Ep 11: Umberto Eco & the Jokerification of Alfredo "freddy banana" Bonanno

After a lengthy interlude, the podcast returns with a theory episode: We've invited a guest, in form of mysterious insurrectionary, "A" who will be helping us dig through Umberto Eco's classic work " Ur-Fascism", as we compare it to a range of antifascist critiques and viewpoints.  A is very kindly using her academic knowledge to help us construct a more coherent theory schema so that we can properly lay everything out to avoid being too inscrutable for listeners.

 

General content warnings for discussions of transphobia and fascism. One passage written in the 60s, quoted in this episode, uses a word now considered a racial pejorative. Discussions about the "Cult of the Child" in the latter part of the episode include brief mentions of the concept of Child Soldiers and child abuse in general

 

Works cited in this episode include:

"The Last Phase in the Transformation of Capitalism" by Michal Kalecki

"Fascism- What it is and how to fight it" by Leon Trotsky

"The struggle against Fascism Begins with the Struggle against Bolshevism" by Otto Ruhle ( with introduction from Alfredo Bonanno)

"Revolutionary Immortality: Mao Tse-Tung and the Chinese Cultural Revolution" and "Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: a Study of brainwashing in China" by Robert J Lifton

"Ten Theses on the Proliferation of Egocrats" and Against History Against Leviathan, by Fredy Perlman

"What can we Do with Antifascism" by Alfredo Bonanno

 

Further reading on a similar vein includes:

https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/fredy-perlman-the-continuing-appeal-of-nationalism

 

A also runs a youtube channel called "Soft Insurrection"

 

Music for this episode was by Molly Noise