Episode 16: London Elects a Mayor - a podcast by The Theory Doctors

This is Episode 16 of the State of the Theory Podcast.

Politics. Power. Popular Culture. And other stuff, probably.

In this series, we’re like super nerdy philosophical DJs: mashing up Serious Academic Questions with the most topical news and trends in pop culture. Each week, we’ll tackle a new topic and collide it with ‘critical theory’ (we’re pretty loose with our definitions, though, so expect the unexpected). Our aim is to destroy the stuff we know, explore the stuff we don’t and unsettle everything we think we know about the world. We take the obvious, the commonsensical, the certain, and then we rip it all to shreds. We are your theory doctors and we are always on call.

In this episode, we look at recent London mayoral election race. We examine the ways in which colonial history, race and Islamophobia featured in the way the campaigns were run, and the ways in which the election was covered. Specifically, we critique the way in which Zac Goldsmith, Conservative candidate, tried to build support among London's south Asian communities.

The texts we refer to are:

"Dominance Without Hegemony: History and Power in Colonial India" by Ranajit Guha (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dominance-without-Hegemony-Convergences-Inventories-y/dp/0674214838)

"The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order" by Samuel P. Huntington (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Clash-Civilizations-Remaking-World-Order/dp/074323149X)

"The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan" by Yasmin Khan (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-Partition-Making-India-Pakistan/dp/0300143338)

You can see the Conservative campaign leaflet here: http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/mar/16/zac-goldsmith-leaflet-british-indians-heirlooms

You can watch the campaign video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq-pDjrs-FA

You can watch Zac Goldsmith's interview about Bollywood here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vViUKsJ42ZM

Our theme music is "The Face of God" by The Agrarians (freemusicarchive.org/music/The_Agra…he_Face_of_God)

State of the Theory is brought to you by Hannah Fitzpatrick (@drhfitz) and Anindya Raychaudhuri (@DrAnindyaR)

Find us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/stateofthetheorypodcast) or Tweet us @TheoryDoctors

Further episodes of State of the Theory

Further podcasts by The Theory Doctors

Website of The Theory Doctors