With the world grappling with the Trump presidency and the consequences of Brexit, Carlo Pizzati’s recently launched book, “The Edge of an Era” (Juggernaut Books) forays into very relevant avenues of nationalism, cosmopolitanism, neoliberalism, etc.
The book is a collection of interviews with three noted intellectuals, critical theorist Homi Bhabha, political philosopher John Gray and novelist-essayist Pankaj Mishra. Recently, in a discussion in New Delhi with author and journalist Manu Joseph, Pizzati elaborated on these issues and many more, while ascertaining the epochal quality of the age we inhabit which Pankaj Mishra eloquently terms as the “Age of Anger”.
According to Pizzati, the important aspect about current times is that it is transitionary, “it is not about whether the age is special or not, there is a drastic shift that has occurred in geopolitics.” The idea was to map the lead up to significant events such as Trump’s election and Brexit and thus he compiled the interviews with these intellectuals. However, the views of any intellectual are judged with a pinch of salt. Pizzati is of the opinion that instead of ignoring them, the intellectuals should be tested and the tools with which they hypothesise should be viewed critically, “We shouldn’t listen to so called intellectuals, who merely sit in the Guardian office. There is a need to distinguish between good and bad intellectuals.”
The question of the elites in existing society is an integral part of the book. Pizzati is of the opinion, backed by the views of John Gray, that a closed system of elites results in consumption. “It sits back, it relaxes, it commits mistakes and gets attached to the mistakes which ultimately results in Brexit.” He alludes to the elite analysis of Italian philosopher Vilfredo Pareto, who believed that laziness was the reason for the continuing complacency of the elites. They don’t want to change and this confirms their belief that they want status quo to be sustained. Talking about possible shortcomings to analysis in general, Pizzati states that a lot of analysts inhabit impermeable pockets, wherein they do not go out to arrive at diverse understandings.
The common theme running across the three conversations that Pizzati had was, as Manu Joseph puts it, “the return of the idea of home” or rather the resurgence of identity politics. As mentioned in the book, according to Homi Bhabha, this resurgence is a direct consequence of the failure of globalisation. As Pizzati states, “Millions of people did not benefit from this new prototype of citizens and this led to an identity crisis.” This eventually then led to a loss of worth not only in terms of money but also self. Therefore, this insecurity is what we witness in the prevailing refugee crisis and migration, wherein “people are so vulnerable that they feel threatened by the invasion of new cultures. This also ties with the idea of humiliation experienced by the migrators.”
Identity politics
The debate surrounding nationalism is intrinsically tied to identity politics. When asked about Pizzati’s own views about nationalism, he simply says, “it should not exist.” According to him, while it was a brilliant invention, it is one of the most aggressive form of politics. Moreover, he believes that nationalism is a tool of manipulation which is used against the vulnerable sections and has a very limited scope. “What is real is the relationship you have to the culture you grow up in and it does not necessarily have to be nationalist.” Interestingly, this feeling is not just limited to nation states, but is also in terms of conglomerates, which he terms as “corporate nationalism” in one of his interviews with Homi Bhabha.
“It refers to identification with corporate brands, and was in lieu of an introduction to technocracy and the subsequent game of narcissism when you think that you are the brand.”
Thus, in retrospect, this seems to offer a very bleak view of the era we inhabit with foiled attempts at nation building and achieving a globalised and equal world. However, at the same time it is also important to remember that these changes are in constant flux and not very linear (as is evidenced by Macron’s election in France). Just as Pizzati concludes the introduction to his book, “looking at the smaller scale often gives us a more intense vision of a constellation of different contradictions coming together. It is to this constellation that we direct our attention, trying to minimise damages of an era that promises war and struggle, pushed by human folly.”
