Episode 32 - The Problem With Western Marxism w/ Gabriel Rockhill

Written By Pranay S

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In this episode, I’m joined by guest host Ashwin Shantha of the Journal of International Solidarity podcast to interview Gabriel Rockhill, professor of philosophy at Villanova University and author of Who Paid the Pipers of Western Marxism? (Monthly Review Press, 2025) about how the ‘imperial theory industry’ has served to undermine actually-existing socialist projects and national liberation struggles while maintaining a superficial guise of ‘radical’ politics. We discuss the political economy of knowledge production, the longstanding entanglements between Western academia, the national security state, and the capitalist ruling class, and what it means to understand the cultural and intellectual spheres as sites of political struggle.

About the show:

Return to Bandung is hosted by Pranay Somayajula, an Indian-American writer, researcher, and organizer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His work explores themes of diaspora, (inter)nationalism, anticolonial politics, and the many lives and afterlives of empire. You can learn more about Pranay and read his writing on his website, as well as on his Substack blog, culture shock.

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Pranay S
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Episode 31 - Trump’s Revival of the Monroe Doctrine w/ Guillaume Long