Jeremy Gilbert [London]
Jeremy Gilbert is Reader in Cultural Studies at the University of East London. He is a writer, researcher and activist whose work has appeared in various British, continental, American and Australian publications and has been translated into French, Spanish and German. His most recent book is, Anticapitalism and Culture and he has co-authored books on the philosophy of dance music and the relationship between culture and politics in Blair’s Britain as well as publishing numerous articles on cultural theory, politics and music.
Clandestino Talks|
Military (neo)Liberalism and the Aporias of Liberal ’Democracy’
The Western powers claim to be pro-democracy. What they really are is pro-liberal. While Western elites today barely even pretend to believe in the classic democratic principles of popular sovereignty and collective decision-making, they are willing to go to great lengths to create systems of private property and individual rights. But we shouldn’t concede that liberal democracy could be an adequate expression of the potential of the North African multitude, any more than we should allow the far Right in Europe to capture that desire for collective participation and shared experience which is fundamental to all democratic, egalitarian and collectivist politics, and which neoliberalism seeks to foreclose.