Can abolishing all political parties topple fascism?
5/8/202654 min
Simone Weil had a radical solution to end fascism that surged through Europe in the aftermath of the First World War: abolish political parties. She argued political parties were not democratic, they were dangerous. IDEAS producer Nicola Luksic explores the French philosopher's enduring insights to help us better understand the current political climate. *This episode originally aired on Oct. 20, 2025.
Guests in this episode:
Kathryn Lawson is a faculty fellow at Kings Universy College in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Scott Ritner is a political theorist and Simone Weil scholar. He teaches political science and first-year writing at the University of Colorado in Boulder.
Michael Ignatieff is a professor of historical studies at the Central European University in Vienna. He was the head of the CEU when it was based in Budapest. Ignatieff is also the former leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and he led the official opposition in the House of Commons from 2008 to 2011.
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First 90 secondsSpeaker 00:00
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Nahlah Ayed· Host0:32
[gentle music] Welcome to Ideas. I'm Nahlah Ayed.
Quitterie Hervouet0:42
Tuesday, three hours of work in the course of the day. Beginning of the morning, one hour of drilling. Thursday, from 10:00 AM until about 2:00 PM, metal polishing on the big fly press. Work had to be done over again after it was completely done by order of the foreman in a way that was uncomfortable and dangerous.
Nahlah Ayed· Host1:12
Paris, 1934, excerpts from The Factory Journal, as written by French philosopher Simone Weil.
Quitterie Hervouet1:20
Was the order to do it over again justified or bullying? I had to duck every time in order to avoid being