This is the first episode of Theory Buzz Podcast (TBP), a monthly podcast that brings authors, books, theory, and the world together in a dynamic way. Away from both lofty pretenses and empiricist disdain, we cut through the jargon to elucidate important ideas and emphasize their significance to our moment. Every month, we hold a friendly but productive conversation with an author of a recent book in social theory, broadly conceived (don’t hold us to account on “recent”). Our conversations address the history and trajectories of these works, while emphasizing their relevance to, and impact on, the worlds we live in. Visit www.TheoryBuzz.com for more information. This episode features a discussion with Wendy Brown about her book In the Ruins of Neoliberalism: The Rise of Antidemocratic Politics in the West (Columbia, 2019).
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In this first episode, Bassam Haddad and Libby Anker discuss with Wendy Brown the changes in neoliberalism over the last 10 years, especially its fomenting of rebellion against democracy and turn to hard right authoritarianism. Brown also discusses global manifestations of neoliberal values, and how to teach neoliberalism in the classroom. Last, she explores alternatives in our world today that push beyond neoliberal logics to imagine a just and equal world.
Wendy Brown is a renowned political theorist and The Class of 1936 First Chair in Political Science at UC Berkeley. Her work on power, political identity, and neoliberalism has influenced a generation of scholarship on contemporary democratic politics. Her most recent books include Undoing the Demos: Neoliberalism's Stealth Revolution (Zone 2014) and In the Ruins of Neoliberalism: The Rise of Antidemocratic Politics in the West (Columbia, 2019). Her books have won many prizes and have been translated into 20 languages.
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