Episode

2/15 ‘Care’ Under Capitalism; Pakistan’s Elections Explained w/ Premilla Nadasen, Hasan Ali

February 15, 2024

It’s another EmMajority Report Thursday! She speaks with Premilla Nadasen, professor of history at Barnard College, to discuss her recent book Care: The Highest Stage of Capitalism. Then, she speaks with Hasan Ali, journalist reporting on US foreign policy and South Asian politics, to discuss his recent piece in The Nation entitled “The Unexpected and Uncertain Result of Pakistan’s Elections.” First, Emma runs through updates on the IDF’s raid of Al Nasser, the shooting at the Chief’s Super Bowl Parade, Donald Trump’s legal woes, polling coming out of Michigan, the impeachment of Secretary Mayorkas, NY Democrats’ willful ignorance, the Texas National Guard, and Indonesian election results, before watching some commentary from orphaned children in Gaza. Professor Premilla Nadasen then dives right into the role of the pandemic in exposing the massive societal gaps in our appreciation for care work, before stepping back to look at what exactly “care work” entails, and how the industry is framed as necessary and “essential” as laborers receive little to no benefits for their work and no support from the government. Expanding on this, Professor Nadasen walks through the makeup of the industry’s workforce, its evolution after taking off at the onset of the neoliberal era, and the role undermining the welfare state played in maintaining insecurity among marginalized segments of the population, pushing them into the unregulated field of care work. After looking at the hypocrisy this creates – that of forcing women out of their families to take care of the children of the wealthier –   Premilla walks through the importance of supporting care work outside of the marketplace, and wraps up with a brief assessment of the role of social reproduction in care work. Hasan Ali then quickly runs through the political evolution of Imran Khan, from cricket star to military-backed Trumpian populist to politically imprisoned anti-military martyr, working up to the recent mass repression of Khan’s PTI party members ahead of Pakistan’s 2024 election, and the massive attempt by the military to steal the election out of PTI’s grasps. After running through Khan’s antagonistic relationship with the USA and CIA, Ali explores the intense backlash to the military’s attempt to steal the election, and what to expect heading forward if the PTI is truly able to come out as victors.

And in the Fun Half: Emma is joined by Brandon Sutton and Matt Binder as they tackle the recent reporting around Israel’s murder of a 6-year-old Palestinian girl, Brian from the Chicago Suburbs calls in about the plague of corporate landlords, and a caller from Columbus discusses the failure of the lesser-of-two-evils framing. Donald Trump flips over questions about his mental acuity, Bob from Maryland tackles the uselessness of wish casting on the left, and Matt Walsh explains why you can solve homelessness by ending homelessness, plus, your calls and IM’s!

Check out Premilla’s book here: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2098-care

Check out Hasan’s piece here: https://www.thenation.com/article/world/pakistan-election-pti/

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