Building Solidarity in an Age of Insecurity with Astra Taylor

In this week's episode, we speak with Astra Taylor, a critically acclaimed writer, filmmaker and organizer about practicing solidarity in an age of insecurity. Taylor discusses insecurity as a structural feature of capitalism and advocates for solidarity, which fosters collective responsibility and mutual obligation.

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Show Notes:

Host Sanjay Ruparelia and Astra Taylor discuss the practice of solidarity in an age of insecurity. Taylor distinguishes between existential and manufactured insecurity, emphasizing that insecurity is a structural feature of capitalism. She also contrasts solidarity with unity and fraternity, highlighting solidarity's relational and transformative nature. She advocates for a "solidarity state," which fosters collective responsibility and mutual obligation. Taylor also addresses the challenges of achieving global solidarity, noting the debt Western nations owe to the Global South due to historical injustices. She emphasizes the need for international cooperation to address crises like climate change and pandemics.

Host: Sanjay Ruparelia, Jarislowsky Democracy Chair and Associate Professor of Politics and Public Administration at Toronto Metropolitan University.

Guest: Astra Taylor, co-founder of the Debt Collective, documentary director, author and frequent contributor to publications including Dissent, The New Yorker and n+1. Her most recent book, co-authored with Leah Hunt-Hendrix, is Solidarity: The Past, Present, and Future of a World-Changing Idea.

Background Reading:

Yogendra Yadav's Making Sense of Indian Democracy: Theory in Practice

Suhas Palshikar, K.C. Suri and Yogendra Yadav's Party Competition in Indian States: Electoral Politics in Post-Congress Polity

Alfred Stepan, Juan J. Linz and Yogendra Yadav's Crafting State-Nations: India and Other Multinational Democracies

Astra Taylor's The Age of Insecurity: Coming Together as Things Fall Apart

Leah Hunt-Hendrix and Astra Taylor's Solidarity: The Past, Present, and Future of a World-Changing Idea