In this episode, I’m joined by Pawel Wargan, Coordinator of the Secretariat of the Progressive International, to discuss the past, present, and future of left internationalism and international solidarity. In this wide-ranging conversation, we unpack what ‘internationalism’ really means, how debates over internationalism have evolved on the left over time, and what a politics of solidarity across borders can and should like amid the present moment of global upheaval.

Return to Bandung is hosted by Pranay Somayajula, an Indian-American writer, researcher, and organizer based in Washington, D.C. His work explores themes of diaspora, (inter)nationalism, anticolonial politics, and the many lives and afterlives of empire. You can learn more about Pranay and read his writing on his website, as well as on his Substack blog, culture shock.

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to leave a review or rating, and subscribe to the show on Spotify or Apple Podcasts!

Sources and helpful links:

• Vladimir Lenin and M.N. Roy — Theses on the National and Colonial Questions (1920)

• Progressive International — The People’s Academy

• Aditya Iyer — The Indian Radical Who Helped Found the Mexican Communist Party (Jacobin, August 2021)

• Religion Dispatches coverage of the 2024 National Conservatism Conference

• Reactionary International website

• Domenico Losurdo — Western Marxism: How it was Born, How it Died, How it can be Reborn (Monthly Review Press, 2024)

• Paris Yeros — A Polycentric World Will Only Be Possible by the Intervention of the ‘Sixth Great Power’ (Agrarian South, December 2023)

• Jason Hickel — How Unequal Exchange Shapes Our World (Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, July 2025)

• Vijay Prashad — Resurrecting the Concept of the Triad (Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, June 2023)

• Nick Burns — Never Forget Portugal’s Revolution (Jacobin, April 2024)

• Aimé Césaire — Discourse on Colonialism (1950)

• Robin D.G. Kelley — Fighting Fascism: Lessons From the Colonies (Lecture at Socialism 2025 conference)

Social links:

Return to Bandung:

• Twitter: ⁠twitter.com/returntobandung⁠

• Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/returntobandung/⁠

Pranay Somayajula:

• Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/p_somayajula⁠

• Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/pranay.somayajula/⁠

• Website: ⁠https://www.pranaysomayajula.com/⁠

• Substack: ⁠https://www.culture-shock.xyz/⁠

Pawel Wargan:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/pawelwargan

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pawelwargan/

Progressive International:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ProgIntl

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/progintl_en/

• Website: https://progressive.international/