Politics Theory Other

Teemu Ruskola joins PTO to talk about his new book, 'The Unmaking of the Chinese Working Class: How Communism Built a Capitalist Superpower'. We talked about how China's remarkable economic rise was facilitated by the state's socialist inheritance and about the central role played by Chinese migrant workers. We went on to discuss the creation of a conventional capitalist labour market in China, as the so-called iron rice bowl of the State Owned Enterprises and the cradle-to-grave welfare system for urban workers was broken up. We went on to talk about the so-called New Enclosure Movement in the Chinese countryside that is finally expropriating the rural population of their control over land. Finally, we touched on the truly global implications of the unmaking and remaking of the Chinese working class.

Between 2015 and 2022, a Saudi-led coalition of Arab states waged a devastating military campaign in Yemen, which - David Wearing argues in today's episode - was so severe that it resembles Israel's genocidal actions in Gaza. A key role in the Yemen conflict was played by British-built planes that were used to indiscriminately bomb the country, and contributed to what was described by the United Nations at the time as the world's worst humanitarian disaster. In a new report for the Campaign Against the Arms Trade and the Transition Security Project, David and his co-authors argue the case for the British government and UK arms companies to pay reparations to the people of Yemen. In the episode we talked about the report and Britain's role in the Yemen conflict, including in the current phase as hostilities between Ansar Allah and Saudi Arabia escalate once more. And finally, we touched on the UAE and the Manchester City scandal and what it tells us about the phenomenon of the gulf monarchies' involvement in sportswashing. Notes: Britain’s Role in Yemen’s Brutal War Must End – And Reparations Should Follow: https://zeteo.uk/p/britains-role-in-yemens-brutal-war Reparations for Yemen: A proposal for a windfall tax on British arms companies that enabled Saudi war crimes https://caat.org.uk/app/uploads/2026/09/CAATTSP-Yemen-Reperations-WEB.pdf

In the popular imagination WWII is still often seen in both the United States and Britain as a moment of great national consensus, where political differences and class struggle were set aside in the cause of defeating European Fascism and Japanese imperialism. But in his new book, 'Troop Movements', Tejasvi Nagaraja shows how the reality is much more complex, with military mobilisation and the wartime transformation of the US economy producing both new opportunities, and new dangers for Black Americans and all those engaged in anti-fascist and anti-racist struggle. In the interview we talked about war-time wildcat strikes that aimed at creating better conditions for workers and that contested racism in the workplace. We went on to discuss the consequences of the export of Jim Crow - with the deployment of racially segregated American units overseas and how that process affected local people and the management of subject populations in the British Empire. And finally, we talked about the post-war upsurge of strikes and protest within the US military - as soldiers deployed overseas demanded to return home, and as they sought to oppose nascent US imperialism and the reimposition of European colonialism in territories that had fallen under the control of Imperial Japan.

On the peace deal between Iran and the United States, which is expected to see the strait of Hormuz opened in exchange for a lifting of the US naval blockade of Iran. We talked about how seriously to take the deal (given how vague it is and how much has been put off to future talks). We also talked about the historic significance of Iran linking the peace deal to a cessation of Israeli violence in Lebanon. And finally we discussed where the conflict leaves the broader region and what the consequences of the war will be for nuclear proliferation.

For decades in much of Europe far-right opinion has had electoral expression in political parties that can command millions of votes, but until relatively recently in Britain anti-migrant and racist views - though prevalent - did not result in electoral vehicles with truly mass support. This all changed with the rise first of UKIP - and then its successors the Brexit Party and Reform - who can now command a degree of popular support that earlier far-right political formations could not. Britain has also seen a major increase in far-right protest and violence with 2025 seeing the biggest far-right rally in Britain's history after a summer of flag waving protests that was preceded by violent attacks on mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers. To talk about how we got here - to a situation where the most plausible outcome at the next general election is a Reform-led government PTO is joined by Daniel Trilling, who has spent more than fifteen years researching and writing about the far-right in Britain.

Phil Burton-Cartledge joins PTO to talk about the recent local elections in England and the parliamentary elections in Wales and Scotland in which the Labour Party suffered an historic defeat. We talked about what the results mean for Starmer's leadership and for the long-term trajectory of the party. We also chatted about the Greens and what can be done to respond to media smears against Zack Polanski and the Green Party more broadly. Finally, we talked about the remarkable results in Wales and Scotland where both the Welsh Senedd and the Scottish parliament will now be led by nationalist parties.

William Figueroa returns to PTO to talk about China's response to the US-Israeli war on Iran and the country's role in the subsequent peace negotiations. We chatted about whether the conflict has substantially changed Chinese foreign policy in West Asia, and whether Iran's ability to withstand the extraordinary violence of the US and Israeli assault has changed the weight China gives to its relationship with the Islamic Republic. We also talked about whether the failings of the US military and the depletion of its weapons stocks changes Chinese calculations regarding Taiwan. Finally, we talked about Chinese soft power and how the Iran war has been portrayed in Chinese media.