The Dig: Democracy in Chains with Nancy MacLean

Jacobin Radio

Jacobin

Socialism, History, News, Left, Jacobin, Alternative, Socialist, Politics

4.7 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 6 June 2018

⏱️ 75 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ 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.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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,
0:06.9	which has loads of great left-wing titles, perfect for dig listeners like you.
0:13.0	One that you might like is,
0:15.0	Deport Deprive Extradite 21st Century State Extremism
0:19.0	by Nisha Kapoor.
0:21.0	The extradition of Tair suspects reveals the worst features of the
0:25.9	security state. In 2012, five Muslim men were extradited from Britain to the
0:31.8	U.S. to face terrorism-related charges.
0:35.2	Fajad Hashmi was deported a few years before.
0:38.9	Abid Nasir and Harun Aswat would follow shortly.
0:45.5	They were subject to pre-trial incarceration for up to 17 years. Police brutality, secret trials, secret evidence, long-term
0:51.7	detention in solitary confinement, citizenship deprivation, and more.
0:57.1	Deport Deprive Extradite draws on their stories as starting points to explore what they illuminate about the disciplinary
1:04.7	features of state power and its securitizing conditions. In looking at these
1:10.8	stories of Muslim men accused of terrorism-related offenses,
1:14.4	Nisha Kapoor explores how these racialized subjects are dehumanized,
1:19.6	made non-human, both in terms of how they are represented and via the disciplinary
1:25.1	techniques used to expel them. She explores how these cases illuminate and
1:30.3	enable intensifying authoritarianism and the diminishment of democratic systems.
1:36.2	Deport Deprive Extradite 21st century state extremism by Nisha Kapoor.
1:42.4	Out now from Verso Books. State Extremism by Nisha Kapoor.
1:43.2	Out now from Verso Books.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Jacobin, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Jacobin and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.