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Herbert Marcuse and the Catastrophe of Solidarity

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New Discourses   Sep 16th, 2021

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 The New Discourses Podcast with James Lindsay, Episode 48


Liberation Series, Part 4 of 4


We live in Herbert Marcuse's world. In a previous series on the New Discourses Podcast, James Lindsay made that clearer than ever by reading through all of Marcuse's 1965 essay "Repressive Tolerance", which served as a basis for the strong double standard enjoyed by radical Leftism today. In this episode, Lindsay wraps up his four-part series reading through another of Marcuse's frightening essays, "An Essay on Liberation." This fourth and final part of "An Essay on Liberation" focuses on the role of "solidarity" as the glue meant to hold together his new coalition for liberation, outlined in the first three parts of the essay. Understanding the works of Herbert Marcuse has never been more important.


In this episode, join James as he reads through the final (shortest) part of this essay and connects it to the features of today's clownish world, from Antifa and other radical activism to divisive identity politics to stakeholder capitalism and sustainability metrics. Learn what Marcuse envisioned for his New Left to bring into the world and how it has finally, after fifty years, begun to come to pass. Also, don't miss the other parts in this four-part series on this important and chilling essay: Part 1 (A Biological Foundation for Socialism), Part 2 (A New Sensibility), and Part 3 (Subverting Forces in Transition).