Pod­cast

This episode explores the impli­ca­tions of the U.K. elec­tions which took place on July 4. What does a return to cen­trism mean for British pol­i­tics? And how do socio-eco­nom­ic trans­for­ma­tions and frag­ment­ed cul­tur­al hori­zons play a role? Lis­ten to also hear what the results could mean for transat­lantic rela­tions. Guest…

This episode explores the imme­di­ate con­se­quences of South Africa’s recent par­lia­men­tary elec­tions and the his­tor­i­cal tra­jec­to­ry of the African Nation­al Con­gress. How does a vibrant sphere of civ­il soci­ety activism play a role in the coun­try? And what is to be learned from the “FeesMust­Fall” protests against the attempt­ed restructuring…

This episode explores the recent Euro­pean elec­tions and the EU’s polit­i­cal drift to the right. What were the major issues, cam­paign themes and deci­sive fac­tors which led to the results? And does the polit­i­cal cen­ter still hold if many right-wing posi­tions have already been main­streamed? Lis­ten to hear about the…

This episode explores how pop­ulism has irre­versibly trans­formed the polit­i­cal land­scape. How does dig­i­tal media play a role in this phe­nom­e­non and why has pop­ulism been suc­cess­ful in some advanced west­ern democ­ra­cies? Lis­ten to hear about the pit­falls of tech­no­crat­ic gov­er­nance and the chal­lenges posed by alliances of pop­ulist political…

This episode explores Islam­o­pho­bia across Europe as a form of struc­tur­al racism. How does Islam­o­pho­bia oper­ate as a tool of diver­sion and divi­sion? And why do such per­cep­tions play a cru­cial role in Euro­pean pol­i­tics today? Lis­ten to hear about the prospects for eman­ci­pa­to­ry pol­i­tics on var­i­ous scales to combat…

This episode explores the crises of lib­er­al­ism. How do recent con­di­tions of uncer­tain­ty and mul­ti­ple crises play a role in ampli­fy­ing the appeal of illib­er­al ide­olo­gies? And how does illib­er­al­ism dif­fer from author­i­tar­i­an­ism and pop­ulism? Tune in to hear how the defense of lib­er­al­ism requires a con­nec­tion to the everyday…

This episode explores how the lega­cies of Euro­pean colo­nial­ism in Africa impact the suc­cess of democ­ra­ti­za­tion today. How do inter­na­tion­al orga­ni­za­tions play a role in declin­ing sup­port for demo­c­ra­t­ic pol­i­tics in parts of Africa? And how can a reliance on donors hin­der the emer­gence of viable demo­c­ra­t­ic struc­tures? Final­ly, tune…

This episode explores polit­i­cal and mil­i­tary con­flicts in Ethiopia and more broad­ly, in the Horn of Africa. Why has Ethiopia’s process of democ­ra­ti­za­tion erod­ed in recent years? And what is the wider impact of such demo­c­ra­t­ic back­slid­ing on African region­al pol­i­tics? Lis­ten to hear how shift­ing glob­al geopo­lit­i­cal bal­ances are…

This episode explores envi­ron­men­tal jus­tice and the democ­ra­ti­za­tion of law. What does it take to turn the law into some­thing that ordi­nary peo­ple can use to pro­tect them­selves? And how can putting the pow­er of the law into the hands of the peo­ple sup­port pro­gres­sive eman­ci­pa­to­ry pol­i­tics? Lis­ten to hear…

This episode explores human rights in rela­tion to Russia’s full-scale aggres­sion on Ukraine. How do account­abil­i­ty gaps play a role in restora­tive jus­tice? And what are effec­tive approach­es for doc­u­ment­ing loss­es and war crimes so they can be brought to court? Lis­ten for an analy­sis of the cur­rent war in…

This episode explores con­tem­po­rary fears about the decline of democ­ra­cy. Is the cur­rent down­ward spi­ral actu­al­ly part of a rhyth­mic oscil­la­tion of democ­ra­cy? And giv­en its cen­tral­i­ty to mod­ern polit­i­cal life, can democ­ra­cy real­ly be erad­i­cat­ed? Lis­ten to hear about how the chang­ing forms of the demo­c­ra­t­ic project must be…

This episode explores the con­cept of tech­nofeu­dal­ism and the role of dig­i­tal plat­forms in gov­ern­ing the lives of indi­vid­u­als. How has the cloud cre­at­ed a feed­back loop that removes agency from those who pro­duce data? And what are the effects of tech­nofeu­dal­ism on demo­c­ra­t­ic pol­i­tics? Lis­ten to con­sid­er what democratic…

This episode explores the pit­falls of under­stand­ing cap­i­tal­ism as a mere­ly eco­nom­ic sys­tem. How does this nar­row con­ven­tion­al view obscure dis­tinct sources of non-eco­nom­ic wealth? And what is revealed by exam­in­ing cap­i­tal­ism instead as a social order includ­ing aspects of expro­pri­a­tion, domes­tic labor and deple­tion of nature? Final­ly, why must…

This episode explores Aus­tri­an his­to­ry and pol­i­tics, look­ing to lessons of the past to under­stand the future of democ­ra­cy in the coun­try. What might grow­ing sup­port for right wing nation­al­ism mean for Aus­tria? And how does the coun­try’s neu­tral­i­ty play a role in rela­tion­ships with exter­nal pow­er in the EU…

This episode explores Poland’s recent elec­tion results and their sig­nif­i­cance as a turn­ing point in democ­ra­cy in Poland. Will this elec­tion mark the end of an illib­er­al peri­od in the coun­try? And might it be the start of a pro­gres­sive wave sweep­ing across Europe? Lis­ten to hear an analy­sis of…