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The Dig

Democracy in Chains with Nancy MacLean

The Dig

Daniel Denvir

News, Politics

4.8 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 6 June 2018

⏱️ 75 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

For libertarians, liberty means something different. It’s about liberty for property owners. And in their quest to preserve that absolute freedom for the ownership class—whether their assets be human slaves, factories or extractive industries—democracy must be curtailed and the power of the people must be checked and repressed. This is the argument put forward by Dan’s guest, historian Nancy MacLean, in her book Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America. The book makes a powerful argument for the anti-democratic origins and trajectory of free-market fundamentalist Koch-Brothers-aligned economists who have come to profoundly shape and warp American politics to fit their dystopian vision. The book has also been controversial. Thank you to Verso Books. Check out Deport, Deprive, Extradite: 21st Century State Extremism by Nisha Kapoor versobooks.com/books/2551-deport-deprive-extradite. Thank you to the Socialism 2018 conference. Register now at socialismconference.org Want to get access to our stellar weekly newsletter? You can do so by making a contribution to the long-run viability of this show at Patreon.com/TheDig

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

This episode of The Dig is brought to you by our supporters on Patreon and by Verso Books,

0:07.0

which has loads of great left-wing titles, perfect for dig listeners like you.

0:13.1

One that you might like is Deport-deprive Extradite, 21st Century State Extremism,

0:19.4

by Nisha Kapoor.

0:21.4

The extradition of tear suspects reveals the worst features of the security state.

0:27.7

In 2012, five Muslim men were extradited from Britain to the U.S. to face terrorism-related

0:33.8

charges.

0:35.4

Fahad Hashmi was deported a few years before. Abid Nassir and Harun Aswat

0:41.1

would follow shortly. They were subject to pre-trial incarceration for up to 17 years, police brutality,

0:48.7

secret trials, secret evidence, long-term detention and solitary confinement, citizenship deprivation, and more.

0:57.0

Deport-deprive extradite draws on their stories as starting points to explore what they

1:02.6

illuminate about the disciplinary features of state power and its securitizing conditions.

1:09.6

In looking at these stories of Muslim men accused of terrorism

1:12.9

related offenses, Nisha Kapoor explores how these racialized subjects are dehumanized, made non-human,

1:20.5

both in terms of how they are represented, and via the disciplinary techniques used to expel them.

1:28.0

She explores how these cases illuminate and enable,

1:31.5

intensifying authoritarianism and the diminishment of democratic systems.

1:36.6

Deport-deprive extradite.

1:39.0

21st century state extremism by Nisha Kapoor.

1:42.8

Out now from Verso Books.

1:53.0

Welcome to The Dig, a podcast from Jacobin magazine. My name is Daniel Denver, and I'm broadcasting

1:59.5

from Providence, Rhode Island.

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