S11E02: Quinn Slo­bo­di­an on Cap­i­tal­ism, Democ­ra­cy, and the Pol­i­tics of Zones (Part 1)

This episode explores the ten­sion between democ­ra­cy and cap­i­tal­ist mar­kets. How could the frag­men­ta­tion of nation­al sov­er­eign­ty offer a “solu­tion” in the neolib­er­al imag­i­na­tion? What can exper­i­ment in spe­cial eco­nom­ic zones—from Chi­na to South Africa and Somalia—teach us about the far-right’s dis­man­tling of demo­c­ra­t­ic insti­tu­tions in Europe and the U.S.? Tune in to hear Quinn Slo­bo­di­an unrav­el the glob­al cir­cu­la­tion of mar­ket-dri­ven gov­er­nance and its con­se­quences for democracy.

Guest fea­tured on this episode:

Quinn Slo­bo­di­an is a Pro­fes­sor of Inter­na­tion­al His­to­ry at the Pardee School of Glob­al Stud­ies at Boston Uni­ver­si­ty. This year, he’s been award­ed the high­ly pres­ti­gious Guggen­heim Fel­low­ship. One of the most excit­ing his­to­ri­ans of eco­nom­ic ideas today, Quinn Slo­bo­di­an is the author of sev­er­al award-win­ning books, many of which have been trans­lat­ed into sev­er­al lan­guages. He pub­lished “Glob­al­ists: The End of Empire and the Birth of Neolib­er­al­ism” in 2018, and “Crack-Up Cap­i­tal­ism: Mar­ket Rad­i­cals and the Dream of a World With­out Democ­ra­cy” in 2023. Most recent­ly, he’s pub­lished “Hayek’s Bas­tards: Race, Gold, IQ, and the Cap­i­tal­ism of the Far Right.” That’s the book we’ll dis­cuss in our next episode. He’s been a con­tribut­ing writer to New States­men, The Guardian, The New York Times, Boston Review, Dis­sent, and The Nation. His new book on Elon Musk is due to be pub­lished ear­ly next year.