We are joined by political theorist Benjamin Studebaker to discuss his book, The Chronic Crisis of American Democracy: The Way Is Shut, a sharp and accessible work on the political deadlocks of our present. The American economic system is slowly subjecting Americans to enormous amounts of stress, and the United States lacks the state capacity required to alleviate this stress. The elites and oligarchs have created a system that encourages citizens to blame each other. The crisis cannot be solved, the economy cannot be set right, and democracy cannot be saved. But American democracy cannot be killed, either.
In this conversation, we discuss how professionals can incorporate political rhetoric that does not alienate workers or pander to them as they seek to develop practical strategies for political change. We discuss the idea of the revolutionary subject and its viability today; why economic egalitarianism is seemingly impossible to advocate in the current system; the meaning of the subaltern (in Gramsci's sense) and how we can understand the disempowering effects of our system as one in which more and more people are made into subalterns and deprived of full citizenship. We also debate the role of the Gaza conflict and the student protests.
---------Key Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction to The Way is Shut
02:42 - Studebaker's class analysis
10:20 - Why we need a new form of civic and political education
18:45 - The importance of developing working class agency
24:27 - A new theory of the subaltern and the goal of full citizenship
32:23 - Depoliticization, resentment & Trump's chances of winning in November
41:06 - Realizing capacities beyond the bourgeois subject
45:58 - Why moralism is so pervasive in American political life
56:47 - How to relate our political moment to historical moments
1:02:18 - Understanding the legitimacy crisis of American politics
1:06:50 - Debate: What can the left achieve re: the Gaza war?