May 24, 2026 · 1 hr 1 min · 13 segments
For Part Two of our conversation with Jeremy Gilbert, we discuss his research on hegemony and the evolution of acid communism. We talk about the turn towards consciousness raising and the need for a…
[laughs]
I mean, these two books that you've asked- that, that you've referred to, they are, like, uh, yeah, they are quite different.
And Common Ground is basically a kind of theor- tries to put forward a kind of theoretical, a philosophical perspective which is radically anti-individualistic, but which is n- but which is also completely non-authoritative.
And I'm basically arguing if you have, like, a properly, like, non-individualistic conception of the self, uh, uh, and, and, and non, and a kind of non-authoritarian conception of social and collective organization, then you can, you can have a f- a very kind...
You can have a politics which is genuinely collective, but also democratic, and pluralistic, and doesn't oppress people.
And but even though I think, you know, there are, there are all kinds of ideas there which can inform, like, just sort of public policy.
I think local schools can be run democratically, and you can have local go- you can have local government institutions support that if you can have that kind of politics.
He- the book Hegemony Now that comes out in 2022, it co- it comes about partly because of myself and Alex Williams.
We're kind of working on thinking about how we theorize and conceptualize hegemony.
It's the, it's a, it's, it's an attempt to understand how it is that power relationships get established rather than a question of how power relationships get disrupted or how democratic institutions get created.
I mean, in a way you can say Deleuze, the, the molecular is the level at which power levels, at which power relationships get disrupted, get transformed, and the molecular is also, in a way, the level at which kind of power re- social relations get democratized.
The molar is the, is the level at which institutions get formed, the level at which things stabilize, the level at which institutions get formed.
And so Hegemony Now indeed is a, is an attempt to sort of turn again to that question.
[laughs]
I mean, these two books that you've asked- that, that you've referred to, they are, like, uh, yeah, they are quite different.
And Common Ground is basically a kind of theor- tries to put forward a kind of theoretical, a philosophical perspective which is radically anti-individualistic, but which is n- but which is also completely non-authoritative.
And I'm basically arguing if you have, like, a properly, like, non-individualistic conception of the self, uh, uh, and, and, and non, and a kind of non-authoritarian conception of social and collective organization, then you can, you can have a f- a very kind...
You can have a politics which is genuinely collective, but also democratic, and pluralistic, and doesn't oppress people.
And but even though I think, you know, there are, there are all kinds of ideas there which can inform, like, just sort of public policy.
I think local schools can be run democratically, and you can have local go- you can have local government institutions support that if you can have that kind of politics.
He- the book Hegemony Now that comes out in 2022, it co- it comes about partly because of myself and Alex Williams.
We're kind of working on thinking about how we theorize and conceptualize hegemony.
It's the, it's a, it's, it's an attempt to understand how it is that power relationships get established rather than a question of how power relationships get disrupted or how democratic institutions get created.
I mean, in a way you can say Deleuze, the, the molecular is the level at which power levels, at which power relationships get disrupted, get transformed, and the molecular is also, in a way, the level at which kind of power re- social relations get democratized.
The molar is the, is the level at which institutions get formed, the level at which things stabilize, the level at which institutions get formed.
And so Hegemony Now indeed is a, is an attempt to sort of turn again to that question.
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