Episode description

Sean and Andy are joined by Volodymyr Ishchenko, Ukrainian Marxist and sociologist, to discuss his upcoming collection of essays "Toward the Abyss" from Verso Books. (You can and should preorder here.)

How does a 'civilizational' or 'cultural' or 'decolonial' understanding of the Russia-Ukraine conflict obscure the underlying class conflict at its heart? What is the political economy of 'corruption' and anti-corruption? How has the delegitimization of the post-Soviet political capitalist ruling class led to stagnation and civil war? Why have their been a series of Occupys, EuroMaidans and Arab Springs that seem to change nothing?

This is part one of an extended discussion. In the bonus we pose the question, "What does the left look like in Ukraine at the moment and how can internationalists help build a working class movement adequate to social revolution in a global capitalist social order in steep decline?"

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Articles:

https://newleftreview.org/issues/ii138/articles/volodymyr-ishchenko-ukrainian-voices

https://jacobin.com/2022/10/russia-ukraine-war-explanation-class-conflict

Song: RotFront - Sovietoblaster