Housmans are thrilled to be welcoming Richard Seymour to the shop for a double book launch! Richard is one of the country’s pre-eminent leftist thinkers and writers and we are extremely lucky to help celebrate his latest polemic, from Verso, Disaster Nationalism: The Downfall of Liberal Civilization as well as the new paperback re-issue of The Twittering Machine: How Capitalism Stole Our Social Life, from Indigo Press.

In Disaster Nationalism, Seymour argues that the rise of the new far right has left the world grappling with a profound misunderstanding. While the spotlight often shines on the actions of charismatic leaders such as Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro, the true peril lies elsewhere. Defeating these people will not stem the tide driving them forward. They are merely the embodiment of profound forces that are rarely understood. Propelled through the vast networks of social media and fueled by far-right influencers, enthralled by images of disaster and fantasies of doom, they have emerged from a reservoir of societal despair, fear, and isolation. Within this seething cauldron, we witness not only the surge of far-right political movements but also the sparks of individual and collective violence against perceived enemies, from ‘lone wolf’ killers to terrifying pogroms. Should a new fascism emerge, it will coalesce from these very elements. This is disaster nationalism. Seymour delves deep into this alarming development in world politics, dissecting its roots, its influencers, and the threats it poses. With meticulous analysis and compelling storytelling, Seymour offers a stark warning. The battle against disaster nationalism is not just political; it is a struggle for our collective soul and the future of civilization itself. Unless we understand the deeper forces propelling the far-right resurgence, we have little chance of stopping it.

In surrealist artist Paul Klee’s The Twittering Machine, the bird-song of a diabolical machine acts as bait to lure humankind into a pit of damnation. Seymour argues that this is a chilling metaphor for our relationship with social media. Former social media executives tell us that the system is an addiction-machine. We are users, waiting for our next hit as we like, comment and share. We write to the machine as individuals, but it responds by aggregating our fantasies, desires and frailties into data, and returning them to us as a commodity experience.

Through journalism, psychoanalytic reflection and insights from users, developers, security experts and others, Seymour probes the human side of the machine, asking what we’re getting out of it, and what we’re getting into.

For the first half of the event Richard will be in conversation and discuss the themes and arguments of both books, before this broadens out into an audience Q&A. After this we encourage milling about and then usually head to the pub.

Feel free to BYOB.

As always, tickets are priced on a sliding scale. If you are unable to pay for a ticket please do not hesitate to contact us at shop@housmans.com, and a free ticket will be made available.

If you choose ‘book + event entry’ or ‘special bundle’, your copies of the book will be available to collect on the evening. If you would like to collect it earlier, or arrange for delivery, please contact us (postage is £2.95). Telephone 020 7837 4473 or email shop@housmans.com.

Doors Open at 7pm, Event Starts 7:30