Society Archives | Reset DOC

Analyses

Society

Two weeks after the ceasefire that halted the twelve-day war between Israel and Iran, regional tensions remain high, and domestic reverberations within Iran continue to unfold. While the conflict briefly united a politically fragmented society, it also exposed deep structural fissures. Most Iranians rejected foreign intervention, reaffirming a longstanding scepticism rooted in historical memory and national experience. Although critical of the current system, most of them seemed to agree that meaningful and sustainable transformation could only emerge from within.

Political Theory
The UN Security Council is Broken. Can it Be Fixed?
Daniele Archibugi 30 June 2025

It is certainly surprising that, in the middle of major international conflicts (such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the repeated massacres in Gaza, and the Israel–Iran war), the United Nations Security Council has not been able to play the role of mediation that the UN Charter contemplated. The UNSC has gathered daily, and its permanent and elected members have discussed both minor and major crises, but without being able to agree on any Resolution regarding the most important events. By itself, this would not have been a major change: in the Cold War, many UNSC Resolutions were blocked by either the USA or the USSR veto. For far too long, two major blocks operated in opposite directions: on one side, the liberal democracies led by France, the United Kingdom, and, above all, the United States, and on the opposite side, the Soviet Union – and later Russia – supported by China.
Political Theory
After Liberalism, What? An Interview with Adrian Pabst
Giancarlo Bosetti 28 May 2025

After the publication of Postliberalism: The New Politics of Meaning (2021), by Adrian Pabst, the ranks of those criticizing liberalism and liberal democracies have grown – particularly those who take upon themselves the task of moving beyond a political phase marked by discontent and the erosion of democracy on a global scale. Some authors attempt to give meaning to this “post” by framing it as an alternative to both neoliberalism and populism. These include conservative thinkers (like Patrick Deneen), religious and theologically engaged figures (like John Milbank), and others who push their critique of liberal universalism to the edge of reactionary extremism (like Yoram Hazony), to the point that they appear more anti- than post-liberal. Pabst, a British political philosopher and Catholic, represents a more moderate, reformist version of this trend. He argues that modern liberalism has exhausted its capacity to give meaning to political, social, and economic life – because radical individualism, combined with a socially unbound market and a technocratic state, has reduced the human being to a consumer.
Political Theory
Curtis Yarvin, Nick Land and the Dark Utopia
of the New Radical Right
Editorial board in collaboration with AI 17 April 2025

A galaxy of intellectuals, theorists, entrepreneurs, and cultural agitators is rewriting the language of the American right. In place of old conservatism, a new vision is taking shape—anti-egalitarian, anti-liberal, and post-democratic—one that looks to both the feudal past and the digital future to imagine a new order: hierarchical, technical, algorithmic. At its center stands the enigmatic figure of Curtis Yarvin.
Society
Tectonic Shifts, Not Total Decoupling: Shaun Breslin
on U.S.-China Trade War
Alessandra Tommasi 17 April 2025

Tit-for-tat tariff hikes have paused (for now) at 145% on Chinese imports into the U.S., countered by 125% levies on American goods heading to China. But the trade war shows no signs of ending: the White House is already threatening to raise tariffs again – this time to a staggering 245% – “as a result of China’s retaliatory actions,” and is not ruling out that countries – from neighboring Latin America to Europe – may soon have to choose between Beijing and Washington. Xi Jinping has vowed that China would “fight to the end.” For a Chinese perspective on this trade war, Reset DOC has reached out to Professor Shaun Breslin, Director of the European Hub for Contemporary China.
Political Theory
Slobodian: Beyond Neoliberalism, Techno-Feudal Dystopias Riding the Far Right’s Wave
Fulvia Giachetti 9 April 2025

Are we witnessing the rise of a new world order—one ruled not by governments, but by private armies, tech tycoons, and corporate fiefdoms? What sounds like dystopian fiction may, in fact, reflect the dream of a fringe of anarcho-capitalists, now alarmingly close to real power, especially within the ascendant far right. But is it really a “Techno-Feudal” turn or something more fragmented and chaotic? To make sense of the forces at play—their ambitions, strategies, and contradictions—Reset DOC spoke with historian Quinn Slobodian, author of Crack-Up Capitalism: Market Radicals and the Dream of a World without Democracy.
Political Theory
Habermas: Europe Must Go Ahead with its Integration
and Self-Defense
Jürgen Habermas 3 April 2025

Clearly there has never been seamless agreement among the leading national politicians of the West – and, more broadly, of the G7 countries – on their political perspectives; but they have always shared a background understanding of their affiliation to “the” West under the leadership of the United States. This political constellation has disintegrated with the most recent return to power of Donald Trump and the systemic change in the United States that this has set in motion, even if, formally speaking, the fate of NATO remains an open question for the time being. From a European perspective, this epochal break has far-reaching consequences – both for the further course and possible end of the war in Ukraine and for the need, willingness and ability of the European Union to find a redemptive response to the new situation. Otherwise, Europe will also be drawn into the maelstrom of the declining superpower.
Political Theory
Postliberalism(s): A Brief History of a Resurgent Ideology – With Chris Wright
Fulvia Giachetti 19 February 2025

Like any “ism,” liberalism is many things, but its diverse conceptual and political values are undeniably in crisis. From Viktor Orbán’s embrace of “illiberal democracy” and Donald Trump’s incendiary rhetoric to the British Blue Labour’s pro-worker yet anti-woke stance, reactions to liberalism’s decline vary widely. Yet, they share a common thread: postliberalism. Postliberalism itself is complex. To unpack its nuances, Reset DOC spoke with Chris Wright, history professor at the City University of New York and author of Popular Radicalism and the Unemployed in Chicago during the Great Depression.
Political Theory, Society
Indian Americans, Christian Nationalists, and Post-Liberal America
Chandra Mallampalli 12 February 2025

At the confirmation hearing of Kash Patel for the position of FBI Director, Senator Thom Tillis introduced him as the son of Indian immigrants from their home state of Gujarat, which he described as a “melting pot” of religions. Patel’s father had fled Uganda during Idi Amin’s expulsion of Indians before ultimately settling the family in New York. Patel displayed his religion and ethnicity alongside his belief in the U.S. Constitution. He saluted his parents by declaring “Jai Sri Krishna,” a greeting that literally means glory or victory to Lord Krishna. If we set aside the grave concerns Democrats raised about Patel’s conspiracy mongering and his ambitions to dismantle the “deep state” by exacting revenge on Trump’s enemies, Patel’s nomination appears to reflect values Democrats would embrace: a commitment to pluralistic democracy, an embrace of racial and cultural differences, and an affirmation of America as a haven for immigrants. But are these the values that drew him to the Trump administration?
Political Theory
Mimmo Cangiano on the Culture Wars: “Ideas Risk Becoming Mere Commodities”
Fulvia Giachetti 7 February 2025

In Europe and the United States, politics has long been dominated by cultural wars, leading to extreme polarization in public debate. One consequence of this is the overshadowing of economic disparities and social conflicts. What are the origins of this phenomenon, how has it evolved in recent years, and how can it be addressed? To explore these questions, Reset DOC spoke with Mimmo Cangiano, professor of Literary Criticism and Comparative Literature at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. Among his most recent works are Cultura di destra e società di massa (Right-Wing Culture and Mass Society, Nottetempo, 2022) and Guerre culturali e neoliberismo (Cultural Wars and Neoliberalism, Nottetempo, 2024).