The Chronic Crisis of American Democracy
The Way Is Shut
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This past summer I discussed with political scientist Benjamin Studebaker his book The Chronic Crisis of American Democracy. Studebaker outlines the state of the democratic state as struggling to mediate capitalism and globalisation, as well as the seeming impossibility of contemporary emancipatory action. Towards the end he outlines the contours of a “vulture socialism” which sees us living in a slowly dying world that will likely continue to exist for some time, but which if we find a good perch, could position ourselves for building the next world.
Studebaker is an American with a PhD in Politics and International Studies from the University of Cambridge. He is a political theorist who teaches and publishes in both contemporary political theory and the history of political thought. He is also interested in political economy, ethics, and international relations. He has published academic work focuses on legitimacy, and includes The Chronic Crisis of American Democracy: The Way is Shut, and Legitimacy in Liberal Democracies.
Throughout the video we discuss:
Political democracy has become a football with critiques suggesting it is not democratic enough, too unpredictable and lack of credibility
People with money have more leverage over territorial states and states constantly have to accommodate money to have money stay in the territory
Democracy in short is not capable of managing capitalism and globalisation effectively, while at the same time there is a lack of confidence in revolution
Piketty’s proposals and theory for a global wealth tax is great in theory but in practice it does not seem possible to do these things (international coordination)
Must remember that the default of human civilisation is high levels of economic inequality (mid 20th century levelling tied to World Wars, not a peaceful process)
There is the bleak prospect or certain possibility that inexorable forces are leading to world war and that major conflicts in trade can lead to war
Same time: World War III has been a joke in our culture for a long time, arguably the haunting legacy of the 20th century
Contemporary metaphysics of civilisation is disorienting, what marks our moment tis that there is so much disagreement about how to describe it
These metaphysical impasses have consequences for political engagement, produce situation where more and more people will drop out, avoid or evade it
Same time: not possible to “win arguments” anymore, and academics try to force this perspective because it is the only route available for them
Possible move: get out of the texts and books and into what is actually happening and work with what is actually possible
Problem: lots of people go to school and don’t get the benefits of it but hang on to their superior social status, resist becoming like the rest of the working class
Working class on the ground is a terrible place to be, many are having a terrible time and it is incredibly hard, people not living happy lives
Academics fly into the sky on balloons under the presupposition that they will be able to see it all, but in fact get further away from the real ground conditions
What politics/polities might be possible in the future? If it is impossible to continue with this state, what type of states could be on the menu?
Further down the line: how could revolutionary subjectivity come back? What type of shape will it take without assuming its previous forms?
We are stuck with playing with this tension for a while as this system has a long way to go, and too many of us don’t have it in us to act anymore
Those politically de-activated or in despair will fall into faith, family, fandoms, and futurism; all four “Fs” are compelling, exercise a strong pull
Our state is a state of dialectical struggle: can we scrape together what is left of the institutions without being unduly influenced by competitive market forces?
Vulture socialism: socialism of waiting for something to die so you can eat it, waiting for it to die from a good perch
To find out more about Benjamin Studebaker’s work, see: