Pope Francis is the only world leader who seems prepared to denounce war.

Whatever happened to the language of peace?

My latest 'American Affairs' column in the new issue of The @newstatesman.

newstatesman.com/comment/2024/0…

'We have yet to reckon adequately with the left’s transfiguration: from a populist vehicle in the 2010s to cheering Zero Covid and the Azov Battalion in the first half of this decade.'

compactmag.com/article/after-…

Today, for subscribers, it's James A. Smith when will you start standing up for yourself? on one of my favourite topics—political defeat compactmag.com/article/after-… 'an improved vocabulary for the experience of being ideologically discredited can only help us to fail better next time.'

‘slavery is universal, what characterises the West is that it set in motion the movement to prohibit it — the exact opposite of the common perception.’ (Žižek)

The silver lining in the campus encampments:

For the first time since Occupy, the liberal establishment finds it impossible to channel left dissent into selective agitation against Donald Trump or
Nigel Farage and their populist movements.

My latest.

newstatesman.com/comment/2024/0…

If you're a COMPACT subscriber who enjoyed my piece on political defeat, you'll love my inexpensive short book, 'So You've Been Ideologically Discredited', available from Everyday Analysis

everyday-analysis.sellfy.store/p/so-youve-bee…

“Everyone is a populist when they think their side is about to win, and everyone risks collapsing into misanthropic anti-populism when it turns out otherwise.”
compactmag.com/article/after-…

'Everyone is a populist when they think their side is about to win, and everyone risks collapsing into misanthropic anti-populism when it turns out otherwise.'
when will you start standing up for yourself? in COMPACT
compactmag.com/article/after-…

'Books teaching political leaders how to win and wield power go back to the ancients. But what about losing?'

James A. Smith (when will you start standing up for yourself?) reviews books on political failure by h nn h pr ct r and Vincent Bevins and examines the demise of the 2010s left: compactmag.com/article/after-…

Populists of the left and the right confront resurgent elites and outright repression in the wake of the defeat of “the long 2016.”

The Marxist scholar James A. Smith offers lessons on how to deal with political defeat, exclusively for COMPACT compactmag.com/article/after-…

The shelf of books for political winners is long.

But what about coping with political defeat?

James A. Smith (when will you start standing up for yourself?) reviews smart new books on defeat by Hannah Proctor and Vincent Bevins.

compactmag.com/article/after-…

'Books teaching political leaders how to win and wield power go back to the ancients. But what about losing?'

James A. Smith (when will you start standing up for yourself?) reviews books on political failure by h nn h pr ct r and Vincent Bevins and examines the demise of the 2010s left: compactmag.com/article/after-…

Great to be back in COMPACT reflecting on political defeat, with reference to books by h nn h pr ct r, Vincent Bevins, Christopher Hill, and - surreptitiously - my own 'So You've Been Ideologically Discredited'.

compactmag.com/article/after-…

“This idea of purity, and you’re never compromised, and you’re always ‘woke,’ you should get over that.”

So said Barack Obama in 2019. But to what extent was he responsible for the progressive culture he came to criticize? Strong essay by Sam Kahn: compactmag.com/article/obamas…

I learned to stop blaming 'French Theory' so much when I realized analytic philosophers were saying the exact same thing (albeit with less style).

the epistemological crisis is real, deal with it.

“This idea of purity, and you’re never compromised, and you’re always ‘woke,’ you should get over that.”

So said Barack Obama in 2019. But to what extent was he responsible for the progressive culture he came to criticize? Strong essay by Sam Kahn: compactmag.com/article/obamas…