https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-rhmvc-1564d41
Double episode! On Giovanni Arrighi’s Adam Smith in Beijing.
We wrap up the 2023 syllabus by taking on the second half of Arrighi’s book, in which he analyses the over-reach and decline of the US empire, and whether China’s rise and role in world affairs presents a different model, one that might be more peaceful. We discuss:
- How important was the neo-cons’ Project for a New American Century?
- What were the long-term consequences of the Iraq invasion?
- What do we make of Arrighi’s theoretical account of imperialism and the tension between territorial and capitalistic logics?
- Did the USA represent a “world state” after WWII, and how did it fail?
- What is the world-historic meaning of China’s development?
- Do we buy Arrighi’s attempt at a Smithean vision of inter-civilizational harmony?
Links:
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Adam Smith in Beijing:Lineages of the Twenty-First Century, Giovanni Arrighi
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/305/ Techno-Feudal Unreason – on ‘political’ capitalism and plunder
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/250/ Oil & Disorder ft. Helen Thompson – on imperialism, the world system and energy
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/195/ No Shock China ft. Isabella Weber – on China avoiding neoliberal shock-therapy
Aufhebunga Bunga 