MUTE COMPULSION : a marxist theory of the economic power of capital.

Description

A new Marxist theory of the abstract and impersonal forms of power in capitalism Despite insoluble contradictions, intense volatility and fierce resistance, the crisis-ridden capitalism of the 21st century lingers on. To understand capital’s paradoxical expansion and entrenchment amidst crisis and unrest, Mute Compulsion offers a novel theory of the historically unique forms of abstract and impersonal power set in motion by the subjection of social life to the profit imperative. Building on a critical reconstruction of Karl Marx’s unfinished critique of political economy and a wide range of contemporary Marxist theory, philosopher Søren Mau sets out to explain how the logic of capital tightens its stranglehold on the life of society by constantly remoulding the material conditions of social reproduction. In the course of doing so, Mau intervenes in classical and contemporary debates about the value form, crisis theory, biopolitics, social reproduction, humanism, logistics, agriculture, metabolism, the body, competition, technology and relative surplus populations. Søren Mau is a communist philosopher and postdoctoral researcher based in Copenhagen, Denmark. He is an editor of the journal Historical Materialism and a member of the board of the Danish Society for Marxist Studies. From the author: As it is written in the introduction: "Reading the present is probably not an easy diet" - and I must admit it. It is a book written on a rather abstract level, with a lot of discussions about various Marxist-philosophical directions and for that reason it is probably not the easiest book to start with. It requires a fairly significant foundation to stand on before reading it. In other words, you must have read some other Marxist theory before reading the book before you can really appreciate it. That said, it is a very important book in the discussion of our society and capitalism in particular. With full table of contents Cover Title Page Contents Contents A Note on Translations and References Introduction Economy and Power Aim, Method, Scope Overview Part One: Conditions I. Conceptualising Power Terminology Power Capital Historical Materialism The State Ideology Economic Power Foucault II. The Social Ontology of Economic Power Relations and Relata The Human Essence Settling Accounts Human Animals Corporeal Organisation Social Tool-Makers Natural and Social Modes, Relations, Forces, History Materialism Metabolic Domination Part Two: Relations III. Vertical Power Dependency Class Reproduction of Labour-Power Wage Labour Biopolitics IV. Horizontal Power Value is Form Value Is Domination Fetishism Postoone Value and Class Competition Part Three: Dynamics V. The Production of Power Anarchy and Despotism Personal or Impersonal? Subsumption: Formal and Real Discipline and Temporality Deskilling and Division Total Subsumption? Subsumption of Nature Agriculture Logistics VI. The Accumulation of Power Surplus Populations Causes Effects Negation as Condition Mute Compulsion Conclusion Abstractions Bibliography Appendix A: Cited Volumes of MECW Appendix B: Detailed List of Contents English Summary Dansk resumé Acknowledgements