I’ve written the fourth in a series of six posts that will be coming out with the Streit Council, on the problem of economic integration without political union. There’s no paywall. You can read it here: https://www.streitcouncil.org/post/why-federalism-on-citizenship
I have a new piece out on Gandhi for Aeon. It’s free to read here:
https://aeon.co/essays/on-the-varna-system-gandhis-plan-to-empower-the-workers
I’ve got a new pamphlet coming out with Everyday Analysis called Four Essays on the Revolutionary Subject. It’s available for pre-order for £6 (roughly $7), and will ship internationally. If you order it, you get both an ebook and a print copy. The essays are meditations on this impasse we are in, where there is widespread, deep dissatisfaction with liberal democratic political institutions but an absence of inspiring alternatives. This produces many people who criticize our politics and desire change, but few who are genuinely revolutionary. There is fierce criticism, but a lack of meaningful political action, and this leaves us in a poor position to make effective political demands. I explore implications for institutions, like the universities and the army. I also think about citizenship. As our citizens become less able to meaningfully act, it becomes easier to blame them for the state of the country. They cannot deliver change, much less defend themselves against these charges. The pamphlet is available here:
https://everyday-analysis.sellfy.store/p/four-essays/
I’ve done a number of podcasts in connection with the release of my first book, The Chronic Crisis of American Democracy: The Way is Shut. I don’t generally bother my blog followers about podcasts, because readers and listeners are only sometimes the same people. But, seeing as I’m announcing new written work, I include a list of recent appearances below. Most of these episodes will be available wherever you listen to podcasts (iTunes, Spotify, Player FM, etc.):
Bungacast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeMzEp7BPBE
Popular Show: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/tps170-it-wont-work-benjamin-studebaker/id1536016949?i=1000626482488
Diet Soap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OobuZB1BLX4
New Books Network: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cI6WcaG0nIE
Platypus Says: https://soundcloud.com/platypus-affiliated-society/ep61
The Lack: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-way-is-shut/id1561070699?i=1000615902614
Current Affairs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlSLUsrzJM8
ArtiFact: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OobuZB1BLX4
Philosophy of Art and Science: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQ8R6_buY2o
Cyber Dandy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4STm87X4KM
Reviving Virtue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2L2g5olcZ0
Dain Fitzgerald: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDAk1266b0A & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MD06A4_Gj4
Varn Vlog: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIj7urKRKSM
Theory Underground: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sj5AlkVMyug
I have a new piece out for Sublation on the failure of liberal and left-wing conceptions of citizenship to adequately protect citizens from denationalization. Prominent recent cases include Shamima Begum in the UK and Suhayra Aden in Australia. Both liberal and left-wing accounts increasingly center individual agency, and this emphasis makes it easy for states to deny the role they’ve played in creating the conditions for terrorism and to concretize this denial in the form of denationalization. There are discussions of Althusser and especially Balibar, whose book Citizen Subject is referenced in the title. It’s available here, with no pay wall:
https://www.sublationmag.com/post/citizen-eject
There are many lovely political concepts that have been distorted by the right. “Citizenship” is one such concept. Increasingly, the right hides behind it. Accuse the right of caring only about people of one ethnicity, race, religion, or culture, and the right will answer that it’s interested in protecting citizens, regardless of background. Of course, if you ask the right what makes someone deserving of citizenship, the right will often argue for jus sanguinis, the idea that citizenship is a matter of blood heritage. When citizenship is about blood, it becomes a thin cover for ethnic nationalism.
Unfortunately, the left has largely responded to this by simply dismissing all appeals to citizenship as ethno-nationalist, racist, or white supremacist. Instead of fighting to stop the right from appropriating the concept, the left has simply conceded it to them. This means that whenever right wing politicians argue about the importance of defending American citizens, all the left can do is shout “racism!” at them. Increasingly, the left calls for “open borders”, arguing that citizenship doesn’t matter at all. This concedes far too much to the right. The right is advancing a very poor conception of citizenship, and we are able to offer something much more compelling, if we merely try. Here, let me show you.
Continue reading “The Left Must Stop Helping the Right Racialize the Concept of Citizenship”
Benjamin Studebaker 