Theorizing the Uncomputable - Alexander Galloway Verso Books 2021-12-10 | We sat down with author Alexander Galloway to discuss his new book Uncomputable: Play and Politics in the Long Digital Age. Narrating some lesser known episodes from the deep history of digital machines, Galloway explains the technology that drives the world today. With an eye for the limits of rationality in computing, Galloway shows how computation emerges or fails to emerge, how the digital thrives but also atrophies, how networks interconnect while also fray and fall apart. By re-building obsolete technology using today’s software, the past comes to light in new ways. Please follow this link to check out the book: versobooks.com/books/3885-uncomputableAlso check out Galloways re-coded version of Guy Debord's Kriegspiel: http://r-s-g.org/kriegspielAnd also listen in here to a free audiobook: youtu.be/UxC3HzeJIEw
Platform capitalism is coming for your money | Rachel ODwyer on Tokens, NFTs, and Bitcoin Verso Books 2023-11-03 | Wherever you look, money is being re- placed by tokens. Digital platforms are issuing new kinds of money-like things: phone credit, shares, gift vouchers, game tokens, customer data—the list goes on. But what does it mean when online platforms become the new banks? What new types of control and discrimination emerge when money is tied to specific apps or actions, politics or identities?In this video Rachel O'Dwyer, author of Tokens: The Future of Money in the Age of the Platform, discusses digital money, inequality, and the future of the economy with Nathaniel Tkacz.Tokens: The Future of Money in the Age of the Platform by Rachel O'Dwyer is out now: versobooks.com/en-gb/products/2957-tokens?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=tokens_the_future_of_money_in_the_age_of_the_platformRachel O'Dwyer is a lecturer at the School of Visual Culture at the National College of Art & Design, Dublin. She was a Fulbright Scholar at UC Irvine and the Microsoft Research labs, Cambridge; she is currently a fellow at Connect, the centre for Networks and Telecommunications at Trinity College, Dublin. She is the co-editor of Neural Magazine and has written for outlets such as Convergence, MIT Press and the London Review of Books. She has curated a number of exhibitions of digital practise that explore the intersection of art and the Blockchain.Nate Tkacz' work focuses on the cultural, political, economic and organisational dimensions of technology, with a specific focus on networked and digital forms. Hos most recent book is Being with Data: The Dashboarding of Everyday Life (Polity Press, 2022). His most recent work is on phone apps, interfaces, data formats, and media and economy.0:00 Intro0:45 How did you write the book?5:05 Airtime payment systems7:04 What is a token?16:26 Ancient tokens21:40 Definition of money24:50 Research methods27:46 Twitch tokens31:22 Banking and technology39:10 Web348:19 Art, blockchain and NFTs52:42 Dystopias
The Problem with Afro-pessimism | Kevin Ochieng Okoth Verso Books 2023-10-23 | Afro-pessimism is not a liberal anti-racism, but it is opposed to radical politics. Kevin Okoth explores anti-communist tendencies in decolonial and Black studies.Watch the full video here: youtu.be/YZnH74raJ_E?feature=shared
Red Africa and Revolutionary Black Politics | Kevin Ochieng Okoth and Ashok Kumar Verso Books 2023-10-23 | What is Red Africa? Kevin Ochieng Okoth and Ashok Kumar discuss radical Black Marxism, including the history of African socialism, Afro-pessimism, race and class, Portuguese anti-colonialism, and the future of Black radical politics.Kevin Ochieng Okoth's new book - Red Africa: Reclaiming Revolutionary Black Politics - makes the case for a revolutionary Black politics inspired by Marxist anticolonial struggles in Africa versobooks.com/products/2896-red-africa?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=red_africa&utm_content=videoWatch Robin D.G. Kelley & Kevin Ochieng Okoth talk about Walter Rodney's life and work here: youtube.com/watch?v=NgO1bxKfXOwKevin Ochieg Okoth is a writer and researcher based in London. He is part of the Salvage Editorial Collective and is a regular contributor to the London Review of Books. He holds an MPhil in Political Theory from the University of Oxford and regularly participates in conferences, speaking on themes related to anti-imperialism and twentieth century anti-colonial movements. He is a founding editor of Nommo Mag.Ashok Kumar is a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) of Political Economy. He has published widely on a number of issues including urban theory, development, capitalist crisis, workers’ movements, global supply chains and identity.0:00 Intro0:56 What is Red Africa?2:50 What is Afro-pessimism14:56 Critiques of Marxism19:05 ‘De-linking’24:38 Cedric Robinson’s Black Marxism36:41 Negritude43:30 Portuguese anti-colonial movements50:20 The future of black politics
What is Antiracism? | Ruth Wilson Gilmore and Arun Kundnani Verso Books 2023-08-08 | Why has liberalism been ineffective at combating racism? And what would a more radical anti-racism look like?On July 13th 2023 Ruth Wilson Gilmore joined Arun Kundnani at an event to launch his new book, What Is Antiracism? And Why It Means Anticapitalism, at the Independent Social Research Foundation in London. This is the event footage from that evening.Find Arun Kundnani's new book here: versobooks.com/en-gb/products/2670-what-is-antiracism?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=what_is_antiracismRuth Wilson Gilmore is a noted prison abolitionist. Her latest book is Abolition Geography: Essays Towards Liberation versobooks.com/products/2615-abolition-geography?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=what_is_antiracismThis event is the twenty-seventh in the ISRF’s series of Book Launches: isrf.org/events/book-launchesWith thanks to Arun Kundnani, the ISRF, the IRR, and SOAS University of London for hosting this event.00:00:00 Arun Kundnani00:17:17 Ruth Wilson Gilmore00:45:58 UK’s attitude to colonialism00:49:38 Identity Politics and CRT00:58:38 Fascism and Neoliberalism01:08:36 Liberal foundations
Why is there a War on Woke? Verso Books 2023-07-26 | #shorts Sian Norris, Bodies Under Siege versobooks.com/en-gb/products/2825-bodies-under-siege
Degrowth under Capitalism? Verso Books 2023-07-26 | What are the arguments around degrowth as a strategy to fight the climate crisis? Watch full interview on our channel #shorts
Liberal Antiracism is Patronising Verso Books 2023-07-25 | #shorts Liberal antiracism has proven powerless against structural oppression. Fighting racism means striking at its capitalist roots.Arun Kundnani writes about racial capitalism and Islamophobia, surveillance and political violence, and Black radical movements. He is the author of What Is Antiracism? And Why It Means Anticapitalism versobooks.com/en-gb/products/2670-what-is-antiracism?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=what_is_antiracism
The Problem with Liberal Antiracism | Arun Kundnani and Kojo Koram Verso Books 2023-07-25 | Arun Kundnani and Kojo Koram discuss why antiracism has to be about dismantling structures power. Liberal antiracism has proven powerless against structural oppression. Fighting racism means striking at its capitalist roots.Arun Kundnani writes about racial capitalism and Islamophobia, surveillance and political violence, and Black radical movements. He is the author of What Is Antiracism? And Why It Means Anticapitalism versobooks.com/en-gb/products/2670-what-is-antiracism?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=what_is_antiracismKojo Koram is a Senior Lecturer in Law at Birkbeck School of Law. In 2022 he published his debut book Uncommon Wealth: Britain and the Aftermath of Empire, which was nominated for the 2022 Orwell Prize for Political Writing.Intro 0:00:00Corporate diversity 00:00:52 Neoliberalism and colonialism 00:04:10 The Role of Personal experience 00:06:46 Racial capitalism and surplus populations 00:10:48Marxism and Anti-Colonialism 00:18:05 CRT, Unconscious Bias Training and the conservative backlash 00:20:52 US vs UK perspectives 00:26:00
Walter Rodney: Guerilla Intellectual | Robin D.G. Kelley & Kevin Ochieng Okoth Verso Books 2023-07-17 | In this episode of the (newly relaunched!) Verso Podcast, Robin D.G. Kelley and Kevin Ochieng Okoth join Eleanor Penny to explore the life, thought, and legacy of the academic and activist, Walter Rodney.Search 'The Verso Podcast' on your podcast provider to subscribe for future episodes (links below!).See all of Walter Rodney's writing here: versobooks.com/blogs/authors/rodney-walter?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=verso_podcastThe Verso Podcast on Apple: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-verso-podcast/id1116816501The Verso Podcast on Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/6sEsOne14nSj9h3GtBzIJ2?si=d93b0fd63c8c4d75The Verso Podcast on Google Podcasts: podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zb3VuZGNsb3VkLmNvbS91c2Vycy9zb3VuZGNsb3VkOnVzZXJzOjIwODg3ODc3L3NvdW5kcy5yc3M?sa=X&ved=0CAIQ9sEGahgKEwiQwKbXyIaAAxUAAAAAHQAAAAAQzgEThe Verso Podcast on Soundcloud: on.soundcloud.com/vdzzV
How Can the Left Solve the Climate Crisis? Verso Books 2023-07-14 | The world's major powers accept the likelihood of dangerous climate change, yet seem incapable of averting it. Benjamin Kunkel and Lola Seaton, editors of the newly published Who Will Build the Ark?: Debates on Climate Strategy from 'New Left Review', discuss how we might respond. Should we be fighting for a Green New Deal, or do we need to move towards degrowth? How do we move from consciousness-raising to strategizing? And how do we build upon the demand of decarbonisation?Who Will Build the Ark, edited by Benjamin Kunkel and Lola Seaton is out now: versobooks.com/en-gb/products/2917-who-will-build-the-ark?_pos=1&_psq=who+will+build&_ss=e&_v=1.0&utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=who_will_build_the_arkIntro 00:00:00A summary of the book 00:00:16De-growth vs Green growth 00:03:48The Inflation Reduction Act 00:11:05Strategy and ideas on the left 00:14:15Extinction rebellion/JSO 00:17:03Decarbonisation as a demand 00:18:32US competing with China 00:21:37Ecology beyond Carbon - carboncentrism 00:24:11
Nancy Fraser on capitalism, gender oppression, Marxism, and the post-left populist moment Verso Books 2023-07-11 | Nancy Fraser's many groundbreaking contributions to Marxism and feminism make her a legendary figure on the left. In this interview she talks about many of the ideas that traverse her life's work, including gender oppression, race and capitalism; growing up during de-segregation; intersectionality; the American New Left; debating Judith Butler; and much more.She also discusses a new book she is working on, inspired by the work of W.E.B Du Bois.Capitalism: A Conversation in Critical Theory by Nancy Fraser is out this month: versobooks.com/products/2867-capitalism?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nancy_fraserYou can find all of Nancy Fraser's work here: versobooks.com/blogs/authors/fraser-nancy?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nancy_fraserHighlights:Cannibal Capitalism: How our System is Devouring Democracy, Care, and the Planet – and What We Can Do About It versobooks.com/products/2685-cannibal-capitalism?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nancy_fraserFortunes of Feminism: From State-Managed Capitalism to Neoliberal Crisis versobooks.com/products/2305-fortunes-of-feminism?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nancy_fraserThe Old Is Dying and the New Cannot Be Born: From Progressive Neoliberalism to Trump and Beyond versobooks.com/products/849-the-old-is-dying-and-the-new-cannot-be-born?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nancy_fraserFeminism for the 99%: A Manifesto versobooks.com/products/774-feminism-for-the-99?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nancy_fraserShe is interviewed by Sebastian Budgen, Editorial Director, Verso Books.Nancy’s time in France 00:00:00Post-structuralism vs Marxism 00:07:27Foucault’s legacy 00:25:04:00Habermas 00:27:52Growing up during de-segregation 00:38:44Comparing the American New Left with Europe 00:44:45Lenin and Trotsky 47:25:20A global critique 50:45:23New Left Review 53:34:22Idpol and class reductionism 00:56:57The enlarged view of capitalism 01:04:58Production and social formation 01:09:36Gender opression and capitalism 01:17:37Gender and the Soviet Union 01:22:48Race and capitalism 01:26:31Antisemitism 01:31:10The eras of capitalism 01:33:43The post left populist moment 01:35:48Intersectionality 01:43:12Debating Judith Butler 01:44:48Cancellation 01:48:39
Where should the Trade Union movement go from here? Verso Books 2023-05-26 | In the past year the UK has seen hundreds of thousands of workers go on strike. Mick Lynch has effectively made the case for trade unionism across broad swathes of the media and has gone viral many times over. In the US the newly formed Amazon Labor Union continues to fight for its members, and the Writer’s Strike marches on. Jamie Woodcock and Lydia Hughes (authors of Troublemaking) discuss how we can seize this surge in union membership, and what can the unions fight for beyond improvements in pay, conditions and pensions - from solidarity with Palestine to trans liberation.Troublemaking: Why You Should Organise Your Workplace by Lydia Hughes and Jamie Woodcock is out now! versobooks.com/en-gb/products/2889-troublemaking?_pos=1&_psq=troublemaking&_ss=e&_v=1.0&utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=troublemaking_23
Workplace organising in the tech industry Verso Books 2023-05-22 | Tech companies will often assert that their workplace is a ‘family’ and offer incentives to push their employees to work longer hours - from free breakfasts to napping pods. John Chadfield (Branch Secretary of United Tech & Allied Workers) and Jamie Woodcock (co-author of Troublemaking) discuss the importance of tech workers understanding themselves as workers and joining the labour movement. Troublemaking: Why You Should Organise Your Workplace by Lydia Hughes and Jamie Woodcock is out now! versobooks.com/en-gb/products/2889-troublemaking?_pos=1&_psq=troublemaking&_ss=e&_v=1.0&utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=troublemaking_23“No advance for working people has been achieved without troublemaking and a read of this book will turn many more into effective troublemakers.” — John McDonnell MP
“No worker is too precarious to organize their workplace.” | Troublemaking Verso Books 2023-05-17 | What does it feel like to be out on strike with your co-workers? What are the barriers to workplace organising for migrant workers? And why does everyone insist that while trade unions have clearly won big in many areas, it couldn’t possibly work for them?Lydia Hughes (co-author of Troublemaking) and Maritza Castillo (Vice-President of the IWGB) discuss the power of trade unions, as the workplace is where we most directly encounter capitalism.Troublemaking: Why You Should Organise Your Workplace by Lydia Hughes and Jamie Woodcock is out now! versobooks.com/en-gb/products/2889-troublemaking?_pos=1&_psq=troublemaking&_ss=e&_v=1.0&utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=troublemaking_23“No advance for working people has been achieved without troublemaking and a read of this book will turn many more into effective troublemakers.” — John McDonnell MP
What would Walter Benjamin think about social media? Verso Books 2023-05-15 | #shorts Esther Leslie and Stuart Jeffries discuss the life and legacy of Walter Benjamin.
David Harvey Explains The Rising Mass Verso Books 2023-05-11 | David Harvey on the continuing expansion of capital, plastic pollution, and unfettered power #shorts
David Harvey on Marxs Grundrisse Verso Books 2023-05-11 | David Harvey explains why the Covid lockdown meant he finally wrote a companion to Marx's infamous notebooks, the Grundrisse.When leading scholar of Marx, Roman Rosdolsky, first encountered the virtually unknown text of Marx's Grundrisse - his preparatory work for his masterpiece Das Capital - in the 1950s in New York Public Library, he recognized it as "a work of fundamental importance," but declared "its unusual form" and "obscure manner of expression, made it far from suitable for reaching a wide circle of readers." David Harvey's Companion to Marx's Grundrisse builds upon his widely acclaimed companions to the first and second volumes of Capital. Read more about that book here: versobooks.com/en-gb/products/2930-a-companion-to-marx-s-grundrisse?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=essential_david_harvey_2023See all our David Harvey reading here: versobooks.com/en-gb/collections/the-essential-david-harvey?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=essential_david_harvey_2023“An indispensable companion to the Grundrisse. Harvey's newest is as illuminating for experienced readers as it is helpful for those who are encountering Marx’s great text for the first time.” – Nancy Fraser
David Harvey on capital, theory, and becoming a Marxist Verso Books 2023-05-11 | For fifty years David Harvey has written and lectured on Capital, becoming one of the world’s foremost Marx scholars. In addition, his work on the history and geography of capitalist development has transformed our understanding of neoliberalism and the spread of inequalities across the globe.In this interview David Harvey recalls the formation of his Marxist ideas, intellectual influences, and writing. He also talks about the growth of the populist right and how that is connected to geographical electoral splits, Marx's Grundrisse (which he has written a companion to - see below), and Marx's theories more broadly. David Harvey teaches at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and is the author of many books, including:A Companion to Marx's Grundrisse versobooks.com/en-gb/products/2930-a-companion-to-marx-s-grundrisse?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=essential_david_harvey_2023A Companion To Marx's Capital: The Complete Edition versobooks.com/en-gb/products/1967-spaces-of-global-capitalism?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=essential_david_harvey_2023Spaces of Global Capitalism: A Theory of Uneven Geographical Development versobooks.com/en-gb/products/1967-spaces-of-global-capitalism?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=essential_david_harvey_2023Rebel Cities:: From the Right to the City to the Urban Revolution versobooks.com/en-gb/products/2236-rebel-cities?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=essential_david_harvey_2023The Limits to Capital versobooks.com/en-gb/products/1676-the-limits-to-capital?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=essential_david_harvey_2023See all his work here: versobooks.com/en-gb/collections/the-essential-david-harvey?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=essential_david_harvey_2023His website is http://davidharvey.org.He is interviewed here by Sebastian Budgen, Editorial Director, Verso Books.
Brett Christophers on OUR LIVES IN THEIR PORTFOLIOS Verso Books 2023-04-28 | Author Brett Christophers sat down with Verso to talk about his latest book, Our Lives in Their Portfolios – available now!versobooks.com/products/2985-our-lives-in-their-portfolios-why-asset-managers-own-the-worldAbout OUR LIVES IN THEIR PORTFOLIOS by Brett Christophers:Banks have taken a backseat since the global financial crisis over a decade ago. Today, our new financial masters are asset managers, like Blackstone and BlackRock. And they don't just own financial assets.The roads we drive on; the pipes that supply our drinking water; the farmland that provides our food; energy systems for electricity and heat; hospitals, schools, and even the homes in which many of us live-all now swell asset managers' bulging investment portfolios.As the owners of more and more of the basic building blocks of everyday life, asset managers shape the lives of each and every one of us in profound and disturbing ways. In this eye-opening follow-up to Rentier Capitalism, Brett Christophers peels back the veil on "asset manager society."Asset managers, he shows, are unlike traditional owners of housing and other essential infrastructure. Buying and selling these life-supporting assets at a dizzying pace, the crux of their business model is not long-term investment and careful custodianship but making quick profits for themselves and the investors that back them.In asset manager society, the natural and built environments that sustain us become one more vehicle for siphoning money from the many to the few.BRETT CHRISTOPHERS is Professor in the Department of Social and Economic Geography at Uppsala University. A political economist and economic geographer, he is the author or coauthor of five previous books.-----VERSO BOOKS is the largest independent, radical publishing house in the English-speaking world, publishing one hundred books a year.“Anglo-America's preeminent radical press.” – Harper’s“The scale of the achievement of New Left Review and Verso, which turns forty this year, is now clear.” – Nation“A rigorously intelligent publisher.” – Sunday Times
Brett Christophers on The Development of Asset Management Firms Verso Books 2023-04-28 | Author Brett Christophers sat down with Verso to talk about his latest book, Our Lives in Their Portfolios – available now!versobooks.com/products/2985-our-lives-in-their-portfolios-why-asset-managers-own-the-worldAbout OUR LIVES IN THEIR PORTFOLIOS by Brett Christophers:Banks have taken a backseat since the global financial crisis over a decade ago. Today, our new financial masters are asset managers, like Blackstone and BlackRock. And they don't just own financial assets.The roads we drive on; the pipes that supply our drinking water; the farmland that provides our food; energy systems for electricity and heat; hospitals, schools, and even the homes in which many of us live-all now swell asset managers' bulging investment portfolios.As the owners of more and more of the basic building blocks of everyday life, asset managers shape the lives of each and every one of us in profound and disturbing ways. In this eye-opening follow-up to Rentier Capitalism, Brett Christophers peels back the veil on "asset manager society."Asset managers, he shows, are unlike traditional owners of housing and other essential infrastructure. Buying and selling these life-supporting assets at a dizzying pace, the crux of their business model is not long-term investment and careful custodianship but making quick profits for themselves and the investors that back them.In asset manager society, the natural and built environments that sustain us become one more vehicle for siphoning money from the many to the few.BRETT CHRISTOPHERS is Professor in the Department of Social and Economic Geography at Uppsala University. A political economist and economic geographer, he is the author or coauthor of five previous books.-----VERSO BOOKS is the largest independent, radical publishing house in the English-speaking world, publishing one hundred books a year.“Anglo-America's preeminent radical press.” – Harper’s“The scale of the achievement of New Left Review and Verso, which turns forty this year, is now clear.” – Nation“A rigorously intelligent publisher.” – Sunday Times
Brett Christophers on Viewing Asset Management Firms as Landlords Verso Books 2023-04-28 | Author Brett Christophers sat down with Verso to talk about his latest book, Our Lives in Their Portfolios – available now!versobooks.com/products/2985-our-lives-in-their-portfolios-why-asset-managers-own-the-worldAbout OUR LIVES IN THEIR PORTFOLIOS by Brett Christophers:Banks have taken a backseat since the global financial crisis over a decade ago. Today, our new financial masters are asset managers, like Blackstone and BlackRock. And they don't just own financial assets.The roads we drive on; the pipes that supply our drinking water; the farmland that provides our food; energy systems for electricity and heat; hospitals, schools, and even the homes in which many of us live-all now swell asset managers' bulging investment portfolios.As the owners of more and more of the basic building blocks of everyday life, asset managers shape the lives of each and every one of us in profound and disturbing ways. In this eye-opening follow-up to Rentier Capitalism, Brett Christophers peels back the veil on "asset manager society."Asset managers, he shows, are unlike traditional owners of housing and other essential infrastructure. Buying and selling these life-supporting assets at a dizzying pace, the crux of their business model is not long-term investment and careful custodianship but making quick profits for themselves and the investors that back them.In asset manager society, the natural and built environments that sustain us become one more vehicle for siphoning money from the many to the few.BRETT CHRISTOPHERS is Professor in the Department of Social and Economic Geography at Uppsala University. A political economist and economic geographer, he is the author or coauthor of five previous books.-----VERSO BOOKS is the largest independent, radical publishing house in the English-speaking world, publishing one hundred books a year.“Anglo-America's preeminent radical press.” – Harper’s“The scale of the achievement of New Left Review and Verso, which turns forty this year, is now clear.” – Nation“A rigorously intelligent publisher.” – Sunday Times
Brett Christophers on How Everybody is Affected by Asset Management Firms Verso Books 2023-04-28 | Author Brett Christophers sat down with Verso to talk about his latest book, Our Lives in Their Portfolios – available now!versobooks.com/products/2985-our-lives-in-their-portfolios-why-asset-managers-own-the-worldAbout OUR LIVES IN THEIR PORTFOLIOS by Brett Christophers:Banks have taken a backseat since the global financial crisis over a decade ago. Today, our new financial masters are asset managers, like Blackstone and BlackRock. And they don't just own financial assets.The roads we drive on; the pipes that supply our drinking water; the farmland that provides our food; energy systems for electricity and heat; hospitals, schools, and even the homes in which many of us live-all now swell asset managers' bulging investment portfolios.As the owners of more and more of the basic building blocks of everyday life, asset managers shape the lives of each and every one of us in profound and disturbing ways. In this eye-opening follow-up to Rentier Capitalism, Brett Christophers peels back the veil on "asset manager society."Asset managers, he shows, are unlike traditional owners of housing and other essential infrastructure. Buying and selling these life-supporting assets at a dizzying pace, the crux of their business model is not long-term investment and careful custodianship but making quick profits for themselves and the investors that back them.In asset manager society, the natural and built environments that sustain us become one more vehicle for siphoning money from the many to the few.BRETT CHRISTOPHERS is Professor in the Department of Social and Economic Geography at Uppsala University. A political economist and economic geographer, he is the author or coauthor of five previous books.-----VERSO BOOKS is the largest independent, radical publishing house in the English-speaking world, publishing one hundred books a year.“Anglo-America's preeminent radical press.” – Harper’s“The scale of the achievement of New Left Review and Verso, which turns forty this year, is now clear.” – Nation“A rigorously intelligent publisher.” – Sunday Times
Brett Christophers on the Expansion of Asset Management Firms across the Globe Verso Books 2023-04-28 | Author Brett Christophers sat down with Verso to talk about his latest book, Our Lives in Their Portfolios – available now!versobooks.com/products/2985-our-lives-in-their-portfolios-why-asset-managers-own-the-worldAbout OUR LIVES IN THEIR PORTFOLIOS by Brett Christophers:Banks have taken a backseat since the global financial crisis over a decade ago. Today, our new financial masters are asset managers, like Blackstone and BlackRock. And they don't just own financial assets.The roads we drive on; the pipes that supply our drinking water; the farmland that provides our food; energy systems for electricity and heat; hospitals, schools, and even the homes in which many of us live-all now swell asset managers' bulging investment portfolios.As the owners of more and more of the basic building blocks of everyday life, asset managers shape the lives of each and every one of us in profound and disturbing ways. In this eye-opening follow-up to Rentier Capitalism, Brett Christophers peels back the veil on "asset manager society."Asset managers, he shows, are unlike traditional owners of housing and other essential infrastructure. Buying and selling these life-supporting assets at a dizzying pace, the crux of their business model is not long-term investment and careful custodianship but making quick profits for themselves and the investors that back them.In asset manager society, the natural and built environments that sustain us become one more vehicle for siphoning money from the many to the few.BRETT CHRISTOPHERS is Professor in the Department of Social and Economic Geography at Uppsala University. A political economist and economic geographer, he is the author or coauthor of five previous books.-----VERSO BOOKS is the largest independent, radical publishing house in the English-speaking world, publishing one hundred books a year.“Anglo-America's preeminent radical press.” – Harper’s“The scale of the achievement of New Left Review and Verso, which turns forty this year, is now clear.” – Nation“A rigorously intelligent publisher.” – Sunday Times
Brett Christophers on Your Retirement in Blackstones Portfolio Verso Books 2023-04-28 | Author Brett Christophers sat down with Verso to talk about his latest book, Our Lives in Their Portfolios – available now!versobooks.com/products/2985-our-lives-in-their-portfolios-why-asset-managers-own-the-worldAbout OUR LIVES IN THEIR PORTFOLIOS by Brett Christophers:Banks have taken a backseat since the global financial crisis over a decade ago. Today, our new financial masters are asset managers, like Blackstone and BlackRock. And they don't just own financial assets.The roads we drive on; the pipes that supply our drinking water; the farmland that provides our food; energy systems for electricity and heat; hospitals, schools, and even the homes in which many of us live-all now swell asset managers' bulging investment portfolios.As the owners of more and more of the basic building blocks of everyday life, asset managers shape the lives of each and every one of us in profound and disturbing ways. In this eye-opening follow-up to Rentier Capitalism, Brett Christophers peels back the veil on "asset manager society."Asset managers, he shows, are unlike traditional owners of housing and other essential infrastructure. Buying and selling these life-supporting assets at a dizzying pace, the crux of their business model is not long-term investment and careful custodianship but making quick profits for themselves and the investors that back them.In asset manager society, the natural and built environments that sustain us become one more vehicle for siphoning money from the many to the few.BRETT CHRISTOPHERS is Professor in the Department of Social and Economic Geography at Uppsala University. A political economist and economic geographer, he is the author or coauthor of five previous books.-----VERSO BOOKS is the largest independent, radical publishing house in the English-speaking world, publishing one hundred books a year.“Anglo-America's preeminent radical press.” – Harper’s“The scale of the achievement of New Left Review and Verso, which turns forty this year, is now clear.” – Nation“A rigorously intelligent publisher.” – Sunday Times
Walter Benjamins legacy | Esther Leslie and Stuart Jeffries Verso Books 2023-04-27 | To celebrate Verso’s new edition of The Storyteller by Walter Benjamin, Esther Leslie (writer and translator of many books including The Storyteller, and Professor of Political Aesthetics at Birkbeck, London) and Stuart Jeffries (journalist and author of many books including Grand Hotel Abyss) discuss the life and legacy of Walter Benjamin. From his relationship with his peers, the other members of the Frankfurt School, and his cultural heritage, to his use of, and feelings about, technological advancements, to his approach to storytelling, writing and language more broadly, join Esther and Stuart for this fascinating and wide-ranging discussion of one of Western Marxism's most important philosophers.The Storyteller: Tales out of Loneliness by Walter Benjamin is out now: versobooks.com/products/173-the-storyteller?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=the_storyteller_april2023See all Verso's Walter Benjamin reading here: versobooks.com/blogs/authors/benjamin-walter?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=the_storyteller_april2023See Stuart Jeffries work here: versobooks.com/blogs/authors/jeffries-stuart?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=the_storyteller_april2023See Esther Leslie's work here: versobooks.com/blogs/authors/leslie-esther?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=the_storyteller_april2023
Most AI is not artificial or intelligent | James Bridle and Cory Doctorow Verso Books 2023-04-21 | How has computation come to dominate everyday life? And why do a small number of people and companies dominate computation? James Bridle speaks to Cory Doctorow about AI as a big hype market, what “Big Tech” fears the most, and the tools required to imagine and build radical alternatives.The brand new edition of New Dark Age: Technology and the End of the Future by James Bridle is out now! versobooks.com/products/640-new-dark-age?_pos=1&_psq=new+dark+age&_ss=e&_v=1.0&utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=socialThe Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation by Cory Doctorow is out September 5th, 2023.versobooks.com/en-gb/products/3035-the-internet-con?_pos=1&_psq=internet&_ss=e&_v=1.0&utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=internet_con_preorder
What comes after we abolish borders? Verso Books 2022-11-29 | In this bumper edition of the Verso podcast we talk to authors Gracie Mae Bradley and Luke De Noronha about their new book Against Borders: The Case for Abolition. In it we explore what a world without borders might look like and the intricacies of imagining or advocating for that world. We then talk to Zehrah Hasan of JCWI about practical ways we can get involved in building a borderless world for today and tomorrow.Against Borders: The Case for Abolition is out now! versobooks.com/books/3983-against-borders?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=verso_podcast
Gentrification is NOT Inevitable | Leslie Kern in conversation with David Madden Verso Books 2022-10-13 | What does gentrification look like? Can we even agree that it is a process that replaces one community with another? It is a question of class? Or of economic opportunity? Who does it affect the most? Is there any way to combat it? Leslie Kern discusses the myths and lies around gentrification with David Madden, co-author of In Defense of Housing. Kern proposes a genuinely decolonial, feminist, queer, anti-gentrification. One that demands the right to the city for everyone and the return of land and reparations for those who have been displaced. Her new book, Gentrification is Inevitable and Other Lies, is out now!versobooks.com/books/4047-gentrification-is-inevitable-and-other-lies?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social
Abolish the Family | Sophie Lewis speaks to Ben Smoke Verso Books 2022-10-13 | Do family abolitionists want to get rid of your Gran? Do they hate love? Are they all killjoys looking to rip the roots of working class resistance apart? Find out all this and more in this episode of the Verso podcast with author Sophie Lewis in conversation with Ben Smoke.Sophie Lewis is the author of Abolish the Family: A Manifesto for Care and Liberation versobooks.com/books/4075-abolish-the-family?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=abolish-the-family-videosBen Smoke is the commissioning editor of Huck Magazine
Whats wrong with the hustle mindset? | Jeremy Gilbert on the Verso Podcast Verso Books 2022-10-06 | versobooks.com/books/4015-hegemony-now#shorts
Housing as a human right? | Leslie Kern on the Verso podcast Verso Books 2022-10-06 | versobooks.com/books/4047-gentrification-is-inevitable-and-other-lies #shorts
Who won the 20th century? | Jeremy Gilbert on the Verso podcast Verso Books 2022-10-06 | versobooks.com/books/4015-hegemony-now #shorts
The rules of politics have broken | Jeremy Gilbert and Alex Williams Verso Books 2022-10-05 | How did we come to live in a world dominated by big tech and finance? In this video, Jeremy Gilbert and Alex Williams explore how these forces have shaped the direction of politics and government as well as the neoliberal economy to benefit their own interests. They discuss the concept of hegemony—the importance of passive consent; the complexity of political interests; and the structural force of technology—and why we need an updated theory of power for the twenty-first century.Jeremy Gilbert and Alex Williams are the authors of Hegemony Now: How Big Tech and Wall Street Won the World (And How We Win it Back) versobooks.com/books/4015-hegemony-now?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=hegemony-now-videos
Our Bloc: A Left Panel, with James Schneider, Len McCluskey and Clare Farrell Verso Books 2022-09-21 | An evening of ideas and alliance, Foyles Charing Cross hosted a panel of public figures from across the British Left to discuss James Schneider’s vision for a socialist alliance and to launch his book, Our Bloc: How We Win. Our Bloc is an ambitious, argued manifesto with the scale of ideas to match the enormous issues Schneider considers: the Climate crisis, energy costs and inequality, all through a call to unite a diverse and many-voiced Left movement in British politics.The panel, chaired by James Schneider, included Len McCluskey (author of Why You Should Be A Trade Unionist), a major figure in the trade unionist movement as the leader of Unite the Union for a decade from 2011 until 2021 and Clare Farrell, one of the co-founders of the Extinction Rebellion movement, with a background in the UK fashion industry.
Why we should deprivatize the internet | Ben Tarnoff Verso Books 2022-07-29 | The internet is broken because it is a business, owned by private firms for profit. Google annihilates your privacy and Facebook amplifies right-wing propaganda because it is profitable to do so. The solution to those crises is straightforward: deprivatize the internet.In this video Ben Tarnoff tells the story of the privatization that made the modern internet, and which set in motion the crises that consume it today.Ben Tarnoff is the author of Internet for the People: The Fight for Our Digital Future out now: versobooks.com/books/3927-internet-for-the-people?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=internet_for_the_people&utm_content=author_video
The Churchill cult is out of control: Tariq Ali on Winston Churchill Verso Books 2022-05-23 | Churchill was a divisive, reactionary politician - unpopular even within his own party - and an open enemy of the working class. The life he lead was that of a racist imperialist, and he was sympathetic to fascism - a supporter of Mussolini and Franco. How has this wartime leader become a household god for many?In this video (and his new book) Tariq Ali looks at the development of the Churchill cult: where it came from, why his legacy is being used in this way, and how long it will last.Winston Churchill: His Times, His Crimes by Tariq Ali is out now: versobooks.com/books/3971-winston-churchill?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=winston_churcill&utm_content=author_video“In Ali's telling, which draws on more honest existing historical scholarship than most popular biographies of Churchill, the two-times prime minister emerges not so much as deeply racist - some of his contemporaries remarked on it in shock - as profoundly authoritarian, with a soft spot for fascist strongmen, and a hostility to working-class assertion.” – Priyamvada Gopal
Who do the police protect? | Ben Smoke speaks to Matt Foot and Morag Livingstone Verso Books 2022-05-20 | Since the 1980s police have been allowed to suppress protests by using aggressive tactics—from batons to horse charges to kettling. New military-style tactics were sanctioned by the Thatcher government, in secret. Over the next forty years those protesting against racism, unfair job losses, draconian laws, or for environmental protection were subject to brutal tactics. As the UK government tries to suppress all forms of dissent, how do the police manage crowds, provoke violence and even break the law?Ben Smoke talks to Matt Foot and Morag Livingstone about their new book Charged: How the Police Try to Suppress Protest. Out 24th May: bit.ly/3LxPHy1
What is ecofeminism, and why is it necessary in the fight for climate justice? Verso Books 2022-02-18 | Episode 4: This year, the fifth International Ecosocialist Encounters gathered activists and organisers in Lisbon to discuss, design and articulate the necessary responses to climate breakdown. This episode was hosted by Julie Gorecki, co-author of the introduction to the first English translation of Feminism or Death: How the Women’s Movement Can Save the Planet by Françoise d’Eaubonne. Julie spoke with Inês Telles, Joana Bregolat, Andreia Galvao, Alice Vale de Gato and Sara Bourehiyi about why we need an ecofeminist approach in our organizing and resistance to extractive capitalism.
Owning the Transition with David Hughes, Mika Minio-Paluello & Thea Riofrancos Verso Books 2022-02-18 | Episode 3: Who owns these resources, who builds and controls renewable energy infrastructures and ultimately who will access and benefit from them, are key questions to address if we want to understand what is at stake when we speak about the energy transition. In this discussion David Hughes, Mika Minio-Paluello and Thea Riofrancos focus on the question of wind and how this endless resource can be appropriated to generate a socially profitable energy transformation.
AUDIOBOOK: Uncomputable: Play and Politics in the Long Digital Age Verso Books 2021-12-10 | A journey through the uncomputable remains of computer history, narrated by the author. versobooks.com/books/3885-uncomputableInterview with Alexander Galloway: youtu.be/cldpGDt-Jw8
Daring to Hope | Sheila Rowbotham speaks to Gary Younge Verso Books 2021-11-22 | In 'Daring to Hope: My Life in the 1970s', Sheila Rowbotham looks back at her life as a participant in the women’s liberation movement, left politics and the creative radical culture of a decade in which freedom and equality seemed possible. She reveals the tremendous efforts that were made to transform attitudes and feelings, as well as daily life.After addressing the first British Women’s Liberation Conference at Ruskin College, Oxford in 1970, she went on to encourage night cleaners to unionise, to campaign for nurseries and abortion rights. She played an influential role in discussions of socialist feminist ideas and her books and journalism attracted an international readership.Here, Sheila Rowbotham speaks to Gary Younge about her influences as an activist in the 70s.'Daring to Hope: My Life in the 1970s' is out now: bit.ly/3kXTla6
What were the 70s like politically? | Sheila Rowbotham & Gary Younge Verso Books 2021-11-22 | The 70s is often described as a "lost decade", but who were the people trying to fight for a better society? Sheila Rowbotham talks to Gary Younge about her new book, Daring to Hope: My Life in the 1970s, out now: bit.ly/3kXTla6#Shorts
Underneath COP26, The Beach! w/ Andreas Malm, Kate Aronoff & Sabrina Fernandes Verso Books 2021-11-15 | Episode 2: What could direct action look like in the context of COP26? Our second episode, recorded in Glasgow at COP26, is hosted by Kate Aronoff, staff writer at The New Republic, author of Overheated and co-author of A Planet To Win: Why We Need A Green New Deal. Kate is joined by Andreas Malm, author of How to Blow Up a Pipeline and White Skin, Black Fuel with the Zetkin Collective, and Sabrina Fernandes, Brazilian eco-socialist organiser, communicator and fellow at the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation.
Is Peaceful Protest enough? In conversation with Andreas Malm Verso Books 2021-11-08 | Andreas Malm joins Bristol Transformed organiser, Momentum NCG member and Labour for a Green New Deal activist Shona Jemphrey in Bristol at the Malcolm X Centre, the birthplace of Extinction Rebellion. They discuss COP26, the new phase of the climate struggle and How to Blow Up a Pipeline: Learning to Fight in a World on Fire by Andreas Malm, out now: versobooks.com/books/3665-how-to-blow-up-a-pipelineOrganised in partnership with Bristol Transformed and bookhaus:
Data and algorithms: who is doing the work? | Phil Jones Verso Books 2021-10-22 | There is a significant amount of hidden labour behind data, algorithms, search engines and social platforms. It is usually poorly paid, precarious, and psychologically damaging. The question of who does this work is hugely complicated. Most of it takes place in the global south, in refugee camps, slums, prisons and in occupied territories.Phil Jones is the author of Work Without the Worker: Labour in the Age of Platform Capitalism - a book that explains the brutal truth behind our automated futures and the new world of work versobooks.com/books/3869-work-without-the-worker?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=work_without_the_worker&utm_content=tech_video
What is microwork? | Phil Jones Verso Books 2021-10-21 | Microwork - a precarious form of labour - is carried out by millions in order to make our digital lives possible. It is shaping the future of work.Phil Jones is the author of Work Without the Worker: Labour in the Age of Platform Capitalism - a book that explains the brutal truth behind our automated futures and the new world of work versobooks.com/books/3869-work-without-the-worker?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=work_without_the_worker&utm_content=microwork_video
How To Make Cops Obsolete with Geo Maher Verso Books 2021-10-20 | Geo Maher discusses his new book, A World Without Police, which offers concrete strategies for confronting and breaking police power as a first step toward building community alternatives that make the police obsolete. Surveying the post-protest landscape in Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Oakland, as well as the people who have experimented with policing alternatives on a mass scale in Latin America, Maher details the institutions we can count on to deliver security without the disorganizing interventions of cops.versobooks.com/books/3783-a-world-without-police
