Episode 33: Alternatives to Capitalism: What Happens After the Revolution?

Brendan interviews Andrew about his 2004 essay, “Alternatives to Capitalism: What Happens After the Revolution?” They discuss (1) the role of thought in the dialectics of revolution; (2) working-class self-emancipation, blueprints for the future, and whether thinking can be shoehorned into the problematic of “who decides?”; (3) the function of appeals to “gradual change” and the notion of a transitional society between capitalism and socialism; and (4) the transcendence of capitalism’s indirectly social labor as an “absolute liberation.” The discussion situates the essay within the political situation of the time, and Andrew explains what it was about that political situation that motivated him to write the essay.

This episode’s current-events segment is devoted to a recent Jacobin article, “The Siren Song of ‘Pro-Worker’ Conservatism,” which normalizes far-right figures like Tucker Carlson by ignoring the racism of their “pro-worker” message and treating them as legitimate rivals it seeks to out-compete politically.

Radio Free Humanity is a podcast covering news, politics and philosophy from a Marxist-Humanist perspective. It is co-hosted by Brendan Cooney and Andrew Kliman. We intend to release new episodes every two weeks. Radio Free Humanity is sponsored by MHI, but the views expressed by the co-hosts and guests of Radio Free Humanity are their own. They do not necessarily reflect the views and positions of MHI.

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