How did Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder invent "electronic dance music"?


Why is "future music" good? What are its pitfalls?


How did Daft Punk run out of futurity?


Why is Auto-Tune actually not the worst invention?


How are genres like trap technically exciting but thematically glum?


Is there any way of bringing the future back?


Links:

Futuromania: Electronic Dreams, Desiring Machines, and Tomorrow's Music Today, Simon Reynolds


blissblog, Simon Reynolds blog


Futuromania companion playlist with Reynolds' introductions, on NTS: https://www.nts.live/shows/guests/episodes/simon-reynolds-9th-april-2024


Futuromania companion playlist on Spotify


No Bells music blog

Excerpt: /363/ Outsourcing the State

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