/202/ 3 Articles: Clerisy, War, Football
Added 2021-07-06 06:01:00 +0000 UTCIn our latest 3A, we discuss "the clerisy" and how it relates to the PMC; how the EU is doing forever war just as much as the US; and the hyper-commodification of football.
Articles:
- Did Populism Start A 21st Century Anti-Clerical Revolution?, Angela Nagle, Substack
- Interview with Wolfgang Streeck: The EU’s war in Africa, Jonas Elvander, Brave New Europe
- Cursed and compromised but Euro 2020’s irresistible circus rolls on, Barney Ronay, The Guardian
Comments
Loved this episode
Elwyn
2021-08-30 14:28:53 +0000 UTCThe more I hear people trying to define the PMC, the less I want to use the term. It seems increasingly a Left-counterpart to the way centrist liberals throw around the word 'fascist' (which seems to equal 'non-socialist person whose opinions I don't like' in their dictionary). As for 'the clerisy', this strikes me as a fancy-pants way of talking about what was once known in British journalism as 'the chattering classes'. I do think, though, that what is being got at here is the role performed in the middle ages by the Clergy. When I TA'd a Medieval History course for a few years circa 2010, I used to try and teach the first years that it helped to think of the clergy then playing the role of the university now -- basically, the monitors of a belief system that underpins society, with the goal of controlling access to the moral high ground. In terms of a Marxist scheme it is more of an occupational category than something distinct in the way the bourgeoisie and the proletariat are. As with the Mediæval clergy, it can be drawn from both halves of society, although the highest places are largely reserved for the ruling class. It's defined by what it does, and is parasitic on both classes.
Paul Brewer
2021-07-21 20:34:34 +0000 UTC
