Alex Hochuli - The End of the End of History: Politics in the Twenty-First Century

The authors are co-producers and co-hosts of the global politics podcast Aufhebunga Bunga.

ALEX HOCHULI is a writer and research consultant based in So Paulo, Brazil, whose writing on Brazilian and global politics has appeared in publications including Jacobin, The Baffler, NBC, and Damage. Alex has degrees in international relations and in sociology from the LSE, Kings College London and the University of Kent. He tweets @Alex__1789.

GEORGE HOARE is a researcher and writer based in London, UK. He holds a doctorate from the University of Oxford and has previously held research and teaching positions at Hertford College, Oxford, Leiden University College, and Fudan University in Shanghai. He is the co-author of An Introduction to Antonio Gramsci (Bloomsbury, 2016), and tweets @gtbho.

PHILIP CUNLIFFE is a Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at the University of Kent. He joined the university in 2009 after completing his doctoral studies at Kings College London. His research focuses on IR theory, international conflict management and liberal intervention. He appears frequently on radio and writes widely on politics, contributing to academic journals, reviews, business intelligence services, magazines and various political blogs. His other books include most recently The New Twenty Years Crisis: A critique of international relations (2020). He tweets @thephilippics.

As with so many young men of our generation, tragically we were driven to start a podcast. Having come of age in the political wasteland of the 2000s, the turbulence of the mid-2010s felt energizing: the return of politics! When we started Aufhebunga Bunga in April 2017, we didnt have a clear idea of what we wanted to achieve, though the idea that the tedious End of History might finally be ending was a shared premise. As the podcast developed, we decided to task ourselves more explicitly with exploring the emerging ages contours.

We owe thanks, firstly, to friend of the podcast Lee Jones for encouraging us in mid-2019 to write this book. The undergraduate course Lee conceived and teaches at Queen Mary, University of London Politics at the End of the End of History was a further spur to develop the framework that had emerged in producing the podcast.

Gratitude is also owed to Catherine Liu for her continuing enthusiasm, and for inviting us to UC Irvine to record and participate in her graduate seminar critiquing wellness. Our CaliBunga series on the Californian ideology was a product of that trip, and helped further cement our perspective.

A huge thanks to all those who read and provided invaluable comments on chapter drafts: Benjamin Bradlow, Benjamin Fogel, Paolo Gerbaudo, Abby Gilbert, Lee Jones, Euan Marshall, Andresa Medeiros, Dan Taylor, Matthew Thompson, Sally Turner.

To all our podcast guests over the years: we owe you a significant debt of gratitude for your time and for participating in what continue to prove hugely enriching exchanges (for us, and hopefully for yourselves and the listeners). The conversations have certainly helped broaden and deepen our understanding of the strange times in which we find ourselves.

Thanks also to Jonny Mundey (jonnymundey.com) for creating our theme music and Dewi Gonzalez (ramune.io) for designing our logo.

And finally, a massive thanks to all our listeners and especially to our subscribers/patrons.

Needless to say, responsibility for all that is contained herein is ours alone.

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