Manufacturing Dissent Since 1996
New interviews throughout the week

The patriarch's grift: On Trump, between capitalism and democracy.

Dec 22 2018
The question being posed by the contemporary period is the relationship between capitalism and democracy. To what extent is capitalism compatible with liberal democracy in different historical periods of its development? What we are going through at the current moment is an inflection point. Trying to understand that is the key thing. Discussing whether this is a 'new form' of fascism, or a repeat of the 1930s - it obscures getting at that basic issue.

Sociologist Dylan Riley explains why Donald Trump is not a fascist, and how viewing Trump's presidency through a 1930s lens only serves to blind us from the important task of understanding the basic issue of contemporary politics - the escalating conflict between capitalism and the post-War liberal democratic project.

Dylan wrote the article What Is Trump? for the New Left Review.

 

Guest

Dylan Riley

Dylan Riley is a Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley and a member of the New Left Review editorial committee.

 

Related Interviews
Kate Wagner
Jun 13 2023

McMansions: American Apocalypse

Claire Provost
May 16 2023

How Corporations Overthrew Democracy

Esme von Hoffman
Jan 9 2023

Not All Crypto Bros / Esmé von Hoffman

Nojang Khatami
Nov 9 2022

Democracy in Iran / Nojang Khatami

Jodi Dean
Oct 17 2022

Whither the Left / Jodi Dean