The conversation had as part of Bristol Transformed’s Goth Communism festival was great. Thinking about Mark’s ideas around cultural prefiguration and the (arguably needless) tension between our ideas of desire and organised labour felt incredibly prescient — not just in relation to the US presidential election, finally called in favour of Joe Biden last night, but also how we respond to the coronavirus pandemic.
Last night we saw a BLM activist elected to the house of representatives, for instance, which perhaps demonstrates that the movement’s cultural power should not be underestimated. In the UK, we can point to Marcus Rashford as a cultural figure having a major impact on political consciousness. What does it say that the UK has fewer politicised cultural figureheads in recent years than the US? Does it matter?
I’m not sure we came to any agreement on these points but the conversation was fascinating regardless. Thanks to the organisers and all who took part. This recording is for Patreons only and mostly for my own archive. It will not be made public.