Part 1 of Red Library's My Gott! Pure Ideology Series

Comrade Marvin joins us in the library this week to kick off our new ongoing series on ideology by taking on the Big Daddy himself: Fredric Jameson. We take aim at his recent 2019 Verso book, Allegory and Ideology, for this episode and provide a very big picture overview of Jameson's general project and approach to Marxism.

Some highlights include discussion of Marxist literary theory, the relationship between literacy and historical interpretation, nationalism, thinking the collective, and soccer. Strap in for this one, comrades!

Further Readings/References

• Fredric Jameson
• Critical Inquiry Review of Jameson's Allegory and Ideology
• Periodizing Jameson by Phillip E. Wegner
• The Political Unconscious Summary
• Postmodernism, or, the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism Summary
• Algirdas Julien Greimas
• Sartre's The Critique of Dialectical Reason Summary
• Raymond Williams
• Perry Anderson
• Constructivism
• Gyorgy Lukacs
• Mark Fisher
• Reification
• Alfred North Whitehead
• Interview with Jameson on Adapting to Cultural Change
• Thomas Kuhn

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The Red Wickies (Comrades Adam, Alex, and Don) venture into the dark labyrinth that is The Lighthouse, the 2019 film by Robert Eggers.   We put our collective lighthouse maintenance skills together to explore the role of Greek myth in the film, madness, scientific rationalism, terrible bosses and exploitation of workers, and much more!   !!!CLICK HERE TO TURN LEAD INTO GOLD!!!   ------------------------------------------------ Email us at [email protected]   Follow us on Twitter at Red Library@red_library_pod   Click here to subscribe to Red Library on iTunes   Click here to support Red Library on Patreon   Click here to find Red Library on Facebook   Click here to find the host's political theory blog, Capillaries: Theory at the Front

New mini-squared series, who dis?

Comrade Adam and Comrade Commissar Don dive into Ernest Mandel's concise book/pamphlet on the basics of Marxist economic theory, An Introduction to Marxist Economic Thought.    In part 1, we cover some of the basic Marxist concepts such as use value and exchange value, surplus value, the labor theory of value, alienation, and explore Mandel's three proofs for the labor theory of value. We end talking about Stalin, The Expanse, and trying to logically prove the existence of God using arguments from the Middle Ages.    ***C.C. Don's mic had some technical issues between about 33 minutes and 49 minutes but it was salvageable***   Further Readings/References

• Ernest Mandel
• An Introduction to Marxist Economic Thought PDF

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Part 2 of Red Library's Lost Futures Series   WE ARE BACK.   We are joined in the library by a new guest and patron of the show, Comrade Tiberius, to lead us through Common Space: The City as Commons by Stavros Stavrides.    In the discussion, we talk about core elements in Stavrides' conception of the city as a common space such as the relationship between spaces and the people they create, modernism, the distinction between public and private, and what it would mean to struggle for a commons for us all.   Further Reading/References

• Left Coast Media Podcast
• Stavros Stavrides
• Common Space: The City as Commons 
• Occupy Movement
• Exarcheia
• Henri Lefebvre
• Utopian Socialism
• Haussmann's Renovation of Paris
• Red Vienna
• Le Corbusier
• Modernism
• Homo economicus
• Oikos
• Polis
• Liminality
• Jurgen Habermas
• Lifeworld
• Enclosure
• Popular Front Podcast
• Autonomism
• Susan Buck-Morss
• Review of Money: 5,000 Years of Debt and Power
• Polanyi's The Great Transformation

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GET FULL ACCESS TO THIS AND ALL OTHER PATRON-ONLY EPISODES ON OUR PATREON PAGE FOR ONLY $1 PER MONTH!     The Red Troika Film Club continues our exploration of dojo fascism in The Art of Self Defense. Part 2 focuses on critical analysis of the film as a portrayal of toxic masculinity, comparisons to Fight Club, and analyzing the culture of fascism in the dojo through Eco's 14 common features of fascism.     References

• The Art of Self Defense Bears a Striking Resemblance to a Real Life Martial Arts Cult
• The Problem with a Fight Against Toxic Masculinity
• Umberto Eco Makes a List of 14 Common Features of Fascism

 

GET ACCESS TO THE FULL EPISODE FOR ONLY $1 PER MONTH AT OUR PATREON PAGE!

The Red Troika Film Squad watched the 2019 film, The Art of Self Defense, starring Jessie Eisenberg and decided it was too good and fascinating not to do an episode on it. A karate dojo slowly turns into a horrifying fascist institution which thrives on misogyny and small business ownership practices. We also critically explore common readings of the film as a depiction of toxic masculinity and also explore the role of hierarchy in Leftist political thought.   ICE COLD MUTHAFUCKIN TAKES ABOUND IN THIS ONE, COMRADES.   References:

• The Art of Self Defense Bears a Striking Resemblance to a Real Life Martial Arts Cult
• The Problem with a Fight Against Toxic Masculinity
• Umberto Eco Makes a List of 14 Common Features of Fascism

Part 4 of Red Library's Revolutionary Politics in Central and South America Series 

For part 2 of our discussion on Saul Landau's The Guerrilla Wars of Central America, we do a bit of critical reflection on Landau's analysis in the book then Comrade Commissar Don takes over to lead us through an overview of the chapter on El Salvador. 

We cover the origins of the guerrilla war waged by the FMLN, the relationship between religion and Marxism in El Salvador, human rights, the massacres by right wing death squads, the conclusion of the conflict, and our closing thoughts on the book.

Intro Music: "War Within a Breath" by Rage Against the Machine

Further Reading/References

• Civil War in El Salvador
• Standpoint Theory/Epistemology
• The Football War
• Christian Democratic Party of El Salvador
• Liberation Theology
• Archbishop Oscar Romero
• Trailer for Romero starring Raul Julia
• Monsignor Romero Documentary
• Roberto D'Aubuisson
• Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN)
• Jose Marti
• Jeane Kirkpatrick
• Pacification
• Massacre at El Mozote
• The Massacre at El Mozote by Mark Danner
• Atlactatl Battalion
• Elliott Abrams
• Communist Party of Peru - Shining Path
• The Logic of Violence in Civil War Summary
• Analytical Marxism
• Red Army Faction
• Greek Civil War
• Counter-insurgency
• Allied Intervention in the Russian Civil War
• Non-Aligned Movement
• Gamal Abdel Nasser

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Comrade Adam and Comrade Commissar Don tackle a hugely complex and fascinating topic this week and next: the guerrilla movements and insurgencies that were exploding all in Central America from the 1970's to the early 1990's.

As an introduction into this vast historical landscape, we read through Saul Landau's 1993 book, The Guerrilla Wars of Central America. In Part 1, we provide a general overview of the book, Landau's approach in telling the history, and come critical points to consider in journalistic histories of guerrilla movements. After that, Comrade Adam takes the lead on talking through the Sandinista movement and guerrilla warfare in Nicaragua up to the late 1980's.

Intro Music: "Guerrilla Radio" by Rage Against the Machine

Further Reading/Citations

• Saul Landau
• The Guerrilla Wars of Central America Overview and Reader Reviews
• Fidel by Saul Landau (Full Documentary)
• Jeane Kilpatrick
• Kilpatrick's Blame America First Speech from 1984 GOP Convention
• 1953 Iranian Coup
• United Fruit Company
• 1954 Guatemalan Coup
• John Foster Dulles
• Allen Dulles
• When Banana Ruled Documentary Clip
• The Front Line Documentary Trailer
• Monroe Doctrine
• Jose Santos Zelaya
• Smedley Butler
• War is Racket by Smedley Butler
• Low-intensity Conflict (LIC)
• Augusto Cesar Sandino
• Somoza Family
• Organization of American States (OAS)
• Alliance for Progress
• School of the Americas
• Barbudos (Bearded Revolutionaries)
• Foco Theory of Guerrilla Warfare
• Tupamaros
• Coca-Cola Accused of Funding Right-Wing Death Squads

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Part 1 of Red Library's Lost Futures Series   Comrade Neil from the From78 podcast joins Comrade Adam and C.C. Don in the library this week for a real banger of an episode focused on the relationship between science fiction, utopian imaginings, and revolution.   We read through the brilliant sci-fi classic, The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. Le Guin along with her short story, The Day Before the Revolution, as our core texts. And because we are some major based theory-heads, we also bring in an excellent Fredric Jameson essay on Le Guin from his book, Archaeologies of the Future: The Desire Called Utopia and Other Science Fictions, for some back up.   This one has a lot of great moments but the highlights are Comrade Neil giving a great overview of a lot of basic Lacanian concepts as they relate to utopia and the revolutionary impulse through characters in the book.    Further Readings/References

• From78's Patreon Page
• Ursula K. Le Guin
• The Dispossessed Summary
• Archaeologies of the Future: The Desire Called Utopia and other Science Fictions by Fredric Jameson
• What Uncle Sam Really Wants Table of Contents
• Melanie Klein's Concept of Splitting
• Klein's Paranoid-schizoid and Depressive Positions
• Kropotkin's Mutual Aid: A Factor in Evolution Summary
• Fredric Jameson
• Symbolic Castration
• Psychosis in Psychoanalysis
• One Punch Man Fight Scene
• Zardoz Trailer
• Peter Rollins and Pyrotheology
• Sinthome
• The Big Other
• Lacan's Four Discourses
• Interpellation
• Le Guin on Listening to Unheard Voices
• J. Robert Oppenheimer

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We are joined by our good comrade, Max, this week in the library to tackle a work of the brilliant Marxist sociologist and Big Dawg of Cultural Studies, Stuart Hall. Comrade Max joins us to lead a discussion on Policing the Crisis: Mugging, the State, and Law and Order by Hall from 1978 which is terrifyingly relevant to the political landscape of racism and neoliberal capitalism today.

We discuss a wide range of ideas and concepts from Hall's work including moral panics, signification and political discourse, immigration, race and racism, policing, theories of the State, and the ongoing process of economic crises and their cultural effects.

This one is HAWT FIRE.

Further Readings/References

• Stuart Hall
• Policing the Crisis Summary
• The New Left Review Period
• Judith Butler
• Stuart Hall: In Conversations Podcast
• Cultural Studies
• Professor Ben Carrington
• "What is this 'Black' in Black Popular Culture" Article Summary
• John Berger's Ways of Seeing BBC Series
• Paul Gilroy
• Moral panic
• Stop-and-Frisk in New York
• Deviancy Amplification Spiral
• Lumpenproletariat
• Ferdinand de Saussure
• Review of Zizek's Against the Double Blackmail
• Antonio Gramsci
• Silent Majority
• Vivek Chibber's Postcolonial Theory and the Specter of Capital
• Intersectionality
• Combahee River Collective

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