Revolutions In Reverse

DAVID GRAEBER
O
Revolutions in Reverse Essays on Politics, Violence, Art, and
Inagination
DavidGiaebei
ISBN978-1-57027-243-1
CoveidesignbyHaduhiSzukis
InteiioilayoutbyMaigaietKilljoy
ReleasedbyMinoiCompositions,LondoniNewYoikiPoitWatson
MinoiCompositionsisaseiiesofinteiventions&piovocations
diawingfiomautonomouspolitics,avant-gaideaesthetics,andthe
ievolutionsofeveiydaylife.
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Contents
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
The Shock of Victory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Hope in Common . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Revolution in Reverse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Army of Altruists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
The Sadness of Post-workerism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Against Kamikaze Capitalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107


Introduction
Tnr roi:ovs nvr sro rr, o: uvrsoniv, :o vvo-
videabiiefintioductionexplaininghowalltheseessayshangto-
gethei. Its an inteiesting question because it wasnt my idea to
combine them all in the same volume to begin with. Actually,
thecollectionistcameoutinGieek,withthetitle, ,
(Movenent, Violence, Art and Revolution.
Athens: Black Peppei Piess, 2009), and they weie assembled by
theii editoi, and tianslatoi, Spyios Koyioyklis. When I ist saw
thevolumeonavisittoGieeceinMayof2010Ithoughttheidea
foi the collection was inspiied, it made a soit of intuitive sense
to me, as did it, I was soon given to undeistand, to many in the
movement in Gieece itself, wheie many of the aiguments found
within weie taken up by vaiious anaichists, anti-authoiitaiians,
andactivistsinthewakeoftheeconomicciisisandconfusionthat
followedtheheadydaysofDecembei2009.
Sowhatistheunifyingtheme?
Itshelpful,peihaps,toconsideithecontextinwhichthesees-
says weie oiiginally wiitten. All of these essays weie composed
between 2004 and 2010. Tis was not an easy time foi some-
one, like myself, actively engaged in social movements. Between
ioughly1998and2002,theadventoftheglobaljusticemovement
had given all of us a sudden sense of almost endless possibility.
2 | DvioGvrnrv
Tewakeof9i11thieweveiythingintodisaiiay.Foimanyitwas
impossibletomaintainthesenseofenthusiasmthathadkeptus
soaliveintheyeaisbefoie,manybuinedout,gaveup,emigiated,
bickeied, killed themselves, applied to giaduate school, oi with-
diewintovaiiousotheisoitsofmoibiddespeiation.Foime,the
pointwheieIcameclosesttodespaiiwasintheimmediatewake
ofthe2004USelections,whentheoiiginallystolenpiesidencyof
Geoige W. Bush was actually given what seemed like a genuine
populaimandate.Atist,intheimmediateafteimathof9i11,it
seemedthatweweielookingataiepeatofsomethingiatheilike
WoildWaiI:thepeiiodfiomioughly1880to1914wasafteiall
quite similai to the decade and a piece that followed the fall of
theBeilinWai:atimewheiewaisbetweenmajoipoweisseemed
to be a thing of the past, wheie the dominant poweis embiaced
an ethos of fiee tiade and fiee maikets, of fienetic capital accu-
mulation,butatthesametime,anageoftheiapidiiseofglobal
anticapitalistmovements,accompaniedbyanethosofievolution-
aiyinteinationalisminwhichtheanaichistmovementseemedto
dene the vital centei of the iadical left. Te iuleis of the woild
ultimately panicked, and ieacted by initiating a neai-centuiy of
woildwai,allowingappealstonationalism,statesecuiity,iacism
andjingoismofeveiykindofteaithose(toit)teiiifyingalliances
apait.Itstiuckme,aftei9i11,thattheyweietiyingthesametiick
again,itwasasif,facedwitheventhepiospectofaneectivean-
ticapitalistmovementemeigingglobally,theyimmediatelypulled
outthebiggestguntheyhadadeclaiationofpeimanentglobal
waimobilizationdespitethefactthattheenemytheyhadcho-
sen,iag-tagbandofIslamistswhohad,eectively,gotextiaoidi-
naiilylucky,pullingooneoftheistmadteiioiistschemesin
histoiythathadactuallywoiked,andweiecleailyneveigoingto
iepeatthepeifoimancecouldnotpossiblypiovideanadequate
long-teimexcuse.Itwasneveigoingtowoik.Yetsomehow,the
Ameiicanpublichadpassedaiefeiendumonthepioject.Whats
moie,Iwatchedindismayhoweveiyattempttoieviveanintei-
nationalspiiitiesistanceaioundtheG8,thenG20,theClimate
Confeiences seemed to foundei, oi at least, ieach a seiies of
limitedtacticvictoiiesthatalwaysseemedtoholdoutthepiomise
oftianslatingintoanewbuistofeneigyandoflongei-teimmove-
mentbuilding(nally,wekepttellingeachothei,weieoveithe
hump!),butwhich,inieality,neveiieallydid.Inpait,yes,itwas
I:voouc:io|3
becausethelevelofiepiessionoimoiepiecisely,whatthepolice
andotheisecuiityfoicesfelttheycouldgetawaywithindealing
withushaddiamaticallyincieased.Butthatwasbynomeansall
ofit.Tothecontiaiy,itwastheenemysveiydisoiganizationthat
wasouiwoistfoil.
Iespeciallyiemembeiwhen,in2007,befoietheG-8meetings
inJapan,someJapanesefiiendsaskedmetoputtogetheiastiate-
gicanalysisoftheglobalsituationfiomthepeispectiveofcapital,
andthemovementsagainstit.Iendedupwoikingwithabiilliant
team, mainly diawn fiom people active in the Midnight Notes
collective and we developed what I still considei a compelling
analysisoftheeconomicimpassefacedbycapitalatthatmoment
andthemostplausiblestiategytooveicomeit.(Essentially,weex-
pectedthemtoadeclaieofglobalecologicalciisis,followedbya
gieencapitaliststiategydesignedtodiveitiesouiceslikesoveieign
wealthfundsbeginningtoslipawayfiomthecontiolofnancial
elitesbackundeitheiicontiol.)Istillholditwasthebeststiategy
theycouldhaveadoptedfiomthepeispectiveofthelong-teimvi-
abilityofthecapitalistoidei.Pioblemwas:thatcleailywasnttheii
piioiity.Atthesummits,alltheydidwasbickeiwithoneanothei.
Whatstheiadicaliesponsetoconfusion?Howoneaithweiewe
abletocomeupwithaiesponsetotheiievilplansiftheycouldnt
evenguieoutwhatthoseweie?
Ofcouiseinietiospect,itseasieitoseewhatwashappening.
Tosebigwigsassemblingattheiivaiioussummitsweiepiobably
moieawaiethanweweiethattheentiiesystembasedonaveiy
old-fashioned alliance of militaiy and nancial powei typical of
thelatteidaysofcapitalistempiieswasbeingheldtogetheiwith
tapeandstiing.Teyweielessconceinedtosavethesystem,than
toensuiethattheieiemainednoplausiblealteinativeinanyones
mindsothat,whenthemomentofcollapsedidcome,theywould
betheonlyonesoeiingsolutions.Notthatsincethegieatnan-
cial collapse of 2008, solutions have been paiticulaily foithcom-
ing.Butatleasttheieisnowaytodenynowthatafundamental
pioblemdoesexist.Teoideithatexistedbetween2004and2008
even if it has managed to achieve a kind of giudging acquies-
cenceinciiticalquaiteisofthewoildisneveicomingback.It
simplywasntviable.
O
4 | DvioGvrnrv
Teseessaysthenaiethepioductofaconfusedinteiiegnum.It
wasatimewhenitwasveiydiculttondsignsofhope.Iftheie
isasinglethemeinthiscollectionofessays,then,itisthattheyall
staitoutfiomsomeaspectofthepeiiodthatseemspaiticulaily
bleak, depiessing, what appeaied to be some failuie, stumbling
block, counteivailing foice, foolishness of the global anticapital-
ist movement, and to tiy to iecupeiate something, some hidden
aspectweusuallydontnotice,someanglefiomwhichthesame
appaientlydesolatelandscapemightlookentiielydieient.
Tis is most obvious peihaps in the ist thiee essays, all of
which concein the lessons to be leained fiom the global justice
movement,butitstiue,inonewayoianothei,ofallofthem.
Itsappiopiiate,then,thatthecollectionbeginswithTe Shock
of Victory,whichispeihapsthemostexplicitinthisiegaid.Most
ofuswhohadbeeninvolvedintheglobaljusticemovementdid
not, as I iemaiked, come out of it feeling we had made much of
dentinthewoild.Weallexpeiiencedtheinghtingandfiazzled
confusionthatfollowedtheistheadyyeais,theciumblingalli-
ances and seemingly endless bittei aiguments ovei iacism, sex-
ism, piivilege, lifestyle, summit-hopping, piocess, the lack of
tiestogenuinecommunitiesiniesistanceAndwesawitasthe
pioof of oui ultimate fecklessness as a movement, oui failuie to
achieveanyofouimajoigoals.Teiionyisthat,ieally,allthese
thingsweieadiiectiesultofouisuccess.Mostofthesquabbling
wasieallyslightlyanindiiectwayofconductingstiategicdebates
about what to do now that we had achieved so many of oui im-
mediate goals to end stiuctuial adjustment policies and block
newglobaltiadeagieements,haltthegiowthandbluntthepowei
of institutions of neolibeial goveinance like the IMF and WTO
hadbeenachievedsoquickly.Tepioblemwasthatalmostno
oneactuallyiecognizedthemassuch,whichmadeitalmostim-
possibletoconductafullandhonestdebate,andtheintensityof
the aiguments and iesulting fiustiation became so oveiwhelm-
ingthatalmostnooneseemedtonoticewedachievedouigoals
intheistplace!Tiue,theessayendsbyposingamuchalaigei
question,asTurbulence magazinewastophiaseitinaspecialis-
sueayeaioitwolatei,Whatwoulditmeantowin?Butlaigely
it is a comment on the extiaoidinaiy histoiical eectiveness of
movementsbasedondiiectactionanddiiectdemociacy,andthe
cuiious fact that oui enemies (as theii panic ieactions seem to
I:voouc:io|5
indicate)seemiecognizethepotentialeectivenessofsuchmove-
ments,thethieattheyposetoglobalpoweiielations,muchmoie
thanthoseactiveinthemovementsthemselvesdo.
Hope in Commontakesupthesamethemeandpushesiteven
fuithei. What if the ieason why those who would like to see
a woild oiganized by some piinciple othei than capitalism feel
so depiessed most of the time is because capitalists, and politi-
cians, have become veiitably obsessed with making us feel that
way?Peihapstheiealmeaningofneolibeialismispieciselythat.
Neolibeialcapitalismisthatfoimthatisutteilyobsessedwithen-
suiing that it seems that, as Maigaiet Tatchei so famously de-
claiedinthe1980s,theieisnoalteinative.Inotheiwoids,ithas
laigely given up on any seiious eoit to aigue that the cuiient
economic oidei is actually a good oidei, just, ieasonable, that it
willeveipiovecapableofcieatingawoildinwhichmosthuman
beingsfeelpiospeious,safe,andfieetospendanysignicantpoi-
tion of theii life puisuing those things they considei genuinely
impoitant. Rathei, it is a teiiible system, in which even the veiy
iichestcountiiescannotguaianteeaccesstosuchbasicneedsas
health and education to the majoiity of theii citizens, it woiks
badly, but no othei system could possibly woik at all. (Its actu-
allyquitefascinatinghowquickly,attheendoftheColdWai,the
languageusedtodesciibetheSovietUnionshifted.Obviously,no
sane peison could wish foi a iestoiation of such a system, and
we aie veiy unlikely to evei see one. All this is good. But at the
sametime,ihetoiicshiftedalmostoveinightfiomdeclaiingthat
atopdowncommandeconomywithnomaiketfoicescouldnot
competeeectivelywiththemostadvancedcapitalistpoweis,ei-
theimilitaiilyoieconomically,totheabsolute,dismissiveassui-
ance that communism just doesnt woik eectively, that no
suchsystemcouldeveihaveexistedatall.Itseemsaiemaikable
conclusion,consideiingthattheSovietUniondidinfactexist,foi
ovei 70 yeais, and took Russia within decades fiom a laughable
backwateitoamajoitechnologicalandmilitaiypowei.)
All this iemained a bit obscuie in the yeais suiiounding the
end of the Cold Wai, when oveienthusiastic neolibeial iefoim-
eis weie fancying themselves ievolutionaiies, and eveiyone felt
thatmiciocieditwasabouttotuinthewoildspooiintopiospei-
ous entiepieneuis. But in the yeais since the neolibeial pioject
ieallyhasbeenstiippeddowntowhatwasalwaysitsessence:not
6 | DvioGvrnrv
aneconomicpiojectatall,butapoliticalpioject,designedtodev-
astatetheimagination,andwillingwithitscumbeisomesecu-
iitization and insane militaiy piojects to destioy the capitalist
oideiitselfifthatswhatittooktomakeitseeminevitable.Behind
oui feeling of helplessness, then, theie is a gaigantuan, and ex-
tiaoidinaiilyexpensiveenginethatisultimatelylikelytociushthe
cuiientsystemundeiitsowndeadweight.
Tenalessayoftheset,Revolution in Reverse,consideisthe
stakes of this wai on the imagination on a deepei level. It has a
cuiioushistoiy.Tepiecewasoiiginallycommissionedfoiaspe-
cial issue of ^ew Left Review, the editoi playing a hands-on iole
inshapingitsoveiallstiuctuie,then,ayeailatei,iejectedoutof
handwithoutevenallowingmeachancetoiespondtociiticism
(the editois of ^ew Left Review, being essentially aiistociats, aie
notoiious foi this soit of high-handed behavioi.) Te only com-
mentsIdidgetweiewell,theydidntquiteputitthisway,but
veiyneailythatEnglish-speakingauthoishavenobusinesstiy-
ingtocomeupwithoiiginaltheoieticalfoimulations,suchthings
aie piopeily left to speakeis of Geiman, Italian, oi Fiench. (Oui
iole,appaiently,issimplytopiovideappiopiiatecommentaiy.)
Well, whethei oi not it is my place to engage in theoietical
ieection, this is what I did heie. Tese aie ieections boin of
yeais of woik with the Diiect Action Netwoik and othei anai-
chist-inspiiedgioups,whichconfiontsanotheipointofappaient
despaii foi contempoiaiy iadicals: Whatevei happened to Te
Revolution?Foimuchofthe19thandeaily20thcentuiies,even
most capitalists in countiies like the US oi Geimany seemed to
haiboithestiongsuspicionthat,anydaynow,theymightallend
uphangingfiomtiees,nowadays,fewievolutionaiiesseemtobe
abletoimagineit.What,then,doesbeingaievolutionaiyactually
mean? A gieat deal, is the answei, since the old apocalyptic vei-
sionofievolutionthevictoiiousbattlesinthestieets,thespon-
taneousoutpouiingofpopulaifestivity,thecieationofnewdem-
ociaticinstitutions,theultimateieinventionoflifeitselfnevei
quiteseemedtowoikitselfout,andtheieisnopaiticulaiieason
toimagineiteveicouldhave.Itsnotthatanyofthesedieamshave
evei gone away, oi ieason to believe they evei could eithei. Its
that,betweentheanaichistinsistencethatwecannolongeiimag-
ine ievolution solely within the fiamewoik of the nation-state,
and even moie, the feminist insistence that how we tieat each
I:voouc:io|7
otheiinwoikingtomaketheievolution,paiticulailyinitsmost
appaientlyhumdiumanduniomanticmoments,iswhatwillulti-
matelydeteiminewhetheiwehaveanychanceofcieatingawoild
woithlivingin,whateveithenal,tacticalvictoiymightlooklike,
we have begun to ieaiiange the pieces. Te gieat mobilizations
ofSeattle,Piague,Genoa,oitheconstantdiiectactionsinplaces
likeGieece,ChiapasoiSouthKoiea,haveeectivelyopeiatedby
takingallthefamiliaistagesofievolutionandsimplytuiningthe
tiaditionaloideionitshead.Undeistandthefullimplicationsof
this shift, in tuin, demands some majoi woik in ie-imagination
whatteimslikeviolence,alienation,iealismitselfactuallymean.
Tenexttwoessaysmightseemdieientinnatuie,butieally
they aie doing much the same woik. Each seaiches foi iedemp-
tion in what might otheiwise seem like an abyss. Its moie obvi-
ouspeihapsinthecaseoftheist, Army of Altruists.Tisessay
giew diiectly out of a feeling of hopeless intellectual fiustiation.
IhadwokenuponWednesday,Novembei4th,2004toleainthat
GeoigeW.BushhadbeenieelectedPiesidentoftheUSA,inan
electionthat,appaiently,wasntevenstolen.AtthetimeIwasdue
toteachagiaduateseminaiinacouisecalledAnthiopologyand
ClassicalSocialTeoiyatYalethetopicthatmoiningwassup-
posedtobeonMaxWebeistheoiiesofieligion.Noneofusieally
feltuptoit.Instead,theclasstuinedintoapiolongedandsome-
timesagonizeddiscussionoftheielevanceofsocialtheoiyitself:
wastheieieallyapoint,then,towhatwedid,oiweiebeingtiained
todo?DoesTeoiythesoitthatbeginswithacapitalTie-
allyaoidusabetteivantagefiomwhichtoundeistandwhathad
just happened, paiticulaily, why so many woiking class people
hadvotedinamanneithatseemeddiametiicallyopposedtotheii
own class inteiests, than oidinaiy common sense might aoid?
Andifnot,whatweieweieallydoingbypuisuingcaieeisinthe
academy?Wedidntcomeupwithanystiongconclusions(though
wedidenduphavinganinteiestingdiscussionofthepossibility
ofbieakingtheUSlandmassupintosepaiateteiiitoiies,meiging
some with Canada and otheis with Mexico, and even pioduced
some stickeis that said No Longei Undei US Juiisdiction). But
thequestiondidntgoaway,itcontinuedtotioubleme.Itwasall
themoiesobecausetheiewasnoconsensus,atthetime,thatthe-
oiywasallthatimpoitant.Ihadspentanumbeiofpeifectlygood
yeaisofmylife,foiinstance,woikingfieneticallyieseaichingand
8 | DvioGvrnrv
typingawayatabookaboutanthiopologicalvaluetheoiybeing
convinced,atthetime,thatdoingsowasalmostakindofintellec-
tualduty,unleashingonthewoildpoweifultheoieticaldevelop-
mentsthathadbeenciaftedinUniveisityofChicagoatthetime
Iwastheie,andwhoseauthois,Ihadalwaysfeltiatheiiiiespon-
sibly,hadneveipublishedinanysoitofbioadlyaccessiblefoim.
Teiesultwas,Ifelt,amajoicontiibutiontothediscipline.When
Ididpublishit,in2001,Ifoundthedisciplinedidnotagiee.No
onepaidmuchattentiontoit,andIwasgieetedwiththedistinct
feeling that Univeisity-of-Chicago-style giand theoiizing of this
soitwasitselfconsideiediiielevantandpasse.Coulditbeanthio-
pologistsweieiighttomoveon?
Well,Imanagedtoansweithequestiontomyownsatisfaction
anyway.Teapplicationoftheoiywasindeedabletoievealthings
thatwouldnototheiwisehavebeenobvious.Whatitmainlyie-
vealedwasthatoneofthemostinsidiousofthehiddeninjuiiesof
classinNoithAmeiicansocietywasthedenialoftheiighttodo
good,tobenoble,topuisueanyfoimofvalueotheithanmoney
oi,atleast,todoitandtogainanynancialsecuiityoiiewaids
foihavingdone.Tepassionatehatiedofthelibeialeliteamong
iight-wingpopulistscamedown,inpiactice,totheutteilyjusti-
ediesentmenttowaidsaclassthathadsequesteied,foiitsown
childien, eveiy oppoitunity to puisue love, tiuth, beauty, honoi,
decency,andtobeaoidedthemeanstoexistwhiledoingso.Te
endless identication with soldieis (suppoit oui tioops!) that
is,withindividualswhohave,oveitheyeais,beenieducedtolittle
moiethanhightechmeicenaiiesenfoicingofaglobaliegimeof
nancialcapitallayinthefactthattheseaiealmosttheonlyin-
dividualsofwoikingclassoiiginintheUSwhohaveguiedouta
waytogetpaidfoipuisuingsomekindofhigheiideal,oiatleast
being able to imagine thats what theyie doing. Obviously most
would piefei to puisue highei ideals in way that did not involve
theiiskofhavingtheiilegsblowno.Tesenseofiage,infact,
stemsaboveallfiomtheknowledgethatallsuchjobsaietakenby
childien of the iich. Its a stiangely ambivalent pictuie, and one
that,atthismomentofievivalofiight-wingpopulism,wemight
dowelltoconsideionceagain.
Te Sadness of Postworkerism begins with a gioup of people
whomightseemtheepitomeofeveiythingaiight-wingpopulist
detests:agioupoffoimei60sievolutionaiies,nowbeingpaidto
I:voouc:io|9
lectuie on ait histoiy to an audience of galleiy owneis and giad
students at Londons Tate Museum in fall 2006. Te element ie-
demption heie is paitly that when you actually meet such peo-
ple, they aie haidly the egotistical piima donnas one imagines.
Actually,theyappeaiedtobesinceie,decentsoitsofpeople,who
would ieally much iathei have been standing aim to aim with
pioletaiian iebels at the baiiicades, and as confused as anyone
howtheyhadendedupexplainingaittiendstodilettantes.Much
ofessayis,again,atheoieticalieectionnotsomuchofmyown
theoiiesasthoseelementsof70sItalianievolutionaiytheoiythat
have made theii way into the English-speaking academy and ait
woildiniecentyeais,andtheassessmentispiettyunspaiing.Still
themainciitiqueisnotsomuchthatthispaiticulaistiainofpost-
Woikeiistthoughtiswiongsomuchasthatitsmisplaced,weaie
notdealingwiththeoiyatallheie,butpiophecy,andtheattempt
to uniavel whats ieally happening heie both on the level of
ideas,ofwhathappenstointellectualtiaditionswhentheywould
seemtohavethoioughlyexhaustedtheiiiadicalpossibilities,and
intheaitwoilditself,evenwithinthosepeculiaidomainswheie
ait blends into fashion, and both most aie imly wedded to -
nancial abstiaction, theie aie peculiai domains of fieedom that
tianscend the dead hand of capital. Ultimately, the ievolution,
howeveiconceived,canneveiieallygoaway,becausethenotion
ofaiedemptivefutuieiemainstheonlywaywecanpossiblymake
sense of the piesent, we can only undeistand the value of what
suiioundsusfiomthepeispectiveofanimaginaiycountiywhose
owncontouiswecanneveiundeistand,evenwhenweaiestand-
inginit.
Telastessay,Against Kamakaze Capitalism,wasnotpaitof
theGieekcollection,itwaswiittenafteiwaids,quiteiecently,in
fact,inthefallof2010.ButIthinkitbelongsheie.Moiediiectly
conceinedwithquestionsofievolutionaiystiategythanmost,it
alsoconsideissuchquestionsinthelightofthatveiysituationof
impasseandofthemuideiofdieamsthathashauntedsomuch
ofthiscollection.Heie,too,theaigumentsetsowithhopefiom
anunexpectedquaitei:asuipiisingconveigence,andiecognition
of a common cause, between climate piotestois and petioleum
woikeisduiingtheFienchstiikewaveofOctobei2010.Manyof
thegieatestcleavagesweimaginetoexistwithinthemovements
ianged against capitalism at the moment the one between the
10 | DvioGvrnrv
ecological,diiectactionmovement,andtiadeunionists,hippies
andhaidhatsastheycalledtheminthe60s,oiTeamsteisand
Tuitlesastheycalledthemduiingonepieviousinstanceofap-
paientlyseiendipitousallianceinSeattlein1999mightnotbe
neailysuchacleavageasweimagine.Tewoikingclasshasalways
been toin between whats basically a petty bouigeois pioductiv-
ist ideology (oi if you piefei, pioductivisticonsumeiist ideology,
since its obvious two sides of the same coin), and a much moie
fundamentaliejectionoftheveiypiincipleofwoikasitexistsin
oui society an uige which its iespectable leadeis have spent
mostofthelastcentuiytiyingtostie,denounce,oipietendnot
to exist. At a moment when the capitalists collective iefusal to
evenconsideiiethinkinganyoftheiibasicassumptionsaboutthe
woildmightwellmeannotjustthedeathofcapitalism,butofal-
most eveiything else, oui only ieal choice is do it ouiselves to
begintocieateanewlanguage,anewcommonsense,aboutwhat
peoplebasicallyaieandwhatitisieasonablefoithemtoexpect
fiomthewoild,andfiomeachothei.Acasecouldwellbemade
thatthefateofthewoilddependsonit.
Tats what this volume ieally is. Its my own attempt how-
eveimodest,howeveihesitanttostaitsuchaconveisation,and
mostofall,tosuggestthatthetaskmightnotbeneailysodaunt-
ingaswedbegiventoimagine.


The Shock of Victory
Tnr nioors1 vvonir+ rnci:o uivrc1 nc1io: +ovr+r:1s is
that we dont know how to handle victory.
Tismightseemanoddthingtosaybecauseofalotofushavent
beenfeelingpaiticulailyvictoiiousoflate.Mostanaichiststoday
feeltheglobaljusticemovementwaskindofablip:inspiiing,cei-
tainly,whileitlasted,butnotamovementthatsucceededeithei
inputtingdownlastingoiganizationaliootsoitiansfoimingthe
contouis of powei in the woild. Te anti-wai movement aftei
Septembei11,2001wasevenmoiefiustiating,sinceanaichists,
andanaichisttactics,weielaigelymaiginalized.Tewaiwillend,
ofcouise,butthatsjustbecausewaisalwaysdo.Nooneisfeeling
theycontiibutedmuchtoit.
Iwanttosuggestanalteinativeinteipietation.Letmelayout
thieeinitialpiopositionsheie:
1) Oddthoughitmayseem,theiulingclassesliveinfeaiof
us.Teyappeaitostillbehauntedbythepossibilitythat,
ifaveiageAmeiicansieallygetwindofwhattheyieupto,
theymightallenduphangingfiomtiees.Itknowitseems
implausiblebutitshaidtocomeupwithanyotheiexpla-
nation foi the way they go into panic mode the moment
theieisanysignofmassmobilization,andespeciallymass
B
12 | DvioGvrnrv
diiectaction,andusuallytiytodistiactattentionbystait-
ingsomekindofwai.
2) Inawaythispanicisjustied.Massdiiectactionespe-
ciallywhenitisoiganizedondiiectlydemociaticlinesis
inciediblyeective.OveithelastthiityyeaisinAmeiica,
theiehavebeenonlytwoinstancesofmassactionofthis
soit:theanti-nucleaimovementinthelate70s,andthe
so called anti-globalization movement fiom ioughly
1999-2001.
1
In each case, the movements main political
goalsweieieachedfaimoiequicklythanalmostanyone
involvedimaginedpossible.
3) Teiealpioblemsuchmovementsfaceisthattheyalways
gettakenbysuipiisebythespeedoftheiiinitialsuccess.
Weaieneveipiepaiedfoivictoiy.Itthiowsusintocon-
fusion.Westaitghtingeachothei.Tegoveinmentin-
vaiiably iesponds by some soit of militaiy adventuiism
oveiseas.Teiatchetingofiepiessionandappealstona-
tionalismthatinevitablyaccompaniesanewioundofwai
mobilization then plays into the hands of authoiitaiians
oneveiysideofthepoliticalspectium.Asaiesult,bythe
time the full impact of oui initial victoiy becomes cleai,
weieusuallytoobusyfeelinglikefailuiestoevennoticeit.
Letmetakethesetwomostpiominentexamplescasebycase:
I: The Anti-Nuclear Movement
Tnr:i-ucirvrovrrr:ofthelate70smaikedtheist
appeaianceinNoithAmeiicaofwhatwenowconsideistandaid
anaichisttacticsandfoimsofoiganization:massactions,anity
gioups,spokescouncils,consensuspiocess,jailsolidaiity,theveiy
piincipleofdecentializeddiiectdemociacy.Itwasallsomewhat
1 Ifoneweietoextendthetempoialiangetothelast50yeais,wecould
also include the Civil Rights movement, wheie the SNCC (Student
Non-ViolentCooidinatingCommittee)bianchofthemovementwas
also consensus-based and anti-authoiitaiian. It followed the same
bioadpattein,except,ofcouise,thatitsvictoiiesweiemuchhaidei
todeny.
TnrSnocorVic:ovv|13
piimitive, compaied to now, and theie weie signicant diei-
ences notably a much stiictei, Gandhian-style conceptions of
non-violence but all the elements weie theie and it was the
isttimetheyhadcometogetheiasapackage.Foitwoyeais,the
movement giew with amazing speed and showed eveiy sign of
becominganation-widephenomenon.Tenalmostasquickly,it
distintegiated.
Itallbeganwhen,in1974,someveteianpeacenikstuinedoi-
ganicfaimeisinNewEnglandsuccessfullyblockedconstiuction
ofapioposednucleaipoweiplantinMontague,Massachusetts.
In1976,theyjoinedwithotheiNewEnglandactivists,inspiiedby
thesuccessofayeai-longplantoccupationinGeimany,tocieate
the Clamshell Alliance. Clamshells immediate goal was to stop
constiuctionofapioposednucleaipoweiplantinSeabiook,New
Hampshiie. While the alliance nevei ended up managing an oc-
cupationsomuchasaseiiesofdiamaticmass-aiiests,combined
withjailsolidaiity,theiiactionsinvolving,atpeak,tensofthou-
sandsofpeopleoiganizedondiiectlydemociaticlinessucceed-
edinthiowingtheveiyideaofnucleaipoweiintoquestionina
wayithadneveibeenbefoie.Similaicoalitionsbeganspiinging
up acioss the countiy: the Palmetto alliance in South Caiolina,
OysteishellinMaiyland,SunoweiinKansas,andmostfamous
ofall,theAbaloneAllianceinCalifoinia,ieactingoiiginallytoan
insaneplantobuildanucleaipoweiplantatDiabloCanyon,al-
mostdiiectlyontopofamajoigeogiaphicfaultline.
Clamshell ist thiee mass actions, in 1976 and 1977, weie
wildly successful. But it soon fell into ciisis ovei questions of
demociaticpiocess.InMay1978,anewlycieatedCooidinating
Committeeviolatedpiocesstoacceptalast-minutegoveinment
oeifoiathiee-daylegaliallyatSeabiookinsteadofaplanned
fouithoccupation(theexcusewasieluctancetoalienatethesui-
iounding community). Aciimonious debates began about con-
sensus and community ielations, which then expanded to the
iole of non-violence (even cutting thiough fences, oi defensive
measuieslikegasmasks,hadoiiginallybeenfoibidden),gendei
bias,iaceandclasspiivilege,andsoon.By1979thealliancehad
splitintotwocontending,andincieasinglyineective,factions,
andafteimanydelays,theSeabiookplant(oihalfofitanyway)
didgointoopeiation.TeAbaloneAlliancelastedlongei,until
1985,inpaitbecauseitsstiongcoieofanaicha-feminists,butin
14 | DvioGvrnrv
theend,DiabloCanyontoowonitslicenseandcameonlinein
Decembei1988.
Tell the stoiy this way, it doesnt seem paiticulaily inspiiing.
But theie is anothei way to tell it. We could ask: what was the
movementieallytiyingtoachieve?
Itmighthelpfulheietomapoutitsfulliangeofgoals:
1) Short-Term Goals:toblockconstiuctionofthepaiticu-
lainucleaiplantinquestion(Seabiook,DiabloCanyon)
2) Medium-Term Goals: to block constiuction of all new
nucleaiplants,delegitimizetheveiyideaofnucleaipowei
andbeginmovingtowaidsconseivationandgieenpowei,
and legitimate new foims of non-violent iesistance and
feminist-inspiieddiiectdemociacy
3) Long-Term Goals:(atleastfoithemoieiadicalelements)
smashthestateanddestioycapitalism
If so the iesults aie cleai. Shoit-teim goals weie almost nevei
ieached.Despitenumeioustacticalvictoiies(delays,utilitycom-
pany bankiuptcies, legal injunctions) the plants that became the
focus of mass action all ultimately went on line. Goveinments
simplycannotallowthemselvestobeseentoloseinsuchabattle.
Long-teim goals weie also obviously not obtained. But one iea-
sontheyweientisthatthemedium-teimgoalsweieallieached
almostimmediately.Teactionsdiddelegitimizetheveiyideaof
nucleaipoweiiaisingpublicawaienesstothepointthatwhen
Tiee Mile Island melted down in 1979, it doomed the industiy
foievei.WhileplansfoiSeabiookandDiabloCanyonmightnot
havebeencancelled,justabouteveiyotheithen-pendingplanto
buildanucleaiieactoiwas,andnonewoneshavebeenpioposed
foiaquaiteicentuiy.Teiewasindeedamoietowaidsconseiva-
tion,gieenpowei,andalegitimizingofnewdemociaticoiganiz-
ingtechniques.Allthishappenedmuchmoiequicklythananyone
hadieallyanticipated.
Inietiospect,itseasytoseemostofthesubsequentpioblems
emeigeddiiectlyfiomtheveiyspeedofthemovementssuccess.
Radicals had hoped to make links between the nucleai industiy
and the veiy natuie of the capitalist system that cieated it. As it
TnrSnocorVic:ovv|15
tuins out, the capitalist system pioved moie than willing to jet-
tisonthenucleaiindustiythemomentitbecamealiability.Once
giant utility companies began claiming they too wanted to pio-
mote gieen eneigy, eectively inviting what wed now call the
NGOtypestoaspaceatthetable,theiewasanenoimoustemp-
tation to jump ship. Especially because many of them had only
alliedwithmoieiadicalgioupssoastowinthemselvesaplaceat
thetabletobeginwith.
Te inevitable iesult was a seiies of heated stiategic debates.
Its impossible to undeistand this, though, without ist undei-
standingthatstiategicdebates,withindiiectlydemociaticmove-
ments,aieiaielyconductedasstiategicdebates.Teyalmostal-
wayspietendtobeaigumentsaboutsomethingelse.Takefoiin-
stancethequestionofcapitalism.Anticapitalistsaieusuallymoie
than happy to discuss theii position on the subject. Libeials on
theotheihandieallydontlikebeingfoicedtosayactually,Iam
infavoiofmaintainingcapitalisminsomefoimoianotheiso
wheneveipossible,theytiytochangethesubject.Consequently,
debatesthataieactuallyaboutwhetheitodiiectlychallengecapi-
talismusuallyendupgettingaiguedoutasiftheyweieshoit-teim
debates about tactics and non-violence. Authoiitaiian socialists
oiotheiswhoaiesuspiciousofdemociacyaieiaielykeenonhav-
ingtomakethatanissueeithei,andpiefeitodiscusstheneedto
cieatethebioadestpossiblecoalitions.Tosewhodosuppoitthe
piincipleofdiiectdemociacybutfeelagioupistakingthewiong
stiategicdiiectionoftennditmuchmoieeectivetochallenge
itsdecision-makingpiocessthantochallengeitsactualdecisions.
Teie is anothei factoi heie that is even less iemaiked, but I
thinkequallyimpoitant.Eveiyoneknowsthatfacedwithabioad
and potentially ievolutionaiy coalition, any goveinments ist
movewillbetotiytosplitit.Makingconcessionstoplacatethe
modeiates while selectively ciiminalizing the iadicals this is
Ait of Goveinance 101. Te US goveinment, though has an ad-
ditionalweaponmostgoveinmentsdonot.Itisinpossessionof
aglobalempiie,peimanentlymobilizedfoiwai.Toseiunningit
can,piettymuchanytimetheylike,decidetoiatchetupthelevel
of violence oveiseas. Tis has pioved a iemaikably eective way
todefusesocialmovementsfoundedaiounddomesticconceins.
It seems no coincidence that the civil iights movement was fol-
lowedbymajoipoliticalconcessionsandaiapidescalationofthe
16 | DvioGvrnrv
waiinVietnam,thattheanti-nucleaimovementwasfollowedby
theabandonmentofnucleaipoweiandaiampingupoftheCold
Wai,withStaiWaispiogiamsandpioxywaisinAfghanistanand
CentialAmeiica,thattheglobaljusticemovementwasfollowed
bythecollapseoftheWashingtonconsensusandtheGlobalWai
onTeiioi.AsaiesultSDShadtoputasideitseailyemphasison
paiticipatoiydemociacytobecomeanoiganizeiofanti-waipio-
tests, the anti-nucleai movement was obliged to moiph into a
nucleaifieezemovement,thehoiizontalstiuctuiesofDANand
PGAgavewaytotop-downmassoiganizationslikeANSWERand
UFPJ.Gianted,fiomthegoveinmentspointofviewthemilitaiy
solutiondoeshaveitsiisks.Tewholethingcanblowupinones
face,asitdidinVietnam(hencetheobsession,atleastsincethe
istGulfWaitodesignawaithatwaseectivelypiotest-pioof.)
Teieisalsoalwaysasmalliisksomemiscalculationwillacciden-
tally tiiggei a nucleai Aimageddon and destioy the planet. But
these aie iisks politicians faced with civil uniest appeai to have
noimallybeenmoiethanwillingtotakeifonlybecausediiect-
ly demociatic movements genuinely scaie them, while anti-wai
movementsaietheiipiefeiiedadveisaiy.Statesaie,afteiall,ulti-
matelyfoimsofviolence.Foithem,changingtheaigumenttoone
about violence is taking things back to theii home tuif, the kind
ofthingstheyieallypiefeitotalkabout.Oiganizationsdesigned
eitheitowage,oitooppose,waiswillalwaystendtobemoiehi-
eiaichicallyoiganizedthanthosedesignedwithalmostanything
else in mind. Tis is ceitainly what happened in the case of the
anti-nucleaimovement.Whiletheanti-waimobilizationsofthe
80s tuined out fai laigei numbeis than Clamshell oi Abalone
eveihad,theyalsomaikedaietuintothedaysofmaichingalong
with signs, peimitted iallies, and abandoning expeiiments with
newtacticsandnewfoimsofdiiectdemociacy.
II: The Global justice movement
Iii ssurr ouv gentle ieadei is bioadly familiai with the ac-
tions at Seattle, IMF-Woild Bank blockades six months latei in
WashingtonatA16,andsoon.
IntheUS,themovementaiedupsoquicklyanddiamatically
eventhemediacouldnotcompletelydismissit.Italso quicklybe-
gan to eat itself. Diiect Action Netwoiks weie founded in almost
TnrSnocorVic:ovv|17
eveiymajoicityinAmeiica.Whilesomeofthese(notablySeattle
and Los Angeles DAN) weie iefoimist, anti-coipoiate, and fans
of non-violence codes of non-violence, most (like New Yoik and
Chicago DAN) weie oveiwhelmingly anaichist and anticapitalist,
and dedicated to the piinciple of diveisity of tactics. Othei cit-
ies (Montieal, Washington D.C.) cieated even moie explicitly an-
aichist Anticapitalist Conveigences. Tese gioups had dieient
fates.Teanti-coipoiateDANsdissolvedalmostimmediately,the
anticapitalistonesenduiedlongei,butevenamongthose,veiyfew
weiestillaioundevenfouiyeaislatei.Teyweieallwiackedalmost
fiomthebeginningwithbitteidebates:aboutnon-violence,about
summit-hopping,aboutiacismandpiivilegeissues,
2
aboutthevi-
ability of the netwoik model. Ten theie was 9i11, followed by a
hugeincieaseupofthelevelofiepiessionandiesultantpaianoia,
andthepanickedightofalmostallouifoimeialliesamongunions
and NGOs. At this point the debates became downiight paialyz-
ing. By Miami, in 2003, it seemed like wed been put to iout, and
despite peiiodic suiges of enthusiasm (Gleneagles, Minneapolis,
Heilengendam)themovementneveiieallyiecoveied.
Again, the stoiy seems uninspiiing. And heies theies the
addedfactoiof9i11.Septembei11th,afteiall,wassuchaweiid
event,suchacatastiophe,butalsosuchanhistoiicaluke,thatit
almostblindsustoeveiythingthatwasgoingonaioundit.Inthe
immediate afteimath of the attacks, almost all of the stiuctuies
cieated duiing the globalization movement collapsed. But one
ieasonitwassoeasyfoithemtocollapsewasnotjustthatwai
and anti-wai mobilizations seemed such an immediately moie
piessingconceinbutthatonceagain,inmostofouiimmediate
objectives,wedalieady,unexpectedly,won.
Myself, I joined NYC DAN iight aiound the time of A16. At
that time, DAN as a whole saw itself as a gioup with two majoi
2 Incidentally,thisisnottosaythatissuesofiacismandpiivilegeaie
unimpoitant.Ifeelalittlesillyevenhavingtosaythis,butitwould
seemthat,withinthemovement,anythingonewiitesthatmightbe
takentoimplyonedoesnottakesuchissuesseiiouslywillbeintei-
pieted that way. What I would aigue is that the way that iacial and
classhavebeendebatedinthemovementappeaitohavebeenstai-
tlingineectiveinoveicomingiacialdivisionsinthemovement,and
I suspect this is at least paitially because these debates aie, in fact,
veiledwaysofaiguingaboutsomethingelse.
18 | DvioGvrnrv
objectives.OnewastohelpcooidinatetheNoithAmeiicanwing
of a vast global movement against neolibeialism, and what was
thencalledtheWashingtonConsensus,todestioythehegemony
ofneolibeialideas,stopallthenewbigtiadeagieements(WTO,
FTAA),andtodiscieditandeventuallydestioyoiganizationslike
theIMF.Teotheiwastodisseminatea(veiymuchanaichist-in-
spiied) model of diiect demociacy: decentialized, anity-gioup
stiuctuies, consensus piocess, to ieplace old-fashioned activist
oiganizing styles with theii steeiing committees and ideological
squabbles. At the time we sometimes called it contamination-
ism, the idea that all people ieally needed was to be exposed to
the expeiience of diiect action and diiect demociacy, and they
would want to stait imitating it all by themselves. Teie was a
geneialfeelingthatweweienttiyingtobuildapeimanentstiuc-
tuie, DAN was just a means to this end. When it had seived its
puipose,seveialfoundingmembeisexplainedtome,theiewould
be no fuithei need foi it. On the othei hand these weie pietty
ambitiousgoals,sowealsoassumedevenifwedidattainthem,it
wouldpiobablytakeatleastadecade.
Asittuinedout,ittookaboutayeaiandahalf.
Obviously,wefailedtospaikasocialievolution.Butoneiea-
sonweneveigottothepointofinspiiinghundiedsofthousands
of people acioss the woild to iise up was, again, that we had
achievedsomanyofouiotheigoalssoquickly.Takethequestion
of oiganization. While the anti-wai coalitions still opeiate, as
anti-waicoalitionsalwaysdo,astop-downpopulaifiontgioups,
almost eveiy small-scale iadical gioup that isnt dominated by
Maixist sectaiians of some soit oi anothei and this includes
anything fiom oiganizations of Syiian immigiants in Montieal
oicommunitygaidensinDetioitnowopeiateonlaigelyanai-
chistpiinciples.Teymightnotknowit.Butcontaminationism
woiked.Alteinately,takethedomainofideas.TeWashington
consensusliesiniuins.Somuchso,itshaidnowtoiemembei
what public discouise in this countiy befoie Seattle was even
like. Myself, I iemembei quite well. Considei the issue of fiee
tiade,theostensiblefocusofthepiotests.(Fieetiadeisobvi-
ously a piopaganda teim, but it was signicant in itself that in
Ameiica, this was the only teim available to iefei to neolibeial
globalization.) I dont believe theie was evei a time when both
themainstieammediaandthepoliticalclasseshadbeeneveiso
TnrSnocorVic:ovv|19
completely unanimous about anything. Tat fiee tiade, fiee
maikets, and no-holds-baiied supeichaiged capitalism weie
theonlypossiblediiectionfoihumanhistoiy,theonlypossible
solution foi any pioblem was so completely taken foi gianted
that anyone who cast doubt on the pioposition was tieated as
liteially insane. Global justice activists, when they ist foiced
themselves into the attention of CNN oi Newsweek, weie im-
mediately wiitten o as ieactionaiy at-eaitheis, whose op-
positiontofieetiadecouldonlybeexplainedbychildishigno-
iance of the most elementaiy piinciples of economics. A yeai
latei,CNNandNewsweekweiesaying,eectively,alliight,well
maybethekidshavewontheaigument.
Usually when I make this point in fiont of anaichist ciowds
someone immediately objects: well, suie, the ihetoiic has
changed,butthepoliciesiemainthesame.
I suppose this is tiue in a mannei of speaking. And ceitain-
ly its tiue that we didnt destioy capitalism. But we (taking the
weheieasthehoiizontalist,diiect-actionoiientedwingofthe
planetaiymovementagainstneolibeialism)didaiguablydealita
biggeiblowinjusttwoyeaisthananyonesince,say,theRussian
Revolution.
Letmetakethispointbypoint

FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS. All the ambitious fiee

tiadetieatiesplannedsince1998havefailed,theMAIwas
iouted, the FTAA, focus of the actions in Quebec City
andMiami,stoppeddeadinitstiacks.Mostofusiemem-
bei the 2003 FTAA summit mainly foi intioducing the
Miamimodelofextiemepoliceiepiessionevenagainst
obviouslynon-violentciviliesistance.Itwasthat.Butwe
foiget this was moie than anything the eniaged ailings
ofapackofextiemelysoieloseisMiamiwasthemeet-
ingwheietheFTAAwasdenitivelykilled.Nownooneis
eventalkingaboutbioad,ambitioustieatiesonthatscale.
TeUSisieducedtopushingfoiminoicountiy-to-coun-
tiytiadepactswithtiaditionalallieslikeSouthKoieaand
Peiu, oi at best deals like CAFTA, uniting its iemaining
clientstatesinCentialAmeiica,anditsnotevencleaiit
willmanagetopullothat.
20 | DvioGvrnrv

THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION. Aftei the

catastiophe (foi them) in Seattle, oiganizeis moved the
next meeting to the Peisian Gulf island of Doha, appai-
ently deciding they would iathei iun the iisk of being
blown up by Osama bin Laden than having to face an-
otheiDANblockade.Foisixyeaistheyhammeiedaway
attheDohaiound.Tepioblemwasthat,emboldened
by the piotest movement, Southein goveinments began
insisting they would no longei agiee open theii boideis
to agiicultuial impoits fiom iich countiies unless those
iichcountiiesatleaststoppedpouiingbillionsofdollais
ofsubsidiesattheiiownfaimeis,thusensuiingSouthein
faimeis couldnt possibly compete. Since the US in pai-
ticulaihadnointentionofitselfmakinganyofthesoitof
saciicesitdemandedofotheis,alldealsweieo.InJuly
2006,PieiieLamy,headoftheWTO,declaiedtheDoha
iounddeadandatthispointnooneiseventalkingabout
anothei WTO negotiation foi at least two yeais some
speculated that ultimately, the oiganization itself might
ceasetoexist.

THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND AND

WORLD BANK.Tisisthemostamazingstoiyofall.By
2008, the IMF was iapidly appioaching bankiuptcy, and
itisadiiectiesultofthewoildwidemobilizationagainst
them. To put the mattei bluntly: we destioyed it oi at
least, the IMF in anything like its familiai foim.
3
Te
WoildBankisnotdoingallthatmuchbettei.Butbythe
timethefulleectsweiefelt,weweientevenpayingat-
tention.
Tislaststoiyiswoithtellinginsomedetail,soletmeleavethe
indentedsectionheiefoiamomentandcontinueinthemaintext:
3 Tis essay was wiitten in 2007. Te IMF still exists at this time of
couise (2011) but its iole has tiansfoimed almost completely and
is inteinally much contested, though theie has been an attempt to
ievive some of its old stiuctuial adjustment style appioaches, this
timewithintheEuiopeanUnion,theseaiemeetingveiystiongiesis-
tance.
TnrSnocorVic:ovv|21
Te IMF was always the aich-villain of the stiuggle. It is the
most poweiful, most aiiogant, most pitiless instiument thiough
whichneolibeialpolicieshave,foithelast25yeaisbeenimposed
on the pooiei countiies of the global South, basically, by ma-
nipulatingdebt.Inexchangefoiemeigencyienancing,theIMF
woulddemandstiuctuialadjustmentpiogiamsthatfoicedmas-
sive cuts in health, education, piice suppoits on food, and end-
lesspiivatizationschemesthatallowedfoieigncapitaliststobuy
uplocal iesouicesatiesale piices.Stiuctuialadjustmentnevei
somehowwoikedtogetcountiiesbackontheiifeeteconomically,
butthatjustmeanttheyiemainedinciisis,andthesolutionwas
alwaystoinsistonyetanotheiioundofstiuctuialadjustment.
Te IMF had anothei, less celebiated, iole: that of global en-
foicei. It was its job to ensuie that no countiy (no mattei how
pooi)couldeveibeallowedtodefaultonloanstoWesteinbank-
eis (no mattei how foolhaidy). Imagine a bankei weie to oei a
coiiupt dictatoi a billion dollai loan, and that dictatoi placed it
diiectlyinhisSwissbankaccountandedthecountiy,theIMFs
jobwastoensuiethat,iatheithanbefoigivenoiienegotiated,let
alone hunted down, that billion would still have to be extiacted
(plusgeneiousinteiest)fiomthedictatoisfoimeivictims.Undei
no conditions should Chase oi Citibank have to take a loss. If a
countiydiddefault,foianyieason,theIMFcouldimposeaciedit
boycottwhoseeconomiceectsweieioughlycompaiabletothat
ofanucleaibomb.(Inoteinpassingthatallthisiesinthefaceof
evenelementaiyeconomictheoiy,wheiebythoselendingmoney
aie supposed to be accepting a ceitain degiee of iisk, since its
only the dangei of default that foices them to allocate money to
pioductiveinvestments.Butinthewoildofinteinationalpolitics,
economiclawsaieonlyheldtobebindingonthepooi.)Tisiole
wastheiidownfall.
Whathappenedwasthatin2002,Aigentinadefaultedandgot
awaywithit.
In the 90s, Aigentina had been the IMFs stai pupil in Latin
Ameiicatheyhadliteiallypiivatizedeveiypublicfacilityexcept
thecustomsbuieau.Tenin2001,theeconomyciashed.Teim-
mediate iesults we all know: battles in the stieets, the cieation
of populai assemblies to iun uiban neighboihoods, the ovei-
thiow of thiee goveinments in one month, ioad blockades, oc-
cupiedfactoiiesHoiizontalismbioadlyanaichist,oiatleast
22 | DvioGvrnrv
anti-authoiitaiianpiinciplesweieatthecoieofpopulaiiesis-
tance.Withinamatteiofmonths,politicalclasswassocompletely
discieditedthatpoliticiansweieobligedtoputonwigsandphony
mustachestobeabletoeatiniestauiantswithoutbeingphysical-
lyattacked.WhenNestoiKiichnei,amodeiatesocialdemociat,
tookpoweiin2003,heknewhehadtodosomethingdiamaticin
oideitogetmostofthepopulationeventoaccepteventheideaof
havingagoveinment,letalonehisown.Sohedid.Hedid,infact,
theonethingnooneinthatpositioniseveisupposedtodo.He
announcedhesimplywasntgoingtoplaythebulkofAigentinas
foieigndebt.
ActuallyKiichneiwasquitecleveiaboutit.Hedidnotdefault
on his IMF loans. He focused on Aigentinas piivate debt, an-
nouncingthathewasunilateiallywiitingthemdownby75cents
onthedollai.Teiesultwasthegieatestdefaultinnancialhis-
toiy.CitibankandChaseappealedtotheIMF,theiiaccustomed
enfoicei,toapplytheusualpunishment.Butfoitheisttimein
itshistoiy,theIMFbalked.Fiistofall,withAigentinaseconomy
alieadyiniuins,eventheeconomicequivalentofanucleaibomb
woulddolittlemoiethanmaketheiubblebounce.Secondofall,
justabouteveiyonewasawaieitwastheIMFsdisastiousadvice
thatsetthestagefoiAigentinasciashintheistplace.Tiidand
most decisively, this was at the veiy height of the impact of the
global justice movement: the IMF was alieady the most hated
institution on the planet, and willfully destioying what little ie-
mained of the Aigentine middle class would have been pushing
thingsjustalittlebittoofai.
SoAigentinawasallowedtogetawaywithit.Afteithat,eveiy-
thingwasdieient.Befoielong,BiazilandAigentinatogetheiai-
iangedtopaybacktheiioutstandingdebttotheIMFitselfaswell.
With a little help fiom Chavez, so did the iest of the continent.
In 2003, Latin Ameiican IMF debt stood at $49 billion. Now its
$694million.
4
Toputthatinpeispective:thatsadeclineof98.6.
Foi eveiy thousand dollais owed foui yeais ago, Latin Ameiica
now owes fouiteen bucks. Asia followed. China and India now
bothhavenooutstandingdebttotheIMFandiefusetotakeout
newloans.TeboycottnowincludesKoiea,Tailand,Indonesia,
Malaysia,thePhilippinesandpiettymucheveiyotheisignicant
iegionaleconomy.AlsoRussia.TeFundisieducedtoloidingit
4 Teessaywaswiittenin2007.
TnrSnocorVic:ovv|23
oveitheeconomiesofAfiica,andmaybesomepaitsoftheMiddle
EastandfoimeiSovietspheie(basicallythosewithoutoil).Asa
iesult its ievenues have plummeted by 80 in foui yeais. In the
iionyofallpossibleiionies,itsincieasinglylookingliketheIMF
will go bankiupt if they cant nd someone willing to bail them
out.Neitheiisitcleaitheiesanyonepaiticulailywantsto.With
itsieputationasscalenfoiceiintatteis,theIMFnolongeiseives
any obvious puipose even foi capitalists. Teies been a numbei
ofpioposalsatiecentG8meetingstomakeupanewmissionfoi
theoiganizationakindofinteinationalbankiuptcycouit,pei-
hapsbutallendedupgettingtoipedoedfoioneieasonoian-
othei.EveniftheIMFdoessuivive,ithasalieadybeenieducedto
acaidboaidcut-outofitsfoimeiself.
TeWoildBank,whicheailyontookontheioleofgoodcop,
isinsomewhatbetteishape.Butemphasisheiemustbeplacedon
thewoidsomewhatasin,itsievenuehasonlyfallenby60,
not 80, and theie aie few actual boycotts. On the othei hand
theBankiscuiientlybeingkeptalivelaigelybythefactIndiaand
Chinaaiestillwillingtodealwithit,andbothsidesknowthat,so
itisnolongeiinmuchofapositiontodictateteims.
Obviously,allofthisdoesnotmeanallthemonsteishavebeen
slain. In Latin Ameiica, neolibeialism might be on the iun, but
China and India aie caiiying out devastating iefoims within
theiiowncountiies,Euiopeansocialpiotectionsaieundeiattack,
and most of Afiica, despite much hypociitical postuiing on the
paitoftheBonosandiichcountiiesofthewoild,isstilllockedin
debt,evenasitfacesanewcolonizationbyChina.TeUS,itseco-
nomicpoweiietieatinginmostofthewoild,isfianticallytiying
toiedoubleitsgiipoveiMexicoandCentialAmeiica.Weienot
livinginutopia.Butwealieadyknewthat.Tequestioniswhywe
neveinoticedthevictoiieswedidwin.
OlivieideMaicellus,aPGAactivistfiomSwitzeiland,pointsto
oneieason:wheneveisomeelementofthecapitalistsystemtakes
a hit, whethei its the nucleai industiy oi the IMF, some leftist
jouinalwillstaitexplainingtousthatieally,thisisallpaitoftheii
plan oi maybe, an eect of the inexoiable woiking out of the
inteinalcontiadictionsofcapital,butceitainly,nothingfoiwhich
we ouiselves aie in any way iesponsible. Even moie impoitant,
peihaps,isouiieluctancetoevensaythewoidwe.TeAigentine
default,wasntthatieallyengineeiedbyNestoiKiichnei?Hewas
24 | DvioGvrnrv
apolitician!Whatdoeshehavetodowithanaichistsoitheglo-
balizationmovement? Imean,itsnotasifhishandsweiefoiced
bythousandsofcitizensweieiisingup,smashingbanks,andie-
placing the goveinment with populai assemblies cooidinated by
the IMC! Oi, well, okay, maybe it was. Well, in that case, those
citizensweiePeopleofColoiintheGlobalSouth.Howcanwe
takeiesponsibilityfoitheiiactions?Neveimindthattheymostly
sawthemselvesaspaitofthesameglobaljusticemovementasus,
espousedsimilaiideas,woiesimilaiclothes,usedsimilaitactics,
inmanycasesevenbelongedtothesameconfedeiaciesoioigani-
zations.Sayingweheiewouldimplythepiimalsinofspeaking
foiotheis.
Myself, I think its ieasonable foi a global movement to con-
sidei its accomplishments in global teims. Tese aie not incon-
sideiable.Yetjustaswiththeanti-nucleaimovement,theyweie
almostallfocusedonthemiddleteim.Letmemapoutasimilai
hieiaichyofgoals:
1) Short-Term Goals: blockade and shut down paiticulai
summitmeetings(IMF,WTO,G8,etc)
2) Medium-Term Goals: destioy the Washington
Consensus aiound neolibeialism, block all new tiade
pacts,delegitimizeandultimatelyshutdowninstitutions
like the WTO, IMF, and Woild Bank, disseminate new
modelsofdiiectdemociacy.
3) Long-Term Goals:(atleastfoithemoieiadicalelements)
smashthestateanddestioycapitalism.
Heieagain,wendthesamepattein.AfteithemiiacleofSeattle,
wheieactivistsactuallydidshutdownthemeetings,shoitteim
tacticalgoalsweieiaielyachieved.Butthiswasmainlybe-
causefacedwithsuchamovement,goveinmentstendtodigin
theiiheelsandmakeitamatteiofpiinciplethattheyshouldnt
be. Tis was usually consideied much moie impoitant, in fact,
thanthesuccessofthesummitinquestion.Mostactivistsdonot
seemtobeawaiethatinalotofcasesthe2001and2002IMF
and Woild Bank meetings foi example police ended up en-
foicingsecuiityaiiangementssoelaboiatethattheycameveiy
TnrSnocorVic:ovv|25
close to shutting down the meetings themselves, ensuiing that
many events weie cancelled, the ceiemonies weie iuined, and
most delegates didnt ieally had a chance to talk to one othei.
Butfoithecops,thepointwascleailynotwhetheitiadeocials
gottomeetoinot.Tepointwasthatthepiotestoiscouldnot
beseentowin.
Heie,too,themediumteimgoalsweieachievedsoquicklythat
itactuallymadethelongei-teimgoalsmoiedicult.NGOs,laboi
unions,authoiitaiianMaixists,andsimilaialliesjumpedshipal-
mostimmediately,stiategicdebatesensued,buttheyweiecaiiied
out,asalways,indiiectly,asaigumentsaboutiace,piivilege,tac-
tics,almostanythingbutasactualstiategicdebates.Heie,too,ev-
eiythingwasmadeinnitelymoiedicultbythestatesiecouise
towai.
It is haid, as I mentioned, foi anaichists to take much diiect
iesponsibility foi the inevitable end of the wai in Iiaq, oi even
to the veiy bloody nose the empiie has alieady acquiied theie.
Butacasecouldwellbemadefoiindiiectiesponsibility.Sincethe
60s,andthecatastiopheofVietnam,theUSgoveinmenthasnot
abandoneditspolicyofansweiinganythieatofdemociaticmass
mobilizing by a ietuin to wai. But it has to be much moie caie-
ful.Essentially,theynowfeeltheyhavetodesignwaistobepio-
test-pioof.TeieisveiygoodieasontobelievethattheistGulf
Wai, in 1991, was explicitly designed with this in mind. Te ap-
pioachtakentotheinvasionofIiaqtheinsistenceonasmallei,
high-techaimy,theextiemeielianceonindisciiminateiepowei,
even against civilians, to piotect against any Vietnam-like levels
ofAmeiicancasualtiesappeaistohavebeendeveloped,again,
moie with a mind to heading o any potential peace movement
athomethanonefocusedonmilitaiyeectiveness.Tis,anyway,
wouldhelpexplainwhythemostpoweifulaimyinthewoildhas
endedupbeingtieddownandeven,peiiodically,defeatedbyan
almostunimaginablyiagtaggioupofgueiillaswithnegligibleac-
cesstooutsidesafe-aieas,funding,oimilitaiysuppoitthatis,
until they iesoited to a despeiate combination of death squads,
ethniccleansing,massivebiibeiy,andeectivelytuiningoveithe
countiy to theii aich-enemy Iian.As in the tiade summits, they
aiesoobsessedwithensuiingfoicesofciviliesistancecannotbe
seentowinthebattleathomethattheywouldpiefeitolosethe
actualwai.
26 | DvioGvrnrv
PERSPECTIVES (WITH A BRIEF RETURN TO 30s SPAIN)
Ho, :nr, :o cope with the peiils of victoiy? I cant claim to
have any simple answeis. Really I wiote this essay moie to open
upaconveisation,toputthepioblemonthetabletoinspiiea
stiategicdebate.
Still, some implications aie pietty obvious. Te next time we
planamajoiactioncampaign,Ithinkwewoulddowelltoatleast
takeintoaccountthepossibilitythatwemightwin.Oiatleast,that
we might obtain oui mid-iange stiategic goals veiy quickly, and
thatwhenthathappens,manyofouiallieswillfallaway.Wehave
toiecognizestiategicdebatesfoiwhattheyaie,evenwhenthey
appeaitobeaboutsomethingelse.Takeonefamousexample:ai-
gumentsaboutpiopeitydestiuctionafteiSeattle.Mostofthese,I
think,weieieallyaigumentsaboutcapitalism.Tosewhodeciied
window-bieakingdidsomainlybecausetheywishedtoappealto
middle-class consumeis to move towaids global exchange-style
gieenconsumeiism,andtoallywithlaboibuieauciaciesandso-
cialdemociatsabioad.Tiswasnotapathdesignedtopiovokea
diiectconfiontationwithcapitalism,andmostofthosewhouiged
us to take this ioute weie at least skeptical about the possibility
that capitalism could evei ieally be defeated. Many weie in fact
infavoiofcapitalism,ifinasignicantlyhumanizedfoim.Tose
whodidbieakwindows,ontheotheihand,didntcaieiftheyof-
fended subuiban homeowneis, because they did not guie that
subuiban homeowneis weie likely to evei become a signicant
elementinanyfutuieievolutionaiyanticapitalistcoalition.Tey
weietiying,ineect,tohijackthemediatosendamessagethat
the system was vulneiable hoping to inspiie similai insuiiec-
tionaiyactsonthepaitofthosewhomightconsideiingenteiing
agenuinelyievolutionaiyalliance,alienatedteenageis,oppiessed
people of coloi, undocumented woikeis, iank-and-le laboieis
impatientwithunionbuieauciats,thehomeless,theunemployed,
theciiminalized,theiadicallydiscontent.Ifamilitantanticapital-
istmovementwastobegin,inAmeiica,itwouldhavetostaitwith
peoplelikethese:peoplewhodontneedtobeconvincedthatthe
system is iotten, only, that theies something they can do about
it.Andatanyiate,evenifitweiepossibletohaveananticapital-
istievolutionwithoutgun-battlesinthestieetswhichmostof
us aie hoping it is, since lets face it, if we come up against the
USaimy,wewilllosetheiesnopossiblewaywecouldhavean
TnrSnocorVic:ovv|27
anticapitalist ievolution while at the same time sciupulously ie-
spectingpiopeityiights.Yes,thatwillpiobablymeanthesubui-
banmiddleclasswillbethelasttocomeonboaid.Buttheywould
piobablybethelasttocomeonboaidanyway.
5
Telatteiactuallyleadstoaninteiestingquestion.Whatwould
itmeantowin,notjustouimedium-teimgoals,butouilongteim
ones?Atthemomentnooneisevencleaihowthatwouldcome
about,foitheveiyieasonnoneofushavemuchfaithiemaining
in the ievolution in the old 19th oi 20th centuiy sense of the
teim. Aftei all, the total view of ievolution, that theie will be a
single mass insuiiection oi geneial stiike and then all walls will
come tumbling down, is entiiely piemised on the old fantasy of
captuiingthestate.Tatstheonlywayvictoiycouldpossiblybe
thatabsoluteandcompleteatleast,ifweaiespeakingofawhole
countiyoimeaningfulteiiitoiy.
Inwayofillustiation,consideithis:Whatwouldithaveactu-
ally meant foi the Spanish anaichists to have actually won in
1937? Its amazing how iaiely we ask ouiselves such questions.
WejustimagineitwouldhavebeensomethingliketheRussian
Revolution,whichbeganinasimilaiway,withthemeltingaway
of the old aimy, the spontaneous cieation of woikeis soviets.
But that was in the majoi cities. Te Russian Revolution was
followedbyyeaisofcivilwaiinwhichtheRedAimygiadually
imposed a new goveinments contiol on eveiy pait of the old
RussianEmpiie,whetheithecommunitiesinquestionwantedit
oinot.LetusimaginethatanaichistmilitiasinSpainhadiouted
the fascist aimy, and that aimy had completely dissolved. Let
us fuithei imagine that it had successfully kicked the social-
ist Republican Goveinment out of its oces in Baicelona and
Madiid.Tatwouldceitainlyhavebeenanaichistvictoiybyany-
bodys standaids. But what would have happened next? Would
theyhaveestablishedtheentiieteiiitoiyofwhathadoncebeen
Spainasanon-Republic,ananti-stateexistingwithintheexact
sameinteinationalboideis?Wouldtheyhaveimposedaiegime
ofpopulaicouncilsineveiysingevillageandmunicipalityinthe
teiiitoiy of what had foimeily been Spain? How? We have to
beai in mind heie that weie theie weie many villages, towns,
eveniegionsofSpainwheieanaichistsweiefewtonon-existent.
5 Andthispiobablyiemainstiue,nomatteihowdeeptheiimoitgages
aieundeiwatei.
28 | DvioGvrnrv
In some, just about the entiie population was made up of con-
seivative Catholics oi monaichists, in otheis (say, the Basque
countiy)theiewasamilitantandwell-oiganizedwoikingclass,
butitthatwasoveiwhelminglysocialistoicommunist.Evenat
theheightofievolutionaiyfeivoi,asignicantpoitionofthese
wouldpiesumablystaytiuetotheiioldvaluesandideas.Ifthe
victoiiousFAIattemptedtoexteiminatethemallataskwhich
wouldhaveiequiiedkillingmillionsofpeopleoichasethem
outofthecountiy,oifoiciblyielocatethemintoanaichistcom-
munities, oi send them o to ieeducation camps they would
not only have been guilty of woild-class atiocities, they would
also have had to give up on being anaichists. Demociatic oi-
ganizationssimplycannotcommitatiocitiesonthatsystematic
scale:foithat,youdneedCommunistoiFascist-styletop-down
oiganization. Tis is because, as histoiy has shown, while hu-
manscanbeextiaoidinaiilyciuelinbiiefmomentsofextieme
excitement,iealatiocitiestaketime:youcantactuallygetthou-
sands of human beings to systematically massacie hundieds of
thousands of helpless women, childien and old people, destioy
communities, oi chase families fiom theii ancestial homes
piojectswhichtakeaconsideiableamountofmethodicalplan-
ningunlesstheycanatleasttellthemselvesthatsomeoneelse
isiesponsibleandtheyaieonlyfollowingoideis.
Asaiesult,theieappeaitohavebeenonlytwopossiblesolu-
tionstothepioblem.
1) Allow the Spanish Republic to continue as de facto gov-
einmentundeithesocialists,peihapswithafewanaichist
ministeis(asdidinfactexistduiingthewai),allowthem
impose goveinment contiol on the iight-wing majoiity
aieas, and then get some kind of deal out of them that
theywouldallowtheanaichist-majoiitycities,towns,and
villagestooiganizethemselvesastheywishto.Tenhope
thattheykeptthedeal(thismightbeconsideiedthegood
luckoption)
2) Declaiethateveiyonewastofoimtheiiownlocalpopu-
laiassemblies,andleteachassemblydecideontheiiown
modeofself-oiganization.
TnrSnocorVic:ovv|29
Te lattei seems the moie tting with anaichist piinciples, but
the iesults wouldnt have likely been too much dieient. Aftei
all, if the inhabitants of, say, Bilbao oveiwhelmingly desiied to
cieate a local goveinment, with a mayoi and police, how exact-
ly would anaichists in Madiid oi Baicelona have stopped them?
Municipalities wheie the chuich oi landloids still commanded
populaisuppoitwouldpiesumablyhaveputthesameoldiight-
wingauthoiitiesinchaige,socialistoicommunistmunicipalities
wouldhaveputsocialistoicommunistpaitypoliticiansandbu-
ieauciatsinchaige,RightandLeftstatistswouldtheneachfoim
iivalconfedeiationsthat,eventhoughtheycontiolledonlyafiac-
tion of the foimei Spanish teiiitoiy, would each declaie them-
selves the legitimate goveinment of Spain. Foieign goveinments
wouldhaveiecognizedoneoitheotheiofthetwoconfedeiations,
dependingontheiiownpoliticalleaningssincenonewouldbe
willingtoexchangeambassadoiswithanon-goveinmentlikethe
FAI,evenassumingtheFAIwishedtoexchangeambassadoiswith
them, which it wouldnt. In othei woids the actual shooting wai
might end, but the political stiuggle would continue, and laige
paitsofSpainwouldpiesumablyenduplookinglikecontempo-
iaiy Chiapas, with each distiict oi community divided between
anaichist and anti-anaichist factions. Ultimate victoiy would
havehadtobealongandaiduouspiocess.Teonlywaytoieally
winoveithestatistenclaveswouldbetowinoveitheiichildien,
whichcouldbeaccomplishedbycieatinganobviouslyfieei,moie
pleasuiable, moie beautiful, secuie, ielaxed, fullling life in the
stateless sections. Foieign capitalist poweis, on the othei hand,
eveniftheydidnotinteivenemilitaiily,woulddoeveiythingpos-
sibletoheadothenotoiiousthieatofagoodexamplebyeco-
nomic boycotts and subveision, and pouiing iesouices into the
statist zones. In the end, eveiything would piobably depend on
the degiee to which anaichist victoiies in Spain inspiied similai
insuiiectionselsewheie.
Te ieal point of this imaginative exeicise is just to point out
that theie aie no clean bieaks in histoiy. Te ip-side of the old
ideaofthecleanbieak,theonemomentwhenthestatefallsand
capitalism is defeated, is that anything shoit of that is not ie-
ally a victoiy at all. Revolutionaiies heai this line continually. If
capitalism is left standing, if it begins to maiket ievolutionaiies
once-subveisiveideas,itshowsthatthecapitalistsieallywon.Te
30 | DvioGvrnrv
ievolutionaiies have lost, theyve been coopted. To me this en-
tiielineofieasoningisabsuid.Feminismwassuielyaievolution-
aiy foice: what could be moie iadical than ieveising thousands
of yeais of gendei oppiessing lying at the veiy heait of what we
thinkweaieandcanbeandshouldbeashumanbeings?Canwe
saythatfeminismlost,thatitachievednothing,justbecausecoi-
poiatecultuiefeltobligedtopaylipseivicetocondemningsexism
andcapitalistimsbeganmaiketingfeministbooks,movies,and
otheipioducts?Ofcouisenot.Unlessyouvemanagedtodestioy
capitalismandpatiiaichyinonefellblow,thisisoneofthecleai-
estsignsthatyouvegottensomewheie.Piesumablyanyeective
ioad to ievolution will involve endless moments of cooptation,
endless victoiious campaigns, endless little insuiiectionaiy mo-
ments oi moments of ight and coveit autonomy. I hesitate to
evenspeculatewhatitmightieallybelike.Buttostaitinthatdi-
iection,theistthingweneedtodoistoiecognizethatwedo,in
fact,winsome.Actually,iecently,wevebeenwinningquitealot.
Te question is how to bieak the cycle of exaltation and despaii
and come up with some stiategic visions (the moie the meiiiei)
about these victoiies build on each othei, to cieate a cumulative
movementtowaidsanewsociety.
M


Hope in Common
Wr srrr :o nvr vrcnro irvssr. Cvi:iisr s r
knowitappeaistobecomingapait.Butasnancialinstitutions
staggei and ciumble, theie is no obvious alteinative. Oiganized
iesistance appeais scatteied and incoheient, the global justice
movement a shadow of its foimei self. Teie is good ieason to
believethat,inageneiationoiso,capitalismwillnolongeiexist:
foithesimpleieasonthat(asmanyhavepointedout)itsimpos-
sibletomaintainanengineofpeipetualgiowthfoieveionanite
planet.Yetfacedwiththispiospect,theknee-jeikieactioneven
of piogiessives and many ostensible anticapitalists is, often,
feai,toclingtowhatexistsbecausetheysimplycantimaginean
alteinativethatwouldntbeevenmoieoppiessiveanddestiuctive.
Teistquestionweshouldbeaskingis:Howdidthishappen?
Isitnoimalfoihumanbeingstobeunabletoimaginewhatabet-
teiwoildwouldevenbelike?
O
Hopelessness isnt natuial. It needs to be pioduced. If we ie-
allywanttoundeistandthissituation,wehavetobeginbyundei-
standingthatthelastthiityyeaishaveseentheconstiuctionofa
vast buieauciatic appaiatus foi the cieation and maintenance of
32 | DvioGvrnrv
hopelessness, a kind of giant machine that is designed, ist and
foiemost,todestioyanysenseofpossiblealteinativefutuies.At
iootisaveiitableobsessiononthepaitoftheiuleisofthewoild
withensuiingthatsocialmovementscannotbeseentogiow,to
ouiish, to piopose alteinatives, that those who challenge exist-
ingpoweiaiiangementscannevei,undeianyciicumstances,be
peiceived to win. To do so iequiies cieating a vast appaiatus of
aimies,piisons,police,vaiiousfoimsofpiivatesecuiityimsand
policeandmilitaiyintelligenceappaiatus,piopagandaenginesof
eveiyconceivablevaiiety,mostofwhichdonotattackalteinatives
diiectlysomuchastheycieateapeivasiveclimateoffeai,jingo-
istic confoimity, and simple despaii that iendeis any thought of
changingthewoildseemanidlefantasy.Maintainingthisappaia-
tusseemsevenmoieimpoitant,toexponentsofthefieemaiket,
even than maintaining any soit of viable maiket economy. How
else can one explain, foi instance, what happened in the foimei
SovietUnion,wheieonewouldhaveimaginedtheendoftheCold
WaiwouldhaveledtothedismantlingoftheaimyandKGBand
iebuildingthefactoiies,butinfactwhathappenedwaspiecisely
the othei way aiound? Tis is just one extieme example of what
has been happening eveiywheie. Economically, this appaiatus is
puiedeadweight,alltheguns,suiveillancecameias,andpiopa-
ganda engines aie extiaoidinaiily expensive and ieally pioduce
nothing,andasaiesult,itsdiaggingtheentiiecapitalistsystem
downwithit,andpossibly,theeaithitself.
Te spiials of nancialization and endless stiing of economic
bubbleswevebeenexpeiienceaieadiiectiesultofthisappaiatus.
Its no coincidence that the United States has become both the
woildsmajoimilitaiy(secuiity)poweiandthemajoipiomotei
of bogus secuiities. Tis appaiatus exists to shied and pulveiize
thehumanimagination,todestioyanypossibilityofenvisioning
alteinative futuies. As a iesult, the only thing left to imagine is
moie and moie money, and debt spiials entiiely out of contiol.
Whatisdebt,afteiall,butimaginaiymoneywhosevaluecanonly
be iealized in the futuie: futuie piots, the pioceeds of the ex-
ploitation of woikeis not yet boin. Finance capital in tuin is the
buyingandsellingoftheseimaginaiyfutuiepiots,andonceone
assumes that capitalism itself will be aiound foi all eteinity, the
onlykindofeconomicdemociacylefttoimagineisoneeveiyone
is equally fiee to invest in the maiket to giab theii own piece
HovriCorro|33
in the game of buying and selling imaginaiy futuie piots, even
ifthesepiotsaietobeextiactedfiomthemselves.Fieedomhas
becometheiighttoshaieinthepioceedsofonesownpeimanent
enslavement.
And since the bubble had built on the destiuction of futuies,
onceitcollapsedtheieappeaiedtobeatleastfoithemoment
simplynothingleft.
O
Teeecthoweveiiscleailytempoiaiy.Ifthestoiyoftheglob-
al justice movement tells us anything its that the moment theie
appeais to be any sense of an opening, the imagination will im-
mediately spiing foith. Tis is what eectively happened in the
late90swhenitlooked,foiamoment,likewemightbemoving
towaidawoildatpeace.IntheUS,foithelastftyyeais,when-
eveitheieseemstobeanypossibilityofpeacebieakingout,the
samethinghappens:theemeigenceofaiadicalsocialmovement
dedicatedtopiinciplesofdiiectactionandpaiticipatoiydemoc-
iacy, aiming to ievolutionize the veiy meaning of political life.
In the late 50s it was the civil iights movement, in the late 70s,
theanti-nucleaimovement.Tistimeithappenedonaplanetaiy
scale,andchallengedcapitalismhead-on.Tesemovementstend
tobeextiaoidinaiilyeective.Ceitainlytheglobaljusticemove-
mentwas.Fewiealizethatoneofthemainieasonsitseemedto
ickei in and out of existence so iapidly was that it achieved its
piinciplegoalssoquickly.Noneofusdieamed,whenweweieoi-
ganizing the piotests in Seattle in 1999 oi at the IMF meetings
inDCin2000,thatwithinameiethieeoifouiyeais,theWTO
piocess would have collapsed, that fiee tiade ideologies would
be consideied almost entiiely disciedited, that eveiy new tiade
pacttheythiewatusfiomtheMIAtoFieeTiadeAieasofthe
Ameiicasactwouldhavebeendefeated,theWoildBankhob-
bled, the powei of the IMF ovei most of the woilds population,
eectivelydestioyed.Butthisispieciselywhathappened.Tefate
oftheIMFispaiticulailystaitling.OncetheteiioioftheGlobal
South,itis,bynow,ashatteiediemnantofitsfoimeiself,ieviled
and disciedited, ieduced to selling o its gold ieseives and des-
peiatelyseaichingfoianewglobalmission.Meanwhile,mostof
thethiidwoilddebthassimplyvanished.Allofthiswasadiiect
34 | DvioGvrnrv
iesultofamovementthatmanagedtomobilizeglobaliesistance
soeectivelythattheieigninginstitutionsweieistdisciedited,
andultimately,thatthoseiunninggoveinmentsinAsiaandespe-
ciallyLatinAmeiicaweiefoicedbytheiiownpopulationstocall
the blu of the inteinational nancial system. As I have alieady
aigued,muchoftheieasonthemovementwasthiownintoconfu-
sionwasbecausenoneofushadieallyconsideiedwemightwin.
Butofcouisetheiesanotheiieason.Nothingteiiiestheiul-
eis of the woild, and paiticulaily of the United States, as much
as the dangei of giassioots demociacy. Whenevei a genuinely
demociaticmovementbeginstoemeigepaiticulaily,onebased
on piinciples of civil disobedience and diiect action the ieac-
tion is the same, the goveinment makes immediate concessions
(ne, you can have voting iights, no nukes), then staits iatchet-
ingupmilitaiytensionsabioad.Temovementisthenfoicedto
tiansfoimitselfintoananti-waimovement,which,piettymuch
invaiiably,isfailessdemociaticallyoiganized.Sotheciviliights
movementwasfollowedbyVietnam,theanti-nucleaimovement
by pioxy wais in El Salvadoi and Nicaiagua, the global justice
movement,bytheWaionTeiioi.Butatthispoint,wecansee
that wai foi what it was: as the ailing and obviously doomed
eoitofadecliningpoweitomakeitspeculiaicombinationofbu-
ieauciaticwaimachinesandspeculativenancialcapitalisminto
apeimanentglobalcondition.Iftheiottenaichitectuiecollapsed
abiuptlyattheendof2008,itwasatleastinpaitbecausesomuch
of the woik had alieady been accomplished by a movement that
had, in the face of the suige of iepiession aftei 9i11, combined
withconfusionoveihowtofollowupitsstaitlinginitialsuccess,
hadseemedtohavelaigelydisappeaiedfiomthescene.
Ofcouiseithasntieally.
O
We aie cleaily at the veige of anothei mass iesuigence of the
populaiimagination.Itsjustamatteioftime.Ceitainly,theist
ieaction to an unfoieseen ciisis is usually shock and confusion,
butafteiabit,thatpasses,andnewideasemeige.Itshouldntbe
thatdicult.Mostoftheelementsaiealieadytheie.Foithemo-
ment the pioblem is that, oui peiceptions having been twisted
intoknotsbydecadesofielentlesspiopaganda,weaienolongei
HovriCorro|35
abletoseethem.Consideiheietheteimcommunism.Raielyhas
ateimcometobesoutteilyieviled.Testandaidline,whichwe
acceptmoieoilessunthinkingly,isthatcommunismmeansstate
contioloftheeconomy,andthisisanimpossibleutopiandieam
because histoiy has shown it simply doesnt woik. Capitalism,
howeveiunpleasant,istheiefoietheonlyiemainingoption.
Allthisisbasedonidentifyingcommunismwiththesoitof
systemthatexistedintheoldSovietbloc,oiChinaatop-down
commandeconomy.Gianted,undeisomeciicumstances,paitic-
ulailywhenplayingindustiialcatch-up,oiganizingvastpiojects
likespacepiogiams,oiespecially,ghtingwais,thesesystemscan
besuipiisinglyecient.Tisiswhythecapitalistpoweisweieso
fiightenedinthe30s:theSovietUnionwasgiowingat10ayeai
evenaseveiyoneelsewasstagnating.Buttheiionyisthatthepeo-
plewhooiganizedthesesystems,eventhoughtheycalledthem-
selves Communists, nevei claimed that this top-down system
itselfwascommunism.Teycalleditsocialism(anotheiaigu-
ablepoint,butwellleavethatoneasidefoiamoment),andsaw
communism as a utopian tiuly fiee, stateless society that would
existatsomepointintheunknowablefutuie.Gianted,thesystem
theydidcieatedeseivestobeieviled.Butithasalmostnothingto
dowithcommunismintheoiiginalsenseoftheteim.
In fact communism ieally just means any situation wheie
peopleactaccoidingtothepiincipleoffiomeachaccoidingto
theiiabilities,toeachaccoidingtotheiineedswhichistheway
pietty much eveiyone always act if they aie woiking togethei to
getsomethingdone.Iftwopeopleaiexingapipeandonesays
handmethewiench,theotheidoesntsay,andwhatdoIgetfoi
it?(Tatis,iftheyactuallywantittobexed.)Tisistiueevenif
theyhappentobeemployedbyBechteloiCitigioup.Teyapply
piinciples of communism because its the only thing that ieally
woiks. Tis is also the ieason whole cities oi countiies so often
ieveittosomefoimofiough-and-ieadycommunisminthewake
ofnatuialdisasteis,oieconomiccollapse(onemightsay,inthose
ciicumstances,maiketsandhieiaichicalchainsofcommandaie
luxuiies they cant aoid.) Te moie cieativity is iequiied, the
moiepeoplehavetoimpioviseatagiventask,themoieegalitaii-
antheiesultingfoimofcommunismislikelytobe:thatswhyeven
Republican computei engineeis, when tiying to innovate new
softwaieideas,tendtofoimsmalldemociaticcollectives.Itsonly
36 | DvioGvrnrv
whenwoikbecomesstandaidizedandboiingasonpioduction
lines that it becomes possible to impose moie authoiitaiian,
evenfascisticfoimsofcommunism.Butthefactisthatevenpii-
vatecompaniesaie,inteinally,oiganizedcommunisticallyeven
ifthatcommunismoftentakesextiaoidinaiilyunpleasantfoims.
Communism,then,isalieadyheie.Tequestionishowtofui-
thei demociatize it. Capitalism, in tuin, is just one possible way
ofmanagingcommunismand,ithasbecomeincieasinglycleai,
iathei a disastious one. Cleaily we need to be thinking about a
betteione:piefeiably,onethatdoesnotsetusallquitesosystem-
aticallyateachotheisthioats.
O
Allthismakesitmucheasieitoundeistandwhycapitalistsaie
willing to poui such extiaoidinaiy iesouices into the machineiy
ofhopelessness.Capitalismisnotjustapooisystemfoimanag-
ingcommunism:ithasanotoiioustendencytopeiiodicallycome
spinningapait.Eachtimeitdoes,thosewhopiotfiomithaveto
convinceeveiyoneandmostofallthetechnicalpeople,thedoc-
tois and teacheis and suiveyois and insuiance claims adjustois
thattheieisieallynochoicebuttodutifullypasteitallbackto-
getheiagain,insomethingliketheoiiginalfoim.Tisdespitethe
factthatmostofthosewhowillendupdoingthewoikofiebuild-
ingthesystemdontevenlikeitveiymuch,andallhaveatleastthe
vaguesuspicion,iootedintheiiowninnumeiableexpeiiencesof
eveiydaycommunism,thatitieallyoughttobepossibletocieate
asystematleastalittlelessstupidandunfaii.
Tisiswhy,astheGieat Depiessionshowed,the existenceof
any plausible-seeming alteinative even one so dubious as the
Soviet Union of the 1930s can, as Massimo de Angelis points
out tuin a meie downswing of capitalist boom-bust cycle into
anappaientlyinsolublepoliticalciisis.
Tis in tuin helps explain the weiid ideological contoitions
bywhichweaieconstantlytoldcommunismjustdoesntwoik.
I have seen motheis tell this to theii twelve-yeai-old daughteis
when they so much as suggest shaiing tasks coopeiatively. (As
if the pioblem with the Soviet Union was that they didnt have
anyone giving oideis!) In fact, its downiight bizaiie to obseive
howquicklythestandaidihetoiicwentfiomsayingthatasystem
HovriCorro|37
liketheSovietUnion,withnointeinalmaiketwouldnotpossibly
compete eithei technologically oi in the piovision of consumei
goods with theii iichest and most advanced capitalist iivals, to
sayingthatsuchasocietycouldnotexistatall.Actually,Imight
iemind my ieadeis, it did. Foi ovei eighty yeais. It was a woild
powei, defeated Hitlei, and shot astionauts into outei space. I
shouldemphasizethatnooneintheiiiightmindwouldeveiwish
toiecieatesuchasystem.Buttheideologicalwoikofpietending
itwassomehowimpossibleseemsdesigned,ieally,toconvincing
us that real communism, ieal eveiyday communism, of the soit
the Soviet Union and its allies nevei actually embiaced, cannot
possiblybeofanylaigeisocialsignicance.Becauseifstaitthink-
ingaboutthewayouilivesieallywoik,wemightnotbesoeagei
tocontinueobeyingoideis,anddutifullyiebuildtheappaiatusof
ouiownoppiessionwheneveiitbieaksdownagain.
O
Notthatanyoneintheiiiightmindwouldeveidieamofiecie-
atingsomethingliketheoldSovietUnion.Tosewishingtosub-
veit the system have mostly leained by now, fiom bittei expeii-
ence,thatwecannotplaceouifaithinstatesofanykind.Insome
paits of the woild, goveinments and theii iepiesentatives have
laigelypulledupstakesandleft:theieaiewholeswathesofAfiica
and Southeast Asia, and piobably paits of the Ameiicas, wheie
thepiesenceofstateandcapitalisminimal,oievennon-existent,
but since people have shown no inclination to kill one anothei,
no one has ieally noticed. Some of these have been impiovising
newsocialaiiangementswesimplyhavenowaytoknowabout.
Inotheis,thelastdecadehasseenthedevelopmentofthousands
offoimsofmutualaidassociationinopendeanceofstatesand
capital, most of which have not even made it onto the iadai of
theglobalmedia.Teyiangefiomtinycoopeiativesandassocia-
tionstovastanticapitalistexpeiiments,aichipelagosofoccupied
factoiies in Paiaguay oi Aigentina oi of self-oiganized tea plan-
tations and sheiies in India, autonomous institutes in Koiea,
wholeinsuigentcommunitiesinChiapasoiBolivia,associations
of landless peasants, uiban squatteis, neighboihood alliances,
thatspiinguppiettymuchanywheiethatwheiestatepoweiand
globalcapitalseemtotempoiaiilylookingtheotheiway.Allthese
38 | DvioGvrnrv
expeiiments may have almost no ideological unity and most aie
not even awaie of the otheis existence, but all aie maiked by a
common desiie to bieak with the logic of capital. And in many
places,theyaiebeginningtocombine.Economiesofsolidaiity
existoneveiycontinent,inatleasteightydieientcountiies.We
aie at the point wheie we can begin to peiceive the outlines of
howthesecanknittogetheionagloballevel,cieatingnewfoims
ofplanetaiycommonstocieateagenuineinsuigentcivilization.
Visible alteinatives shattei the sense of inevitability, that the
system must, necessaiily, be patched togethei in the same foim
thisiswhyitbecamesuchanimpeiativeofglobalgoveinance
tostampthemout,oi,whenthatsnotpossible,toensuiethatno
one knows about them. To become awaie of it allows us to see
eveiything we aie alieady doing in a new light. To iealize weie
allalieadycommunistswhenwoikingonacommonpiojects,all
alieady anaichists when we solve pioblems without iecouise to
lawyeis oi police, all ievolutionaiies when we make something
genuinelynew.
O
One might object: a ievolution cannot conne itself to this.
Tats tiue. In this iespect, the gieat stiategic debates aie ieally
just beginning. Ill oei one suggestion though. Foi at least ve
thousand yeais, populai movements have tended to centei on
stiuggles ovei debt this was tiue long befoie capitalism even
existed.Teieisaieasonfoithis.Debtisthemostecientmeans
evei cieated to take ielations that aie fundamentally based on
violenceandviolentinequalityandtomakethemseemiightand
moial to eveiyone conceined. When the tiick no longei woiks,
eveiythingexplodes.Asitisnow.Cleaily,debthasshownitselfto
bethepointofgieatestweaknessofthesystem,thepointwheieit
spiialsoutofanyonescontiol.Italsoallowsendlessoppoitunities
foioiganizing.Somespeakofadebtoisstiike,oidebtoiscaitel.
Peihapssobutattheveiyleastwecanstaitwithapledgeagainst
evictions: to pledge, neighboihood by neighboihood, to suppoit
eachotheiifanyofusaietobediivenfiomouihomes.Tepowei
is not just that to challenge iegimes of debt is to challenge the
veiybeiofcapitalismitsmoialfoundationnowievealedto
beacollectionofbiokenpiomisesbutindoingso,tocieatea
HovriCorro|39
newone.Adebtafteiallisonlythat:apiomise,andthepiesent
woildaboundswithpiomisesthathavenotbeenkept.Onemight
speakheieofthepiomisemadeusbythestate,thatifweabandon
anyiighttocollectivelymanageouiownaaiis,wewouldatleast
bepiovidedwithbasiclifesecuiity.Oiofthepiomiseoeiedby
capitalismthatwecouldlivelikekingsifweweiewillingtobuy
stock in oui own collective suboidination. All of this has come
ciashingdown.Whatiemainsiswhatweaieabletopiomiseone
anothei.Diiectly.Withoutthemediationofeconomicandpoliti-
cal buieauciacies. Te ievolution begins by asking: what soit of
piomisesdofieemenandwomenmaketooneanothei,andhow,
bymakingthem,dowebegintomakeanotheiwoild?


Revolution in Reverse
Aii vorv :o :nr iroi:io. Br vriis:ic, orro
the impossible Anyone involved in iadical politics has heaid
these expiessions a thousand times. Usually they chaim and ex-
citetheisttimeoneencounteisthem,theneventuallybecomeso
familiaiastoseemhackneyed,oijustdisappeaiintotheambient
backgioundnoiseofiadicallife.Raielyifeveiaietheytheobject
ofseiioustheoieticalieection.
It seems to me that at the cuiient histoiical junctuie, some
suchieectionwouldntbeabadidea.Weaieatamoment,aftei
all, when ieceived denitions have been thiown into disaiiay. It
isquitepossiblethatweaieheadingfoiaievolutionaiymoment,
oipeihapsaseiiesofthem,butwenolongeihaveanycleaiidea
of what that might even mean. Tis essay then is the pioduct of
a sustained eoit to tiy to iethink teims like iealism, imagina-
tion, alienation, buieauciacy, and ievolution itself. Its boin of
some six yeais of involvement with the alteinative globalization
movementandpaiticulailywithitsmostiadical,anaichist,diiect
action-oiientedelements.Consideiitakindofpieliminaiytheo-
ietical iepoit. I want to ask, among othei things, why is it these
teims,whichfoimostofusseemiatheitoevokelong-sincefoi-
gottendebatesofthe1960s,stilliesonateinthoseciicles?Whyis
itthattheideaofanyiadicalsocialtiansfoimationsooftenseems
G
42 | DvioGvrnrv
uniealistic?Whatdoesievolutionmeanonceonenolongeiex-
pects a single, cataclysmic bieak with past stiuctuies of oppies-
sion?Teseseemdispaiatequestionsbutitseemstomethean-
sweisaieielated.IfinmanycasesIbiushpastexistingbodiesof
theoiy,thisisquiteintentional:Iamtiyingtoseeifitispossible
tobuildontheexpeiienceofthesemovementsandthetheoietical
cuiientsthatinfoimthemtobegintocieatesomethingnew.
Heieisgistofmyaigument:
1) RightandLeftpoliticalpeispectivesaiefounded,above
all, on dieient assumptions about the ultimate ieali-
ties of powei. Te Right is iooted in a political ontol-
ogyofviolence,wheiebeingiealisticmeanstakinginto
account the foices of destiuction. In ieply the Left has
consistentlypioposedvaiiationsonapoliticalontology
of the imagination, in which the foices that aie seen as
theultimateiealitiesthatneedtobetakenintoaccount
aie those (foices of pioduction, cieativity) that biing
thingsintobeing.
2) Te situation is complicated by the fact that systematic
inequalitiesbackedbythethieatoffoicestiuctuialvio-
lence always pioduce skewed and fiactuied stiuctuies
of the imagination. It is the expeiience of living inside
thesefiactuiedstiuctuiesthatweiefeitoasalienation.
3) Ouicustomaiyconceptionofievolutionisinsuiiection-
aiy:theideaistobiushasideexistingiealitiesofviolence
byoveithiowingthestate,then,tounleashthepoweisof
populaiimaginationandcieativitytooveicomethestiuc-
tuies that cieate alienation. Ovei the twentieth centuiy
it eventually became appaient that the ieal pioblem was
how to institutionalize such cieativity without cieating
new,oftenevenmoieviolentandalienatingstiuctuies.As
aiesult,theinsuiiectionaiymodelnolongeiseemscom-
pletelyviable,butitsnotcleaiwhatwillieplaceit.
4) Oneiesponsehasbeentheievivalofthetiaditionofdi-
iect action. In piactice, mass actions ieveise the oidi-
naiy insuiiectionaiy sequence. Rathei than a diamatic
Rrvoiu:ioiRrvrvsr|43
confiontation with state powei leading ist to an out-
pouiing of populai festivity, the cieation of new demo-
ciatic institutions, and eventually the ieinvention of ev-
eiyday life, in oiganizing mass mobilizations, activists
diawn piincipally fiom subcultuial gioups cieate new,
diiectly demociatic institutions to oiganize festivals of
iesistancethatultimatelyleadtoconfiontationswiththe
state.Tisisjustoneaspectofamoiegeneialmovement
of iefoimulation that seems to me to be inspiied in pait
bytheinuenceofanaichism,butinevenlaigeipait,by
feminismamovementthatultimatelyaimsiecieatethe
eects of those insuiiectionaiy moments on an ongoing
basis
Letmetaketheseonebyone.
Part I: be realistic
Fvor rviv zooo to late 2002 I was woiking with the Diiect
ActionNetwoikinNewYoikthepiincipalgioupiesponsible
foi oiganizing mass actions as pait of the global justice move-
mentinthatcityatthattime.Actually,DANwasnot,technical-
ly,agioup,butadecentializednetwoik,opeiatingonpiinciples
of diiect demociacy accoiding to an elaboiate, but stiikingly
eective, foim of consensus piocess. It played a cential iole in
ongoingeoitstocieatenewoiganizationalfoimsthatIwiote
aboutinaneailieiessayinthesepages.DANexistedinapuiely
politicalspace,ithadnoconcieteiesouices,notevenasigni-
canttieasuiy,toadministei.TenonedaysomeonegaveDANa
cai.Tiscausedaminoi,butongoing,ciisis.Wesoondiscoveied
thatlegally,itisimpossiblefoiadecentializednetwoiktoown
a cai. Cais can be owned by individuals, oi they can be owned
bycoipoiations,whichaiectiveindividuals.Goveinmentscan
also own cais. But they cannot be owned by netwoiks. Unless
weweiewillingtoincoipoiateouiselvesasanonpiotcoipoia-
tion(whichwouldhaveiequiiedacompleteieoiganizationand
abandoningmostofouiegalitaiianpiinciples)theonlyexpedi-
entwastondavolunteeiwillingtoclaimtobetheowneifoi
legal puiposes. But then that peison was held iesponsible foi
alloutstandingnes,insuiancefees,andhadtopiovidewiitten
44 | DvioGvrnrv
peimissiontoallowanyoneelsetodiivethecaioutofstate,and,
of couise, only he could ietiieve the cai if it weie impounded.
BefoielongtheDANcaihadbecomesuchapeiennialpioblem
thatweabandonedit.
It stiuck me theie was something impoitant heie. Why is it
thatpiojectslikeDANspiojectsofdemociatizingsocietyaie
sooftenpeiceivedasidledieamsthatmeltawayassoonasthey
encounteihaidmateiialieality?Inouicase,atleast,ithadnoth-
ing to do with ineciency: police chiefs acioss the countiy had
calledusthebestoiganizedfoicetheydeveihadtodealwith.It
seemstometheiealityeect(ifonemaycallitthat)comesiathei
fiomthefactthatiadicalpiojectstendtofoundei,oiatleastbe-
comeendlesslydicult,themomenttheyenteiintothewoildof
laige,heavyobjects:buildings,cais,tiactois,boats,industiialma-
chineiy.Tisintuinisnotbecausetheseobjectsaiesomehowin-
tiinsicallydiculttoadministeidemociaticallyhistoiyisfullof
communitiesthatsuccesfullyengageinthedemociaticadminis-
tiationofcommoniesouicesitsbecause,liketheDANcai,they
aiesuiioundedbyendlessgoveinmentiegulation,andeectively
impossibletohidefiomthegoveinmentsaimediepiesentatives.
InAmeiica,Ihaveseenendlessexamplesofthisdilemma.Asquat
islegalizedafteialongstiuggle,suddenly,buildinginspectoisai-
iivetoannounceitwilltaketenthousanddollaiswoithofiepaiis
tobiingituptocode.Oiganizeisaietheiefoiefoicedspendthe
next seveial yeais oiganizing bake sales and soliciting contiibu-
tions.Tismeanssettingupbankaccounts,andlegaliegulations
then specify how a gioup ieceiving funds, oi dealing with the
goveinment,mustbeoiganized(again,notasanegalitaiiancol-
lective). All these iegulations aie enfoiced by violence. Tiue, in
oidinaiylife,policeiaielycomeinswingingbillyclubstoenfoice
buildingcodeiegulations,but,asanaichistsoftendiscovei,ifone
simplypietendsthestateanditsiegulationsdontexist,thatwill,
eventually,happen.Teiaiitywithwhichthenightsticksactually
appeaijusthelpstomaketheviolencehaideitosee.Tisintuin
makestheeectsofalltheseiegulationsiegulationsthatalmost
alwaysassumethatnoimalielationsbetweenindividualsaieme-
diated by the maiket, and that noimal gioups aie oiganized by
ielationsofhieiaichyandcommandseemtoemanatenotfiom
thegoveinmentsmonopolyoftheuseoffoice,butfiomthelaige-
ness,solidity,andheavinessoftheobjectsthemselves.
Rrvoiu:ioiRrvrvsr|45
Whenoneisaskedtobeiealisticthen,theiealityoneisnoi-
mallybeingaskedtoiecognizeisnotoneofnatuial,mateiialfacts,
neitheiisitieallysomesupposeduglytiuthabouthumannatuie.
Noimallyitsaiecognitionoftheeectsofthesystematicthieat
of violence. It even thieads oui language. Why, foi example, is a
buildingiefeiiedtoasiealpiopeity,oiiealestate?Teieal
inthisusageisnotdeiivedfiomLatinres,oithing:itsfiomthe
Spanish real, meaning, ioyal, belonging to the king. All land
within a soveieign teiiitoiy ultimately belongs to the soveieign,
legally this is still the case. Tis is why the state has the iight to
imposeitsiegulations.Butsoveieigntyultimatelycomesdownto
amonopolyofwhatiseuphemisticallyiefeiiedtoasfoicethat
is,violence.JustasGioigioAgambenfamouslyaiguedthatfiom
the peispective of soveieign powei, something is alive because
youcankillit,sopiopeityisiealbecausethestatecanseizeoi
destioyit.Inthesameway,whenonetakesaiealistpositionin
InteinationalRelations,oneassumesthatstateswillusewhatevei
capacitiestheyhaveattheiidisposal,includingfoiceofaims,to
puisuetheiinationalinteiests.Whatiealityisoneiecognizing?
Ceitainly not mateiial ieality. Te idea that nations aie human-
likeentitieswithpuiposesandinteiestsisentiielymetaphysical.
TeKingofFiancehadpuiposesandinteiests.Fiancedoesnot.
What makes it seem iealistic to suggest it does is simply that
those in contiol of nation-states have the powei to iaise aimies,
launchinvasions,bombcities,andcanotheiwisethieatentheuse
ofoiganizedviolenceinthenameofwhattheydesciibeastheii
national inteiests and that it would be foolish to ignoie that
possibility.Nationalinteiestsaieiealbecausetheycankillyou.
Teciiticalteimheieisfoice,asinthestatesmonopolyof
theuseofcoeicivefoice.Wheneveiweheaithiswoidinvoked,
wendouiselvesinthepiesenceofapoliticalontologyinwhich
thepoweitodestioy,tocauseotheispainoitothieatentobieak,
damage,oimangleotheisbodies(oijustlocktheminatinyioom
foitheiestoftheiilives)istieatedasthesocialequivalentofthe
veiyeneigythatdiivesthecosmos.Contemplate,ifyouwill,the
metaphois and displacements that make it possible to constiuct
thefollowingtwosentences:
Scientists investigate the natuie of physical laws so as to
undeistandthefoicesthatgoveintheuniveise.
46 | DvioGvrnrv
Policeaieexpeitsinthescienticapplicationofphysical
foiceinoideitoenfoicethelawsthatgoveinsociety.
Tis is to my mind the essence of Right-wing thought: a politi-
cal ontology that thiough such subtle means, allows violence to
denetheveiypaiameteisofsocialexistenceandcommonsense.
Te Left, on the othei hand, has always been founded on a
dieientsetofassumptionsaboutwhatisultimatelyiealabout
theveiygioundsofpoliticalbeing.ObviouslyLeftistsdontdeny
theiealityofviolence.ManyLeftisttheoiiststhinkaboutitquite
a lot. But they dont tend to give it the same foundational sta-
tus.
1
Instead, I would aigue that Leftist thought is founded on
whatIwillcallapoliticalontologyoftheimagination(Imight
just as easily have called it an ontology of cieativity oi making
oi invention.
2
) Nowadays, most of us tend to identify this ten-
dencywiththelegacyofMaix,withhisemphasisonsocialiev-
olution and foices of mateiial pioduction. But even Maix was
ultimately only a man of his time, and his teims emeiged fiom
muchwideiaigumentsaboutvalue,laboi,andcieativitycuiient
iniadicalciiclesofhisday,whetheiinthewoikeismovement,
oi foi that mattei in vaiious stiains of Romanticism and bohe-
mianlifeemeigingaioundhiminPaiisandLondonatthetime.
Maix himself, foi all his contempt foi the utopian socialists of
his day, nevei ceased to insist that what makes human beings
dieient fiom animals is that aichitects, unlike bees, ist iaise
theii stiuctuies in the imagination. It was the unique piopeity
of humans, foi Maix, that they ist envision things, and only
then biing them into being. It was this piocess he iefeiied to
as pioduction. Aiound the same time, utopian socialists like
1 HenceMaomighthavewiittenthatpoliticalpoweicomesfiomthe
baiielofagunbuthewasalso,asaMaixist,committedtothepiin-
ciple that stiuctuies and ielations of economic pioduction, iathei
thanpoliticalpowei,isultimatelydeteiminantofsocialieality.
2 Both peispectives aie at the veiy least paitial. Te division itself, I
would aigue, is the pioduct of ceitain peculiai featuies of Westein
theoiiesofknowledge:paiticulaily,thetendencytoseethewoildnot
inteimsofpiocessesbutasacollectionadisciete,self-identicalob-
jects. We tend to hide away the cieation and destiuction of objects
justaswedobiithanddeath,theiesultisthatfoicesofcieationand
destiuctionendupseemingthehiddeniealitybehindeveiything.
Rrvoiu:ioiRrvrvsr|47
St.Simonweieaiguingthataitistsneededtobecometheavant
gardeoivanguaid,asheputit,ofanewsocialoidei,pioviding
thegiandvisionsthatindustiynowhadthepoweitobiinginto
being.Whatatthetimemighthaveseemedthefantasyofanec-
centiicpamphleteeisoonbecamethechaiteifoiaspoiadic,un-
ceitain, but appaiently peimanent alliance that enduies to this
day. If aitistic avant gaides and social ievolutionaiies have felt
a peculiai anity foi one anothei evei since, boiiowing each
otheis languages and ideas, it appeais to have been insofai as
both have iemained committed to the idea that the ultimate,
hidden tiuth of the woild is that it is something that we make,
and,couldjustaseasilymakedieiently.Inthissense,aphiase
like all powei to the imagination expiesses the veiy quintes-
senceoftheLeft.
To this emphasis on foices of cieativity and pioduction of
couise the Right tends to ieply that ievolutionaiies systemati-
cally neglect the social and histoiical impoitance of the means
ofdestiuction:states,aimies,executioneis,baibaiianinvasions,
ciiminals,uniulymobs,andsoon.Pietendingsuchthingsaienot
theie,oicansimplybewishedaway,theyaigue,hastheiesultof
ensuiingthatleft-wingiegimeswillinfactcieatefaimoiedeath
anddestiuctionthanthosethathavethewisdomtotakeamoie
iealisticappioach.
Obviously, the dichotomy I am pioposing is veiy much a
simplication. One could level endless qualications. Te boui-
geoisie of Maixs time foi instance had an extiemely pioductiv-
istphilosophyoneieasonMaixcouldseeitasaievolutionaiy
foice. Elements of the Right dabbled with the aitistic ideal, and
20th centuiy Maixist iegimes often embiaced essentially iight-
wingtheoiiesofpowei,andpaidlittlemoiethanlipseivicetothe
deteiminantnatuieofpioduction.Nonetheless,Ithinktheseaie
useful teims because even if one tieats imagination and vio-
lencenotasthesinglehiddentiuthofthewoildbutasimmanent
piinciples,asequalconstituentsofanysocialieality,theycanie-
vealagieatdealonewouldnotbeabletoseeotheiwise.Foione
thing, eveiywheie, imagination and violence seem to inteiact in
piedictable,andquitesignicant,ways.
Let me stait with a few woids on violence, pioviding a veiy
schematicoveiviewofaigumentsthatIhavedevelopedinsome-
whatgieateidetailelsewheie:
48 | DvioGvrnrv
Part II: on violence and imaginative displacement
Ir:nvovoioois:bypiofessionandanthiopologicaldis-
cussionsofviolenceaiealmostalwayspiefacedbystatementsthat
violent acts aie acts of communication, that they aie inheiently
meaningful, and that this is what is tiuly impoitant about them.
Inotheiwoids,violenceopeiateslaigelythioughtheimagination.
Tisisofcouisetiue.Noieasonablepeisonwoulddiscountthe
impoitanceoffeaiandteiioiinhumanlife.Actsofviolencecan
be indeed usually aie acts of communication of one soit oi
anothei.
3
Butthesamecouldbesaidofanyfoimofhumanaction.
Itstiikesmethatwhatisieallyimpoitantaboutviolenceisthatit
ispeihapstheonlyfoimofhumanactionthatholdsoutthepos-
sibility of opeiating on otheis without being communicative. Oi
letmeputthismoiepiecisely.Violencemaywellbetheonlyway
inwhichitispossiblefoionehumanbeingtohaveielativelypie-
dictableeectsontheactionsofanotheiwithoutundeistanding
anything about them. Pietty much any othei way one might tiy
toinuenceanotheisactions,oneatleasthastohavesomeidea
whotheythinktheyaie,whotheythinkyouaie,whattheymight
wantoutofthesituation,andahostofsimilaiconsideiations.Hit
themoveitheheadhaidenough,allthisbecomesiiielevant.Its
tiuethattheeectsonecanhavebyhittingthemaiequitelimited.
But they aie ieal enough, and the fact iemains that any alteina-
tivefoimofactioncannot,withoutsomesoitofappealtoshaied
meaningsoiundeistandings,haveanysoitofeectatall.Whats
moie,evenattemptstoinuenceanotheibythethieatofviolence,
which cleaily does iequiie some level of shaied undeistandings
(attheveiyleast,theotheipaitymustundeistandtheyaiebeing
thieatened,andwhatisbeingdemandedofthem),iequiiesmuch
lessthananyalteinative.Mosthumanielationspaiticulailyon-
goingones,suchasthosebetweenlongstandingfiiendsoilong-
standing enemies aie extiemely complicated, endlessly dense
withexpeiienceandmeaning.Teyiequiieacontinualandoften
subtle woik of inteipietation, eveiyone involved must put con-
stanteneigyintoimaginingtheotheispointofview.Tieatening
3 Tisisofcouiseallthemoietiuewhendonebygoveinments.Apsy-
chopathmighttoituieandkillavictimandnotwishanyonetoknow
thougheventheyaiepionetoleavecluesandmonitoinewsstoiies.
Butwhengoveinmentstoituieandkillpeople,theentiiepointisthat
otheisknowtheyaiedoingit.
Rrvoiu:ioiRrvrvsr|49
otheiswithphysicalhaimontheotheihandallowsthepossibil-
ityofcuttingthioughallthis.Itmakespossibleielationsofafai
moieschematickind:i.e.,ciossthislineandIwillshootyouand
otheiwiseIieallydontcaiewhoyouaieoiwhatyouwant.Tisis,
foiinstance,whyviolenceissooftenthepiefeiiedweaponofthe
stupid:onecouldalmostsay,thetiumpcaidofthestupid,since
itisthatfoimofstupiditytowhichitismostdiculttocomeup
withanintelligentiesponse.
Teie is, howevei, one ciucial qualication to be made heie.
Temoieevenlymatchedtwopaitiesaieintheiicapacityfoivio-
lence,thelessallthistendstobetiue.Iftwopaitiesaieengaged
in a ielatively equal contest of violence, it is indeed a veiy good
ideafoieachtoundeistandasmuchaspossibleabouttheothei.A
militaiycommandeiwillobviouslytiytogetinsidehisopponents
mind.Twoduelists,oiboxeis,willtiytoanticipatetheotheisnext
move.Itsieallyonlywhenonesidehasanoveiwhelmingadvan-
tageintheiicapacitytocausephysicalhaimthisisnolongeithe
case. Of couise, when one side has an oveiwhelming advantage,
theyiaielyhavetoactuallyiesoittoactuallyshooting,beating,oi
blowingpeopleup.Temeiethieatwillusuallysuce.Tishas
a cuiious eect. It means that the most chaiacteiistic quality of
violenceitscapacitytoimposeveiysimplesocialielationsthat
involvelittleoinoimaginativeidenticationbecomesmostsa-
lientinsituationsdenedbythepossibilityofviolence,butwheie
actual,physicalviolenceisleastlikelytobepiesent.
Oidinaiily this is iefeiied to as stiuctuial violence: all those
systematicinequalitiesthataieultimatelybackedupbythethieat
offoice,andtheiefoie,canbeseenasafoimofviolenceinthem-
selves. As feminists have long pointed out, systems of stiuctuial
violenceinvaiiablyseemtopioduceextiemelopsidedstiuctuies
of imaginative identication. Its not that inteipietive woik isnt
caiiiedout.Society,inanyiecognizablefoim,couldnotopeiate
withoutit.Rathei,theoveiwhelmingbuidenofthatinteipietive
laboiisielegatedtoitsvictims.
Letmestaitwiththepatiiaichalhousehold.Aconstantstaple
of 1950s situation comedies, in Ameiica, weie jokes about the
impossibilityofundeistandingwomen.Tejokesofcouiseweie
always told by men. Womens logic was always being tieated as
alien and incompiehensible. One nevei had the impiession, on
theotheihand,thatwomenhadmuchtioubleundeistandingthe
50 | DvioGvrnrv
men.Tatsbecausethewomenhadnochoicebuttoundeistand
men:sincemostwomenatthetimehadnoaccesstotheiiownin-
comeoiiesouices,theyhadlittlechoicebuttospendagieatdeal
oftimeandeneigytiyingtoundeistandwhattheimpoitantmen
intheiilivesthoughtwasgoingon.Actually,thissoitofihetoiic
aboutthemysteiiesofwomankindisapeiennialfeatuieofpatii-
aichalfamilies:stiuctuiesthatcan,ceitainly,beconsideiedfoims
of stiuctuial violence insofai as the powei of men ovei women
withinthemis,asgeneiationsoffeministshavepointedout,ulti-
matelybackedup,ifofteninindiiectandhiddenways,byallsoits
of coeicive foice. But geneiations of female novelists Viiginia
Wolfe comes immediately to mind have also documented the
othei side of this: the constant woik women peifoim in manag-
ing, maintaining, and adjusting the egos of appaiently oblivious
meninvolvinganendlesswoikofimaginativeidenticationand
whatIvecalledinteipietivelaboi.Tiscaiiiesoveioneveiylevel.
Women aie always imagining what things look like fiom a male
pointofview.Menalmostneveidothesamefoiwomen.
Tisispiesumablytheieasonwhyinsomanysocietieswitha
pionounced gendeied division of laboi (that is, most societies),
womenknowagieatdealaboutmendoeveiyday,andmenhave
nexttonoideawhatwomendo.Facedwiththepiospectofeven
tiying to imagine a womens daily life and geneial peispective
onthewoild,manyiecoilinhoiioi.IntheUS,onepopulaitiick
amonghighschoolcieativewiitingteacheisistoassignstudents
towiiteanessayimaginingthattheyweietoswitchgendeis,and
desciibewhatitwouldbeliketolivefoionedayasamembeiof
theoppositesex.Teiesultsaiealmostalwaysexactlythesame:
all the giils in class wiite long and detailed essays demonstiat-
ingthattheyhavespentagieatdealoftimethinkingaboutsuch
questions,ioughlyhalftheboysiefusetowiitetheessayentiiely.
Almost invaiiably they expiess piofound iesentment about hav-
ingtoimaginewhatitmightbeliketobeawoman.
Itshouldbeeasyenoughtomultiplypaiallelexamples.When
something goes wiong in a iestauiant kitchen, and the boss ap-
peaistosizethingsup,heisunlikelytopaymuchattentiontoa
collectionofwoikeisallsciamblingtoexplaintheiiveisionofthe
stoiy.Likelyasnothelltellthemalltoshutupandjustaibitiaiily
decidewhathethinksislikelytohavehappened:youiethenew
guy, you must have messed up if you do it again, youie ied.
Rrvoiu:ioiRrvrvsr|51
Itsthosewhodonothavethepoweitoieaibitiaiilywhohave
todothewoikofguiingoutwhatactuallyhappened.Whatoc-
cuis on the most petty oi intimate level also occuis on the level
of society as a whole. Cuiiously enough it was Adam Smith, in
hisTeory of Moral Sentinents (wiittenin1761),whoistmade
notice of whats nowadays labeled compassion fatigue. Human
beings, he obseived, appeai to have a natuial tendency not only
to imaginatively identify with theii fellows, but also, as a iesult,
to actually feel one anotheis joys and pains. Te pooi, howevei,
aiejusttooconsistentlymiseiable,andasaiesult,obseiveis,foi
theiiownself-piotection,tendtosimplyblotthemout.Teiesult
isthatwhilethoseonthebottomspendagieatdealoftimeimag-
iningthepeispectivesof,andactuallycaiingabout,thoseonthe
top,butitalmostneveihappenstheotheiwayaiound.Tatismy
iealpoint.Whateveithemechanisms,somethinglikethisalways
seemstooccui:whetheioneisdealingwithmasteisandseivants,
men and women, bosses and woikeis, iich and pooi. Stiuctuial
inequalitystiuctuialviolenceinvaiiablycieatesthesamelop-
sidedstiuctuiesoftheimagination.Andsince,asSmithcoiiectly
obseived, imagination tends to biing with it sympathy, the vic-
timsofstiuctuialviolencetendtocaieaboutitsbeneciaiies,oi
atleast,tocaiefaimoieaboutthemthanthosebeneciaiiescaie
about them. In fact, this might well be (apait fiom the violence
itself )thesinglemostpoweifulfoicepieseivingsuchielations.
4
Itiseasytoseebuieauciaticpioceduiesasanextensionofthis
phenomenon. One might say they aie not so much themselves
foims of stupidity and ignoiance as modes of oiganizing situa-
tionsalieadymaikedbystupidityandignoianceowingtheexis-
tence of stiuctuial violence. Tiue, buieauciatic pioceduie opei-
ates as if it weie a foim of stupidity, in that it invaiiably means
ignoiing all the subtleties of ieal human existence and ieducing
eveiythingtosimplepie-establishedmechanicaloistatisticalfoi-
mulae. Whethei its a mattei of foims, iules, statistics, oi ques-
tionnaiies,buieauciacyisalwaysaboutsimplication.Ultimately
4 While I am diawing on a bioad iange of feminist theoiy heie, the
mostimpoitantisstandpointtheoiy:thekeynotestoconsultheie
aiePatiiciaHillCollins,DonnaHaiaway,SandiaHaiding,andNancy
Haistock. Some of the thoughts on imagination weie oiiginally in-
spiied by obseivations by bell hooks about folk knowledge about
whitepeopleinSoutheinAfiican-Ameiicancommunities.
52 | DvioGvrnrv
theeectisnotsodieientthanthebosswhowalksintomake
anaibitiaiysnapdecisionastowhatwentwiong:itsamatteiof
applyingveiysimpleschemastocomplex,ambiguoussituations.
Te same goes, in fact, foi police, who aie aftei all simply low-
leveladministiatoiswithguns.Policesociologistshavelongsince
demonstiatedthatonlyatinyfiactionofpolicewoikhasanything
todowithciime.Policeaie,iathei,theimmediateiepiesentatives
ofthestatesmonopolyofviolence,thosewhostepintoactively
simplify situations (foi example, weie someone to actively chal-
lenge some buieauciatic denition.) Simultaneously, police they
have become, in contempoiaiy industiial demociacies, Ameiica
inpaiticulai,thealmostobsessiveobjectsofpopulaiimaginative
identication. In fact, the public is constantly invited, in a thou-
sandTVshowsandmovies,toseethewoildfiomapoliceoceis
peispective,evenifitisalwaysthepeispectiveofimaginaiypolice
oceis,thekindwhoactuallydospendtheiitimeghtingciime
iatheithanconceiningthemselveswithbiokentaillightsoiopen
containeilaws.
IIa: excursus on transcendent versus immanent imagination
Toiroi:ivrivior:irvwithanimaginaiypolicemanisof
couise not the same as to imaginatively identify with a ieal po-
liceman (most Ameiicans in fact avoid ieal policeman like the
plague). Tis is a ciitical distinction, howevei much an incieas-
inglydigitalizedwoildmakesiteasytoconfusethetwo.
Itisheiehelpfultoconsideithehistoiyofthewoidimagina-
tion. Te common Ancient and Medieval conception, what we
calltheimaginationwasconsideiedthezoneofpassagebetween
ieality and ieason. Peiceptions fiom the mateiial woild had to
pass thiough the imagination, becoming emotionally chaiged in
thepiocessandmixingwithallsoitsofphantasms,befoietheia-
tionalmindcouldgiasptheiisignicance.Intentionsanddesiies
moved in the opposite diiection. Its only aftei Descaites, ieally,
that the woid imaginaiy came to mean, specically, anything
that is not ieal: imaginaiy cieatuies, imaginaiy places (Middle
Eaith,Nainia,planetsinfaiawayGalaxies,theKingdomofPiestei
John), imaginaiy fiiends. By this denition of couise a politi-
cal ontology of the imagination would actually a contiadiction
in teims. Te imagination cannot be the basis of ieality. It is by
Rrvoiu:ioiRrvrvsr|53
denitionthatwhichwecanthink,buthasnoieality.
Illiefeitothislatteiasthetianscendentnotionoftheimagi-
nationsinceitseemstotakeasitsmodelnovelsoiotheiwoiks
of ction that cieate imaginaiy woilds that piesumably, iemain
thesamenomatteihowmanytimesoneieadsthem.Imaginaiy
cieatuieselvesoiunicoinsoiTVcopsaienotaectedbythe
iealwoild.Teycannotbe,sincetheydontexist.Incontiast,the
kindofimaginationIhavebeeniefeiiingtoheieismuchclosei
totheold,immanent,conception.Ciitically,itisinnosensestatic
andfiee-oating,butentiielycaughtupinpiojectsofactionthat
aimtohaveiealeectsonthemateiialwoild,andassuch,always
changingandadapting.Tisisequallytiuewhetheioneisciaft-
ingaknifeoiapieceofjeweliy,oitiyingtomakesuieonedoesnt
huitafiiendsfeelings.
One might get a sense of how impoitant this distinction ie-
ally is by ietuining to the 68 slogan about giving powei to the
imagination.Ifonetakesthistoiefeitothetianscendentimagi-
nationpiefoimedutopianschemes,foiexampledoingsocan,
weknow,havedisastiouseects.Histoiically,ithasoftenmeant
imposing them by violence. On the othei hand, in a ievolution-
aiysituation,onemightbythesametokenaiguethatnotgiving
fullpoweitotheothei,immanent,soitofimaginationwouldbe
equallydisastious.
Te ielation of violence and imagination is made much moie
complicated because while stiuctuial inequalities always tend to
splitsocietyintothosedoingimaginativelaboi,andthosewhodo
not,theycandosoinveiydieientways.Capitalismheieisadia-
maticcaseinpoint.Politicaleconomytendtoseewoikincapital-
istsocietiesasdividedbetweentwospheies:wagelaboi,foiwhich
thepaiadigmisalwaysfactoiies,anddomesticlaboihousewoik,
childcaieielegatedmainlytowomen.Teistisseenpiimai-
ily as a mattei of cieating and maintaining physical objects. Te
secondispiobablybestseenasamatteiofcieatingandmaintain-
ingpeopleandsocialielations.Tedistinctionisobviouslyabit
of a caiicatuie: theie has nevei been a society, not even Engels
ManchesteioiVictoiHugosPaiis,wheiemostmenweiefactoiy
woikeisoimostwomenwoikedexclusivelyashousewives.Still,it
isusefulstaitingpoint,sinceitievealsaninteiestingdiveigence.
Inthespheieofindustiy,itisgeneiallythoseontopthatielegate
to themselves the moie imaginative tasks (i.e., that design the
54 | DvioGvrnrv
pioducts and oiganize pioduction),
5
wheieas when inequalities
emeigeinthespheieofsocialpioduction,itsthoseonthebottom
whoendupexpectedtothemajoiimaginativewoik(foiexample,
thebulkofwhatIvecalledthelaboiofinteipietationthatkeeps
lifeiunning).
Nodoubtallthismakesiteasieitoseethetwoasfundamen-
tallydieientsoitsofactivity,makingithaidfoiustoiecognize
inteipietivelaboi,foiexample,oimostofwhatweusuallythink
ofaswomenswoik,aslaboiatall.Tomyminditwouldpiobably
bebetteitoiecognizeitasthepiimaiyfoimoflaboi.Insofaiasa
cleaidistinctioncanbemadeheie,itsthecaie,eneigy,andlaboi
diiectedathumanbeingsthatshouldbeconsideiedfundamental.
Tethingswecaiemostaboutouiloves,passions,iivaliies,ob-
sessionsaiealwaysotheipeople,andinmostsocietiesthataie
notcapitalist,itstakenfoigiantedthatthemanufactuieofmate-
iialgoodsisasuboidinatemomentinalaigeipiocessoffashion-
ingpeople.Infact,Iwouldaiguethatoneofthemostalienating
aspectsofcapitalismisthefactthatitfoicesustopietendthatitis
theotheiwayaiound,andthatsocietiesexistpiimaiilytoinciease
theiioutputofthings.
Part III: on alienation
In the twentieth century, death terries nen less
than the absence of real life. All these dead, necha-
nized, specialized actions, stealing a little bit of life
a thousand tines a day until the nind and body
are exhausted, until that death which is not the
end of life but the nal saturation with absence.
Raoul Vaneigen,
TeRevolutionofEveiydayLife
Cvr:ivi:v o orsivr what we often ieduce, in political
economy teims, to pioduction and consumption aie es-
sentially vehicles of the imagination. Stiuctuies of inequality
and domination, stiuctuial violence if you will, tend to skew the
5 Itsnotentiielycleaitomehowmuchthisisageneialpattein,oihow
muchitisapeculiaifeatuieofcapitalism.
Rrvoiu:ioiRrvrvsr|55
imagination.Teymightcieatesituationswheielaboieisaieiele-
gatedtomind-numbing,boiing,mechanicaljobsandonlyasmall
eliteisallowedtoindulgeinimaginativelaboi,leadingtothefeel-
ing,onthepaitofthewoikeis,thattheyaiealienatedfiomtheii
ownlaboi,thattheiiveiydeedsbelongtosomeoneelse.Itmight
alsocieatesocialsituationswheiekings,politicians,celebiitiesoi
CEOspianceaboutoblivioustoalmosteveiythingaioundthem
whiletheiiwives,seivants,sta,andhandleisspendalltheiitime
engagedintheimaginativewoikofmaintainingthemintheiifan-
tasies. Most situations of inequality I suspect combine elements
ofboth.
6
Tesubjectiveexpeiienceoflivinginsidesuchlopsidedstiuc-
tuiesofimaginationiswhatweaieiefeiiingtowhenwetalkabout
alienation.
Itstiikesmethatifnothingelse,thispeispectivewouldhelp
explain the lingeiing appeal of theoiies of alienation in ievo-
lutionaiy ciicles, even when the academic Left has long since
abandoned them. If one enteis an anaichist infoshop, almost
anywheie in the woild, the Fiench authois one is likely to en-
counteiwillstilllaigelyconsistofSituationistslikeGuyDeboid
andRaoulVaneigem,thegieattheoiistsofalienation,alongside
theoiists of the imagination like Coinelius Castoiiadis. Foi a
longtimeIwasgenuinelypuzzledastohowsomanysubuiban
Ameiican teenageis could be entianced, foi instance, by Raoul
Vaneigems Te Revolution of Everyday Life a book, aftei all,
wiitten in Paiis almost foity yeais ago. In the end I decided it
mustbebecauseVaneigemsbookwas,initsownway,thehigh-
est theoietical expiession of the feelings of iage, boiedom, and
ievulsion that almost any adolescent at some point feels when
confionted with the middle class existence. Te sense of a life
biokenintofiagments,withnoultimatemeaningoiintegiity,of
a cynical maiket system taking selling its victims commodities
andspectaclesthatthemselvesiepiesenttinyfalseimagesofthe
veiy sense of totality and pleasuie and community the maiket
has in fact destioyed, the tendency to tuin eveiy ielation into
a foim of exchange, to saciice life foi suivival, pleasuie foi
6 It is populai nowadays to say that this is new development, as with
theoiiesofimmateiiallaboi.Infact,asnotedabove,Isuspectithas
alwaysbeenthecase,Maixspeiiodwasunusualinthatitwaseven
possibletoimaginethingsotheiwise.
56 | DvioGvrnrv
ienunciation, cieativity foi hollow homogenous units of powei
oideadtimeonsomelevelallthiscleailystilliingstiue.
Tequestionthoughiswhy.Contempoiaiysocialtheoiyoeis
littleexplanation.Poststiuctuialism,whichemeigedintheimme-
diateafteimathof68,waslaigelyboinoftheiejectionofthissoit
ofanalysis.Itisnowsimplecommonsenseamongsocialtheoiists
thatonecannotdeneasocietyasunnatuialunlessoneassumes
thattheieissomenatuialwayfoisocietytobe,inhumanunless
theieissomeauthentichumanessence,thatonecannotsaythat
theselfisfiagmentedunlessitwouldbepossibletohaveauni-
ed self, and so on. Since these positions aie untenable since
theieisnonatuialconditionfoisociety,noauthentichumanes-
sence,nounitaiyselftheoiiesofalienationhavenobasis.Taken
puielyasaiguments,theseseemdiculttoiefute.
7
Buthowthen
doweaccountfoitheexpeiience?
Ifoneieallythinksaboutit,though,theaigumentismuchless
poweifulthanitseems.Afteiall,whataieacademictheoiistssay-
ing? Tey aie saying that the idea of a unitaiy subject, a whole
society,anatuialoidei,aieunieal.Tatallthesethingsaiesim-
plygmentsofouiimagination.Tiueenough.Butthen:whatelse
could they be? And why is that a pioblem?
8
If imagination is in-
deedaconstituentelementinthepiocessofhowwepioduceoui
socialandmateiialiealities,theieiseveiyieasontobelievethat
7 Buttheiesultisthatpostmodeinalienationtheoiyseesalienation
simply as the subjective expeiience of those who aie somehow op-
piessed,oiexcluded,whoseownself-denitionclasheswiththede-
nitionsimposedbysociety.Foime,thisdepiivestheconceptofmuch
ofitspowei:whichistosaythattheultimatepioblemwiththesystem
isnotthatsomeaieexcludedfiomit,butthateventhewinneisdo
notieallywin,becausethesystemitselfisultimatelyincapableofpio-
ducingatiulyunalienatedlifefoianyone.
8 PeihapsfiomaCiiticalRealistpeispectiveonecouldaiguethatieal-
ityispieciselythatwhichcanbeentiielyencompassedinouiimagi-
native constiuctions, howevei, this is pietty cleaily not what they
have in mind, anyway, if one is speaking of political ontologies, as I
havebeen,thenpoliticsispieciselythedomainwheieitismostdif-
culttomakesuchdistinctions.Anyway,onecouldwellaiguethatif
theieisanyhumanessence,itispieciselyouicapacitytoimaginethat
wehaveone.
Rrvoiu:ioiRrvrvsr|57
it pioceeds thiough pioducing images of totality.
9
Tats simply
how the imagination woiks. One must be able to imagine one-
self and otheis as integiated subjects in oidei to be able to pio-
ducebeingsthataieinfactendlesslymultiple,imaginesomesoit
of coheient, bounded society in oidei to pioduce that chaotic
open-endednetwoikofsocialielationsthatactuallyexists,andso
foith. Noimally, people seem able to live with the dispaiity. Te
question, it seems to me, is why in ceitain times and places, the
iecognitionofitinsteadtendstospaikiageanddespaii,feelings
thatthesocialwoildisahollowtiavestyoimaliciousjoke.Tis,
Iwouldaigue,istheiesultofthatwaipingandshatteiingofthe
imaginationthatistheinevitableeectofstiuctuialviolence.
Part IV: On Revolution
TnrSi:u:iois:s,iirmany60siadicals,wishedtostiikeback
thioughastiategyofdiiectaction:cieatingsituationsbycieative
actsofsubveisionthatundeiminedthelogicoftheSpectacleand
allowed actois to at least momentaiily iecaptuie theii imagina-
tivepoweis.Atthesametime,theyalsofeltallthiswasinevitably
leadinguptoagieatinsuiiectionaiymomenttheievolution,
piopeilyspeaking.IftheeventsofMay68showedanything,itwas
thatifonedoesnotaimtoseizestatepowei,theiecanbenosuch
fundamental, one-time bieak. Te main dieience between the
Situationists and theii most avid cuiient ieadeis is that the mil-
lenaiianelementhasalmostcompletelyfallenaway.Noonethinks
theskiesaieabouttoopenanytimesoon.Teieisaconsolation
though:thatasaiesult,ascloseasonecancometoexpeiiencing
genuineievolutionaiyfieedom,onecanbegintoexpeiienceitim-
mediately.ConsideithefollowingstatementfiomtheCiimethInc
collective,piobablythemostinspiiingyounganaichistpiopagan-
distsopeiatingintheSituationisttiaditiontoday:
We must make oui fieedom by cut-
ting holes in the fabiic of this ieality, by
foiging new iealities which will, in tuin,
fashionus.Puttingyouiselfinnewsitua-
tionsconstantlyistheonlywaytoensuie
9 I have alieady made this case in a book called Toward an
Anthropological Teory of Value.
58 | DvioGvrnrv
that you make youi decisions unencum-
beiedbytheineitiaofhabit,custom,law,
oipiejudiceanditisuptoyoutocieate
thesesituations
Fieedomonlyexistsinthemomentof
ievolution.Andthosemomentsaienotas
iaie as you think. Change, ievolutionaiy
change,isgoingonconstantlyandeveiy-
wheie and eveiyone plays a pait in it,
consciouslyoinot.
Whatisthisbutanelegantstatementofthelogicofdiiectaction:
thedeantinsistenceonactingasifoneisalieadyfiee?Teobvi-
ous question is how it can contiibute to an oveiall stiategy, one
thatshouldleadtoacumulativemovementtowaidsawoildwith-
out states and capitalism. Heie, no one is completely suie. Most
assume the piocess could only be one of endless impiovisation.
Insuiiectionaiy moments theie will ceitainly be. Likely as not,
quiteafewofthem.Buttheywillmostlikelybeoneelementina
faimoiecomplexandmultifacetedievolutionaiypiocesswhose
outlinescouldhaidly,atthispoint,befullyanticipated.
Inietiospect,whatseemsstiikinglynaveistheoldassumption
thatasingleupiisingoisuccessfulcivilwaicould,asitweie,neu-
tializetheentiieappaiatusofstiuctuialviolence,atleastwithina
paiticulainationalteiiitoiy:thatwithinthatteiiitoiy,iight-wing
iealities could be simply swept away, to leave the eld open foi
anuntiammeledoutpouiingofievolutionaiycieativity.Butifso,
thetiulypuzzlingthingisthat,atceitainmomentsofhumanhis-
toiy,thatappeaiedtobeexactlywhatwashappening.Itseemsto
methatifweaietohaveanychanceofgiaspingthenew,emeig-
ingconceptionofievolution,weneedtobeginbythinkingagain
aboutthequalityoftheseinsuiiectionaiymoments.
Oneofthemostiemaikablethingsaboutsuchmomentsishow
theycanseemtobuistoutofnowheieandthen,often,dissolve
away just as quickly. How is it that the same public that two
monthsbefoiesay,thePaiisCommune,oiSpanishCivilWai,had
votedinafaiilymodeiatesocialdemociaticiegimewillsuddenly
nditselfwillingtoiisktheiilivesfoithesameultia-iadicalswho
ieceived a fiaction of the actual vote? Oi, to ietuin to May 68,
howisitthatthesamepublicthatseemedtosuppoitoiatleast
Rrvoiu:ioiRrvrvsr|59
feel stiongly sympathetic towaid the studentiwoikei upiising
couldalmostimmediatelyafteiwaidsietuintothepollsandelect
aiight-winggoveinment?Temostcommonhistoiicalexplana-
tionsthattheievolutionaiiesdidntieallyiepiesentthepublic
oi its inteiests, but that elements of the public peihaps became
caught up in some soit of iiiational eeivescence seem obvi-
ouslyinadequate.Fiistofall,theyassumethatthepublicisanen-
titywithopinions,inteiests,andallegiancesthatcanbetieatedas
ielativelyconsistentoveitime.Infactwhatwecallthepublicis
cieated,pioduced,thioughspecicinstitutionsthatallowspecic
foimsofactiontakingpolls,watchingtelevision,voting,signing
petitionsoiwiitingletteistoelectedocialsoiattendingpublic
heaiings and not otheis. Tese fiames of action imply ceitain
waysoftalking,thinking,aiguing,delibeiating.Tesamepublic
thatmaywidelyindulgeintheuseofiecieationalchemicalsmay
alsoconsistentlyvotetomakesuchindulgencesillegal,thesame
collectionofcitizensaielikelytocometocompletelydieientde-
cisionsonquestionsaectingtheiicommunitiesifoiganizedinto
apailiamentaiysystem,asystemofcomputeiizedplebiscites,oi
a nested seiies of public assemblies. In fact the entiie anaichist
piojectofieinventingdiiectdemociacyispiemisedonassuming
thisisthecase.
ToillustiatewhatImean,consideithatinAmeiica,thesame
collectionofpeopleiefeiiedtoinonecontextasthepubliccan
inanotheibeiefeiiedtoasthewoikfoice.Teybecomeawoik-
foice,ofcouise,whentheyaieengagedindieientsoitsofactiv-
ity.Tepublicdoesnotwoikatleast,asentencelikemostof
theAmeiicanpublicwoiksintheseiviceindustiywouldnevei
appeaiinamagazineoipapeiifajouinalistweietoattemptto
wiite such a sentence, theii editoi would ceitain change it.. It is
especiallyoddsincethepublicdoesappaientlyhavetogotowoik:
thisiswhy,asleftistciiticsoftencomplain,themediawillalways
talkabouthow,say,atianspoitstiikeislikelytoinconveniencethe
public,intheiicapacityofcommuteis,butitwillneveioccuito
themthatthosestiikingaiethemselvespaitofthepublic,oithat
whetheiiftheysucceediniaisingwagelevelsthiswillbeapublic
benet.Andceitainlythepublicdoesnotgooutintothestieets.
Itsioleisasaudiencetopublicspectacles,andconsumeisofpub-
lic seivices. When buying oi using goods and seivices piivately
supplied, the same collection of individuals become something
60 | DvioGvrnrv
else(consumeis),justasinotheicontextsofactiontheyaieie-
labeledanation,electoiate,oipopulation.
All these entities aie the pioduct of institutions and institu-
tional piactices that, in tuin, dene ceitain hoiizons of possibil-
ity.Hencewhenvotinginpailiamentaiyelectionsonemightfeel
obliged to make a iealistic choice, in an insuiiectionaiy situa-
tion,ontheotheihand,suddenlyanythingseemspossible.
A gieat deal of iecent ievolutionaiy thought essentially asks:
what, then, does this collection of people become duiing such
insuiiectionaiymoments?Foithelastfewcentuiiestheconven-
tionalansweihasbeenthepeople,andallmodeinlegaliegimes
ultimatelytiacetheiilegitimacytomomentsofconstituentpow-
ei,whenthepeopleiiseup,usuallyinaims,tocieateanewcon-
stitutionaloidei.Teinsuiiectionaiypaiadigm,infact,isembed-
dedintheveiyideaofthemodeinstate.AnumbeiofEuiopean
theoiists, undeistanding that the giound has shifted, have pio-
posedanewteim,themultitude,anentitydenednotasamass
of individuals but as a netwoik of ielations of coopeiation, one
thatcannotbydenitionbecomethebasisfoianewnationaloi
buieauciaticstate.Foimethispiojectisdeeplyambivalent.
IntheteimsIvebeendeveloping,whatthepublic,thewoik-
foice,consumeis,populationallhaveincommonisthatthey
aie biought into being by institutionalized fiames of action that
aie inheiently buieauciatic, and theiefoie, piofoundly alienat-
ing. Voting booths, television scieens, oce cubicles, hospitals,
theiitualthatsuiioundsthemonemightsaytheseaietheveiy
machineiyofalienation.Teyaietheinstiumentsthioughwhich
thehumanimaginationissmashedandshatteied.Insuiiectionaiy
momentsaiemomentswhenthisbuieauciaticappaiatusisneu-
tialized.Doingsoalwaysseemstohavetheeectofthiowinghoii-
zonsofpossibilitywideopen.Tisonlytobeexpectedifoneofthe
mainthingsthatappaiatusnoimallydoesistoenfoiceextiemely
limitedones.(Tisispiobablywhy,asRebeccaSolnithassobeau-
tifully obseived, people often expeiience something veiy similai
duiing natuial disasteis.) Tis would explain why ievolutionaiy
momentsalwaysseemtobefollowedbyanoutpouiingofsocial,
aitistic,andintellectualcieativity.Noimallyunequalstiuctuiesof
imaginativeidenticationaiedisiupted,eveiyoneisexpeiiment-
ing with tiying to see the woild fiom unfamiliai points of view.
Noimallyunequalstiuctuiesofcieativityaiedisiupted,eveiyone
Rrvoiu:ioiRrvrvsr|61
feelsnotonlytheiight,butusuallytheimmediatepiacticalneed
toiecieateandieimagineeveiythingaioundthem.
10
Hencetheambivalenceofthepiocessofienaming.Ontheone
hand, it is undeistandable that those who wish to make iadical
claimswouldliketoknowinwhosenametheyaiemakingthem.
Ontheothei,ifwhatIvebeensayingistiue,thewholepiojectof
istinvokingaievolutionaiymultitude,andthentostaitlook-
ingfoithedynamicfoicesthatliebehindit,beginstolookalot
like the ist step of that veiy piocess of institutionalization that
musteventuallykilltheveiythingitcelebiates.Subjects(publics,
peoples,woikfoices)aiecieatedbyspecicinstitutionalstiuc-
tuies that aie essentially fiamewoiks foi action. Tey aie what
they do. What ievolutionaiies do is to bieak existing fiames to
cieatenewhoiizonsofpossibility,anactthatthenallowsaiadi-
caliestiuctuiingofthesocialimaginationTisispeihapstheone
foimofactionthatcannot,bydenition,beinstitutionalized.Tis
10 Ifthingsaiemoiecomplicateditsbecausewhathappensdoesnthap-
pentoindividuals,itsasocialpiocess.Infact,toalaigeextentitis
asocialstiippingawayofthosesocialconstiaintsthat,paiadoxically,
dene us as isolated individuals. Aftei all, foi authois ianging fiom
KieikegaaidtoDuikheim,thealienationthatistheconditionofmod-
einlifeisnottheexpeiienceofconstiaintsatallbutitsveiyopposite.
Alienationistheanxietyanddespaiiwefacewhenpiesentedwith
analmostinniteiangeofchoices,intheabsenceofanylaigeimoial
stiuctuiesthioughwhichtomakethemmeaningful.Fiomanactivist
peispective though this is simply anothei eect of institutionalized
fiamewoiks: most of all, this is what happens when we aie used to
imagining ouiselves piimaiily as consumeis. In the absence of the
maiket,itwouldbeimpossibletoconceiveoffieedomasaseiiesof
choicesmadeinisolation,instead,fieedomcanonlymeanthefiee-
dom to choose what kind of commitments one wishes to make to
otheis,and,ofcouise,theexpeiienceoflivingundeionlythosecon-
stiaints one has fieely chosen. At any iate, just as duiing moments
of ievolution institutionalized stiuctuies of stateciaft aie dissolved
intopublicassembliesandinstitutionalizedstiuctuiesoflaboicon-
tiolmeltintoself-management,sodoconsumeimaiketsgivewayto
convivialityandcollectivecelebiation.Spontaneousinsuiiectionsaie
almostalwaysexpeiiencedbythosetakingpaitascainivals,anexpe-
iiencethatthoseplanningmassactionsasweveseenaieoften
quiteself-consciouslytiyingtoiepioduce.
62 | DvioGvrnrv
iswhyanumbeiofievolutionaiythinkeis,fiomRaaeleLaudani
in Italy to the Colectivo Situaciones in Aigentina, have begun to
suggest it might be bettei hei to speak not of constituent but
destituentpowei.
IVa: Revolution in Reverse
Tnrvr is stiange paiadox in Maixs appioach to ievolution.
Geneially speaking, when Maix speaks of mateiial cieativity, he
speaksofpioduction,andheieheinsists,asIvementioned,that
the dening featuie of humanity is that we ist imagine things,
andthentiytobiingthemintobeing.Whenhespeaksofsocial
cieativity it is almost always in teims of ievolution, but heie, he
insiststhatimaginingsomethingandthentiyingtobiingitinto
beingispieciselywhatweshouldneveido.Tatwouldbeutopia-
nism,andfoiutopianism,hehadonlywitheiingcontempt.
Temostgeneiousinteipietation,Iwouldsuggest,isthatMaix
onsomelevelundeistoodthatthepioductionofpeopleandsocial
ielationswoikedondieientpiinciples,butalsoknewhedidnot
ieallyhaveatheoiyofwhatthosepiinciplesweie.Piobablyitwas
only with the iise of feminist theoiy that I was diawing on so
libeiallyinmyeailieianalysisthatitbecamepossibletothink
systematicallyaboutsuchissues.Imightaddthatitisapiofound
ieectionontheeectsofstiuctuialviolenceontheimagination
thatfeministtheoiyitselfwassoquicklysequesteiedawayintoits
own subeld wheie it has had almost no impact on the woik of
mostmaletheoiists.
It seems to me no coincidence, then, that so much of the ieal
piactical woik of developing a new ievolutionaiy paiadigm in ie-
centyeaishasalsobeenthewoikoffeminism,oianyway,thatfemi-
nistconceinshavebeenthemaindiivingfoiceintheiitiansfoima-
tion. In Ameiica, the cuiient anaichist obsession with consensus
andotheifoimsofdiiectlydemociaticpiocesstiacesbackdiiectly
tooiganizationalissueswithinthefeministmovement.Whathad
begun,inthelate60sandeaily70s,assmall,intimate,oftenanai-
chist-inspiiedcollectivesweiethiownintociisiswhentheystaited
giowingiapidlyinsize.Ratheithanabandontheseaichfoiconsen-
sus in decision-making, many began tiying to develop moie foi-
mal veisions on the same piinciples. Tis, in tuin, inspiied some
iadical Quakeis (who had pieviously seen theii own consensus
Rrvoiu:ioiRrvrvsr|63
decision-making as piimaiily a ieligious piactice) to begin cieat-
ingtiainingcollectives.Bythetimeofthediiectactioncampaigns
againstthenucleaipoweiindustiyinthelate70s,thewholeappa-
iatusofanitygioups,spokescouncils,consensusandfacilitation
had alieady begun to take something like its contempoiaiy foim.
Teiesultingoutpouiingofnewfoimsofconsensuspiocesscon-
stitutesthemostimpoitantcontiibutiontoievolutionaiypiactice
indecades.Itislaigelythewoikoffeministsengagedinpiactical
oiganizingamajoiity,piobably,feministstiedatleastlooselythe
anaichisttiadition,oiatleastmoieandmoieasmainstieamfemi-
nismtuinedawayfiomthepoliticsofdiiectactionandanaichism
came to take on such piocesses as its own. Tis makes it all the
moieiionicthatmaletheoiistswhohavenotthemselvesengaged
in on-the-giound oiganizing oi taken pait in anaichist decision-
making piocesses, but who nd themselves diawn to anaichism
asapiinciple,sooftenfeelobligedtoincludeinotheiwisesympa-
theticstatements,thatofcouisetheydontagieewiththisobviously
impiactical,pie-in-the-sky,uniealisticconsensusnonsense.
Teoiganizationofmassactionsthemselvesfestivalsofie-
sistance, as they aie often called can be consideied piagmatic
expeiiments in whethei it is indeed possible to institutionalize
theexpeiienceoflibeiation,thegiddyiealignmentofimaginative
poweis, eveiything that is most poweiful in the expeiience of a
successfulspontaneousinsuiiection.Oiifnottoinstitutionalize
it,peihaps,topioduceitoncall.Teeectfoithoseinvolvedisas
ifeveiythingweiehappeninginieveise.Aievolutionaiyupiising
begins with battles in the stieets, and if successful, pioceeds to
outpouiingsofpopulaieeivescenceandfestivity.Teiefollows
thesobeibusinessofcieatingnewinstitutions,councils,decision-
makingpiocesses,andultimatelytheieinventionofeveiydaylife.
Suchatleastistheideal,andceitainlytheiehavebeenmoments
inhumanhistoiywheiesomethinglikethathasbeguntohappen
muchthough,again,suchspontaneouscieationsalwaysseems
toendbeingsubsumedwithinsomenewfoimofviolentbuieau-
ciacy.Howevei,asIvenoted,thisismoieoilessinevitablesince
buieauciacy,howeveimuchitseivesastheimmediateoiganizei
of situations of powei and stiuctuial blindness, does not cieate
them.Mainly,itsimplyevolvestomanagethem.
Tis is one ieason diiect action pioceeds in the opposite di-
iection. Piobably a majoiity of the paiticipants aie diawn fiom
64 | DvioGvrnrv
subcultuies that aie all about ieinventing eveiyday life. Even if
not, actions begin with the cieation of new foims of collective
decision-making: councils, assemblies, the endless attention to
piocess and uses those foims to plan the stieet actions and
populaifestivities.Teiesultis,usually,adiamaticconfiontation
with aimed iepiesentatives of the state. While most oiganizeis
would be delighted to see things escalate to a populai insuiiec-
tion, and something like that does occasionally happen, most
wouldnotexpectthesetomaikanykindofpeimanentbieaksin
ieality. Tey seive moie as something almost along the lines of
momentaiyadveitisementsoibettei,foietastes,expeiiencesof
visionaiyinspiiationfoiamuchslowei,painstakingstiuggleof
cieatingalteinativeinstitutions.
Oneofthemostimpoitantcontiibutionsoffeminism,itseems
to me, has been to constantly iemind eveiyone that situations
do not cieate themselves. Teie is usually a gieat deal of woik
involved.Foimuchofhumanhistoiy,whathasbeentakenaspoli-
ticshasconsistedessentiallyofaseiiesofdiamaticpeifoimances
caiiiedoutupontheatiicalstages.Oneofthegieatgiftsoffemi-
nismtopoliticalthoughthasbeentocontinuallyiemindusofthe
peopleisinfactmakingandpiepaiingandcleaningthosestages,
and even moie, maintaining the invisible stiuctuies that make
thempossiblepeoplewhohave,oveiwhelmingly,beenwomen.
Te noimal piocess of politics of couise is to make such people
disappeai. Indeed one of the chief functions of womens woik is
to make itself disappeai. One might say that the political ideal
withindiiectactionciicleshasbecometoeacethedieience,oi,
toputitanotheiway,thatactionisseenasgenuinelyievolution-
aiywhenthepiocessofpioductionofsituationsisexpeiiencedas
justaslibeiatingasthesituationsthemselves.Itisanexpeiiment
onemightsayintheiealignmentofimagination,ofcieatingtiuly
non-alienatedfoimsofexpeiience.
Conclusion
Onviousivi:isalsoattemptingtodosoinacontextinwhich,
faifiombeingputintempoiaiyabeyance,statepowei(inmany
paitsoftheglobeatleast)sosuuseseveiyaspectofdailyexis-
tencethatitsaimediepiesentativesinteivenetoiegulatethein-
teinal oiganizational stiuctuie of gioups allowed to cash checks
Rrvoiu:ioiRrvrvsr|65
oiownandopeiatemotoivehicles.Oneoftheiemaikablethings
aboutthecuiient,neolibeialageisthatbuieauciacyhascometo
soall-encompassingthispeiiodhasseen,afteiall,thecieation
oftheisteectiveglobaladministiativesysteminhumanhistoiy
thatwedontevenseeitanymoie.Atthesametime,thepies-
suiesofopeiatingwithinacontextofendlessiegulation,iepies-
sion,sexism,iacialandclassdominance,tendtoensuiemanywho
getdiawnintothepoliticsofdiiectactionexpeiienceaconstant
alteiationofexaltationandbuin-out,momentswheieeveiything
seemspossiblealteinatingwithmomentswheienothingdoes.In
otheipaitsofthewoild,autonomyismucheasieitoachieve,but
at the cost of isolation oi almost complete absence of iesouices.
Howtocieatealliancesbetweendieientzonesofpossibilityisa
fundamentalpioblem.
Tese howevei aie questions of stiategy that go well beyond
the scope of the cuiient essay. My puipose heie has been moie
modest.Revolutionaiytheoiy,itseemstome,hasinmanyfionts
advancedmuchlessquicklythanievolutionaiypiactice,myaim
inwiitingthishasbeentoseeifonecouldwoikbackfiomtheex-
peiienceofdiiectactiontobegintocieatesomenewtheoietical
tools.Teyaiehaidlymeanttobedenitive.Teymaynoteven
pioveuseful.Butpeihapstheycancontiibutetoabioadeipioject
ofie-imagining.


Army of Altruists
You know, education, if you nake the nost
of it, you study hard, you do your honework
and you nake an eort to be snart, you can
do well. If you dont, you get stuck in Iraq.
Iohn Kerry (D-Mass.)
Kerry owes an apology to the nany thousands of
Anericans serving in Iraq, who answered their
countrys call because they are patriots and not
because of any deciencies in their education.
Iohn McCain (R-Ariz.)
Tnr or rirr:io rorr: or novr rov Rrvuniics ouv-
ingthelead-uptothe2006congiessionalelectionscamewasaf-
foidedbyalamejokebySenatoiJohnKeiiyajokepiettyobvi-
ously aimed at Geoige Bush which they took to suggest that
Keiiythoughtthatonlythosewhounkedoutofschoolendupin
themilitaiy.Itwasallveiydisingenuous.Mostknewpeifectlywell
KeiiysiealpointwastosuggestthePiesidentwasntveiybiight.
But the iight smelled blood. Te pioblem with aiisto-slackeis
O
68 | DvioGvrnrv
likeKeiiy,wioteoneNationalReviewbloggei,isthattheyassume
thetioopsaieinIiaqnotbecausetheyaiedeeplycommittedto
themission(theyneedtodenythat)butiatheibecauseofasys-
temthattakesadvantageoftheiilackofsocialandeconomicop-
poitunities We should clobbei them with that iuthlessly until
thedayoftheelectionjustlikewedidin04becauseitisthe
mostbasicieasontheydeseivetolose.
Asittuinedout,itdidntmakealotofdieience,becausemost
Ameiicans decided they weie not deeply committed to the mis-
sioneitheiinsofaiastheyweieevensuiewhatthemissionwas.
Butitseemstomethequestionweshouldieallybeaskingis:why
didittakeamilitaiycatastiophe(andastiategyoftiyingtoavoid
any association with the kind of noitheastein elites Keiiy foi so
many typied) to allow the congiessional demociats to nally
comeoutofthepoliticalwildeiness?Oievenmoie:whyhasthis
Republicanlinepiovedsoeective?
Itstiikesmethattogetattheanswei,onehastopiobefaimoie
deeplyintothenatuieofAmeiicansocietythanmostcommenta-
tois,nowadays,aiewillingtogo.Weieusedtoieducingallsuch
issuestoaneitheiioi:patiiotismveisusoppoitunity,valuesveisus
biead-and-buttei issues like jobs and education. It seems to me
though that just fiaming things this way plays into the hands of
the Right. Ceitainly, most people do join the aimy because they
aiedepiivedofoppoitunities.Buttheiealquestiontobeasking
is:oppoitunitiestodowhat?
Imananthiopologistandwhatfollowsmightbeconsideiedan
anthiopologicalpeispectiveonthequestion.Itistcamehometo
meayeaioitwoagowhenIwasattendingalectuiebyCatheiine
Lutz,afellowanthiopologistfiomBiownwhohasbeenstudying
U.S. militaiy bases oveiseas. Many of these bases oiganize out-
ieach piogiams, in which soldieis ventuie out to iepaii school-
iooms oi to peifoim fiee dental checkups foi the locals. Tese
piogiamsweiecieatedtoimpiovelocalielations,butinthistask
theyoftenpiovediemaikablyineective.Why,then,didtheaimy
notabandonthem?Teansweiwasthatthepiogiamshadsuch
enoimous psychological impact on the soldieis, many of whom
would wax euphoiic when desciibing them: e.g., Tis is why I
joinedtheaimy,Tisiswhatmilitaiyseiviceisieallyallabout
notjustdefendingyouicountiy,buthelpingpeople.Piofessoi
Lutzisconvincedthatthemainieasonthesepiogiamscontinue
AvrvorAi:vuis:s|69
tobefundedisthatsoldieiswhotakepaitinthemaiemoielikely
toieenlist.Temilitaiysownstatisticsaienohelpheie:thesui-
veys do not list helping people among the motive foi ieenlist-
ment. Inteiestingly, it is the most high-minded option available
patiiotismthatistheoveiwhelmingfavoiite.
Ceitainly, Ameiicans do not see themselves as a nation of fius-
tiatedaltiuists.Quitetheopposite:ouinoimalhabitsofthought
tend towaids a iough and ieady cynicism. Te woild is a giant
maiketplace,eveiyoneisinitfoiabuck,ifyouwanttoundeistand
whysomethinghappened,istaskwhostandstogainbyit.Te
sameattitudesexpiessedinthebackioomsofbaisaieechoedin
thehighestieachesofsocialscience.Ameiicasgieatcontiibution
tothewoildinthelatteiiespecthasbeenthedevelopmentofia-
tionalchoicetheoiies,whichpioceedfiomtheassumptionthat
all human behavioi can be undeistood as a mattei of economic
calculation, of iational actois tiying to get as much as possible
out of any given situation with the least cost to themselves. As
a iesult, in most elds, the veiy existence of altiuistic behavioi
isconsideiedakindofpuzzle,andeveiyonefiomeconomiststo
evolutionaiybiologistshavemadethemselvesfamousthioughat-
temptstosolveitthatis,toexplainthemysteiyofwhybees
saciice themselves foi hives oi human beings hold open doois
and give coiiect stieet diiections to total stiangeis. At the same
time,thecaseofthemilitaiybasessuggeststhepossibilitythatin
factAmeiicans,paiticulailythelessauentones,aiehauntedby
fiustiateddesiiestodogoodinthewoild.
It would not be dicult to assemble evidence that this is the
case.Studiesofchaiitablegiving,foiexample,havealwaysshown
the pooi to be the most geneious: the lowei ones income, the
higheithepiopoitionofitthatoneislikelytogiveawaytostiang-
eis. Te same pattein holds tiue, incidentally, when compaiing
themiddleclassesandtheiich:onestudyoftaxietuinsin2003
concluded that if the most auent families had given away as
muchoftheiiassetsevenastheaveiagemiddleclassfamily,ovei-
allchaiitabledonationsthatyeaiwouldhaveincieasedby25bil-
lion dollais. (All this despite the fact the wealthy have fai moie
time and oppoitunity.) Moieovei, chaiity iepiesents only a tiny
pait of the pictuie. If one weie to bieak down what the typical
Ameiicanwageeaineidoeswithhismoneyonewouldlikelynd
70 | DvioGvrnrv
theygivemostofitaway.Takeatypicalmaleheadofhousehold.
Aboutathiidofhisannualincomeislikelytoendupbeingiedis-
tiibuted to stiangeis, thiough taxes and chaiity anothei thiid
he is likely to give in one way oi anothei to his childien, of the
iemaindei,piobablythelaigestpaitisgiventooishaiedwithoth-
eis:piesents,tiips,paities,thesix-packofbeeifoithelocalsoft-
ballgame.Onemightobjectthatthislatteiismoieaieectionof
theiealnatuieofpleasuiethananythingelse(whowouldwantto
eatadeliciousmealatanexpensiveiestauiantallbythemselves?)
butitselfthisishalfthepoint.Evenouiself-indulgencestendto
bedominatedbythelogicofthegift.Similaily,somemightobject
thatshellingoutasmallfoitunetosendoneschildientoanexclu-
sivekindeigaitenismoieaboutstatusthanaltiuism.Peihaps:but
ifyoulookatwhathappensoveithecouiseofpeoplesactuallives,
itsoonbecomesappaientthiskindofbehavioifulllsanidenti-
calpsychologicalneed.Howmanyyouthfulidealiststhioughout
histoiyhavemanagedtonallycometoteimswithawoildbased
on selshness and gieed the moment they stait a family? If one
weietoassumealtiuismweiethepiimaiyhumanmotivation,this
wouldmakepeifectsense:Teonlywaytheycanconvincethem-
selvestoabandontheiidesiietodoiightbythewoildasawhole
is to substitute an even moie poweiful desiie do iight by theii
childien.
WhatallthissuggeststomeisthatAmeiicansocietymightwell
woikcompletelydieientlythanwetendtoassume.Imagine,foi
amoment,thattheUnitedStatesasitexiststodayweiethecie-
ationofsomeingenioussocialengineei.Whatassumptionsabout
human natuie could we say this engineei must have been woik-
ingwith?Ceitainlynothinglikeiationalchoicetheoiy.Foicleaily
ouisocialengineeiundeistandsthattheonlywaytoconvincehu-
manbeingstoenteiintothewoildofwoikandthemaiketplace
(that is: of mind-numbing laboi and cut-thioat competition) is
to dangle the piospect of theieby being able to lavish money on
ones childien, buy diinks foi ones fiiends, and, if one hits the
jackpot,tobeabletospendtheiestofoneslifeendowingmuse-
umsandpiovidingAIDSmedicationstoimpoveiishedcountiies
inAfiica.Wheieouitheoiistsaieconstantlytiyingtostiipaway
theveilofappeaiancesandshowhowallsuchappaientlyseless
gestuieieallymasksomekindofself-inteiestedstiategy,inieality,
Ameiicansocietyisbetteiconceivedasabattleoveiaccesstothe
AvrvorAi:vuis:s|71
iighttobehavealtiuistically.Selessnessoiatleast,theiightto
engageinhigh-mindedactivityisnotthestiategy.Itisthepiize.
Ifnothingelse,IthinkthishelpsusundeistandwhytheRight
has been so much bettei, in iecent yeais, at playing to populist
sentimentsthantheLeft.Essentially,theydoitbyaccusinglibei-
als of cutting oidinaiy Ameiicans o fiom the iight to do good
inthewoild.LetmeexplainwhatImeanheiebythiowingouta
seiiesofpiopositions.
PROPOSITION I:
Neither egoism nor altruism are natural urges; they are in fact arise in relation to
one another and neither would be conceivable without the market.
Fivs: or ii, I should make cleai that I do not believe that ei-
theiegoismoialtiuismaiesomehowinheienttohumannatuie.
Humanmotivesaieiaielythatsimple.Ratheiegoismoialtiuism
aieideaswehaveabouthumannatuie.Histoiically,onetendsto
aiiseiniesponsetotheothei.Intheancientwoild,foiexample,
itispieciselyinthetimesandplacesasoneseestheemeigenceof
moneyandmaiketsthatonealsoseestheiiseofwoildieligions
Buddhism,Chiistianity,andIslam.Ifonesetsasideaspaceand
says, Heie you shall think only about acquiiing mateiial things
foiyouiself,thenitishaidlysuipiisingthatbefoielongsomeone
elsewillsetasideacounteivailingspace,declaiing,ineect:Yes,
buthere,wemustcontemplatethefactthattheself,andmateiial
things,aieultimatelyunimpoitant.Itwastheselatteiinstitutions,
ofcouise,thatistdevelopedouimodeinnotionsofchaiity.
Eventoday,whenweopeiateoutsidethedomainofthemaiket
oi of ieligion, veiy few of oui actions could be said to be moti-
vatedbyanythingsosimpleasuntiammeledgieedoiutteilyself-
lessgeneiosity.Whenweaiedealingnotwithstiangeisbutwith
fiiends, ielatives, oi enemies, a much moie complicated set of
motivationswillgeneiallycomeintoplay:envy,solidaiity,piide,
self-destiuctive giief, loyalty, iomantic obsession, iesentment,
spite, shame, conviviality, the anticipation of shaied enjoyment,
thedesiietoshowupaiival,andsoon.Teseaiethemotivations
thatimpelthemajoidiamasofouilives,thatgieatnovelistslike
TolstoyandDostoevskyimmoitalize,butthatsocialtheoiists,foi
some ieason, tend to ignoie. If one tiavels to paits of the woild
wheiemoneyandmaiketsdonotexistsay,toceitainpaitsof
72 | DvioGvrnrv
NewGuineaoiAmazoniasuchcomplicatedwebsofmotivation
aiepieciselywhatonestillnds.Insocietieswheiemostpeople
live in small communities, wheie almost eveiyone they know is
eitheiafiiend,aielativeoianenemy,thelanguagesspokentend
eventolackwoidsthatcoiiespondtoself-inteiestoialtiuism,
whileincludingveiysubtlevocabulaiiesfoidesciibingenvy,soli-
daiity, piide and the like. Teii economic dealings with one an-
otheilikewisetendtobebasedonmuchmoiesubtlepiinciples.
Anthiopologists have cieated a vast liteiatuie to tiy to fathom
thedynamicsoftheseappaientlyexoticgifteconomies,butifit
seemsoddtoustosee,say,impoitantmenconnivingwiththeii
cousinstonaglevastwealth,whichtheythenpiesentasgiftsto
bitteienemiesinoideitopubliclyhumiliatethem,itisbecausewe
aie so used to opeiating inside impeisonal maikets that it nevei
occuistoustothinkhowwewouldactifwehadaneconomicsys-
temwheiewetieatedpeoplebasedonhowweactuallyfeltabout
them.
Nowadays, the woik of destioying such ways of life is laige-
ly left to missionaiies iepiesentatives of those veiy woild ie-
ligions that oiiginally spiung up in ieaction to the maiket long
ago.Missionaiies,ofcouise,aieouttosavesouls,butthisiaiely
inteipietthistomeantheiiioleissimplytoteachpeopletoaccept
Godandbemoiealtiuistic.Almostinvaiiably,theyenduptiying
toconvincepeopletobemoieselsh,andmoiealtiuistic,atthe
same time. On the one hand, they set out to teach the natives
piopeiwoikdiscipline,andtiytogettheminvolvedwithbuying
andsellingpioductsonthemaiket,soastobetteitheiimateiial
lot.Atthesametime,theyexplaintothemthatultimately,mate-
iialthingsaieunimpoitant,andlectuieonthevalueofthehighei
things,suchasselessdevotiontootheis.
PROPOSITION II:
The political right has always tried to enhance this division, and thus claim to
be champions of egoism and altruism simultaneously. The left has tried to efface it.
Mion::niso:helptoexplainwhytheUnitedStates,themost
maiket-diivenindustiializedsocietyoneaith,isalsothemostie-
ligious?Oi,evenmoiestiikingly,whythecountiythatpioduced
TolstoyandDostoevskyspentmuchofthetwentiethcentuiytiy-
ingtoeiadicateboththemaiketandieligionentiiely?
AvrvorAi:vuis:s|73
Wheiethepoliticallefthasalwaystiiedtoeacethisdistinc-
tionwhetheibytiyingtocieateeconomicsystemsthataienot
diiven by the piot motive, oi by ieplacing piivate chaiity with
one oi anothei foim community suppoit the political iight
has always thiived on it. In the United States, foi example, the
Republicanpaityisdominatedbytwoideologicalwings:thelibei-
taiians,andtheChiistianiight.Atoneextieme,Republicansaie
fiee-maiketfundamentalistsandadvocatesofindividuallibeities
(even if they see those libeities laigely as a mattei of consumei
choice), on the othei, they aie fundamentalists of a moie liteial
vaiiety, suspicious of most individual libeities but enthusiastic
about biblical injunctions, family values, and chaiitable good
woiks.Atistglanceitmightseemiemaikablesuchanalliance
managestoholdtogetheiatall(andceitainlytheyhaveongoing
tensions,mostfamouslyoveiaboition).Butinfactiight-wingco-
alitionsalmostalwaystakesomevaiiationofthisfoim.Onemight
saythattheconseivativeappioachalwayshasbeentoieleasethe
dogsofthemaiket,thiowingalltiaditionalveiitiesintodisaiiay,
and then, in this tumult of insecuiity, oeiing themselves up as
thelastbastionofoideiandhieiaichy,thestalwaitdefendeisof
theauthoiityofchuichesandfatheisagainstthebaibaiiansthey
have themselves unleashed. A scam it may be, but a iemaikably
eectiveone,andoneeectisthattheiightendsupseemingto
haveamonopolyonvalue.Teymanage,wemightsay,tooccupy
both positions, on eithei side of the divide: extieme egoism and
extiemealtiuism.
Considei, foi a moment, the woid value. When economists
talk about value they aie ieally talking about money oi moie
piecisely, about whatevei it is that money is measuiing, also,
whatevei it is that economic actois aie assumed to be puisuing.
When we aie woiking foi a living, oi buying and selling things,
we aie iewaided with money. But whenevei we aie not woiking
oibuyingoiselling,whenweaiemotivatedbypiettymuchany-
thing othei the desiie to get money, we suddenly nd ouiselves
in the domain of values. Te most commonly invoked of these
aie of couise family values (which is unsuipiising, since by fai
the most common foim of unpaid laboi in most industiial soci-
eties is child-ieaiing and housewoik), but we also talk about ie-
ligious values, political values, the values that attach themselves
to ait oi patiiotism one could even, peihaps, count loyalty to
74 | DvioGvrnrv
onesfavoiitebasketballteam.Allaieseenascommitmentsthat
aie,oioughttobe,uncoiiuptedbythemaiket.Atthesametime,
theyaiealsoseenasutteilyunique,wheiemoneymakesallthings
compaiable, values such as beauty, devotion, oi integiity can-
not,bydenition,becompaied.Teieisnomathematicfoimula
thatcouldpossiblyallowonetocalculatejusthowmuchpeisonal
integiityitisiighttosaciiceinthepuisuitofait,oihowtobal-
ance iesponsibilities to youi family with iesponsibilities to youi
God. (Obviously, people do make these kind of compiomises all
the time. But they cannot be calculated). One might put it this
way:ifvalueissimplywhatoneconsideisimpoitant,thenmoney
allowsimpoitancetakealiquidfoim,enablesustocompaiepie-
cisequantitiesofimpoitanceandtiadeoneofoitheothei.Aftei
all,ifsomeonedoesaccumulateaveiylaigeamountofmoney,the
istthingtheyaielikelytodoistotiytoconveititintosomething
unique,whetheithisbeMonetswateililies,apiize-winningiace-
hoise,oianendowedchaiiatauniveisity.
Whatisieallyatstakeheieinanymaiketeconomyispiecisely
the ability to make these tiades, to conveit value into values.
We all aie stiiving to put ouiselves in a position wheie we can
dedicateouiselvestosomethinglaigeithanouiselves.Whenlib-
eialsdowellinAmeiica,itsbecausetheycanembodythatpos-
sibility: the Kennedys, foi example, aie the ultimate Demociatic
iconsnotjustbecausetheystaitedaspooiIiishimmigiantswho
madeenoimousamountsofmoney,butbecausetheyaieseenas
havingmanaged,ultimately,totuinallthatmoneyintonobility.
PROPOSITION III:
The real problem of the American left is that while it does try in certain ways to
efface the division between egoism and altruism, value and values, it largely does so
for its own children. This has allowed the right to paradoxically represent itself as
the champions of the working class.
Aii:nisrion:helpexplainwhytheLeftinAmeiicaisinsuch
amess.Faifiompiomotingnewvisionsofeacingthedieience
between egoism and altiuism, value and values, oi pioviding a
modelfoipassingfiomonetotheothei,piogiessivescannoteven
seemtothinktheiiwaypastit.Afteithelastpiesidentialelection,
the big debate in piogiessive ciicles was the ielative impoitance
ofeconomicissuesveisuswhatwascalledthecultuiewais.Did
AvrvorAi:vuis:s|75
the Demociats lose because they weie not able to spell out any
plausible economic alteinatives, oi did the Republicans win be-
causetheysuccessfullymobilizedconseivativeChiistiansaiound
theissueofgaymaiiiage?AsIsay,theveiyfactthatpiogiessives
fiamethequestionthiswaynotonlyshowstheyaietiappedinthe
iightsteimsofanalysis.Itdemonstiatestheydonotundeistand
howAmeiicaieallywoiks.
LetmeillustiatewhatImeanbyconsideiingthestiangepopu-
laiappeal,atleastuntiliecently,ofGeoigeW.Bush.In2004,most
of the Ameiican libeial intelligentsia did not seem to be able to
gettheiiheadsaioundit.Afteitheelection,whatleftsomanyof
themieelingwastheiisuspicionthatthethingstheymosthated
about Bush weie exactly what so many Bush voteis liked about
him.Consideithedebates,foiexample.Ifstatisticsaietobebe-
lieved,millionsofAmeiicanswhowatchedGeoigeBushandJohn
Keiiy lock hoins, concluded that Keiiy won, and then went o
and voted foi Bush anyway. It was haid to escape the suspicion
thatintheend,Keiiysaiticulatepiesentation,hisskillwithwoids
andaiguments,hadactuallycountedagainsthim.
Tissendslibeialsintospiialsofdespaii.Teycannotundei-
standwhydecisiveleadeishipisequatedwithactinglikeanidiot.
Neithei can they undeistand how a man who comes fiom one
of the most elite families in the countiy, who attended Andovei,
Yale,andHaivaid,andwhosesignatuiefacialexpiessionisaself-
satisedsmiik,couldeveiconvinceanyonehewasamanofthe
people.ImustadmitIhavestiuggledwiththisaswell.Asachild
ofwoikingclasspaientswhowonascholaishiptoAndoveiinthe
1970s and eventually, a job at Yale, I have spent much of my life
inthepiesenceofmenlikeBush.,eveiythingaboutthemoozing
self-satised piivilege. But in fact, stoiies like mine stoiies of
diamaticclassmobilitythioughacademicaccomplishmentaie
incieasinglyunusualinAmeiica.
Ameiica of couise continues to see itself as a land of oppoi-
tunity, and ceitainly fiom the peispective of an immigiant fiom
Haiti oi Bangladesh, it is. No doubt in teims of oveiall social
mobility, we still compaie favoiably to countiies like Bolivia oi
Fiance.ButAmeiicahasalwaysbeenacountiybuiltonthepiom-
iseofunlinitedupwaidmobility.Tewoiking-classconditionhas
beentiaditionallyseenasawaystation,assomethingonesfam-
ilypassesthioughontheioadtosomethingbettei.Lincolnused
76 | DvioGvrnrv
to stiess that what made Ameiican demociacy possible was the
absence of a class of peimanent wage laboieis. In Lincolns day,
theidealwasthatitwasmainlyimmigiantswhowoikedaswage
laboieis,andthattheydidsoinoideitosaveupenoughmoneyto
dosomethingelse:ifnothingelse,tobuysomelandandbecomea
homesteadeionthefiontiei.
Tepointisnothowaccuiatethisidealwas,thepointwasmost
Ameiicans have found the image plausible. Eveiy time the ioad
is peiceived to be clogged, piofound uniest ensues. Te closing
of the fiontiei led to bittei laboi stiuggles, and ovei the couise
of the twentieth centuiy, the steady and iapid expansion of the
Ameiicanuniveisitysystemcouldbeseenasakindofsubstitute.
PaiticulailyafteiWoildWaiII,hugeiesouicesweiepouiedinto
expanding the highei education system, which giew extiemely
iapidly, and all this was piomoted quite explicitly as a means of
social mobility. Tis seived duiing the Cold Wai as almost an
impliedsocialcontiact,notjustoeiingacomfoitablelifetothe
woiking classes but holding out the chance that theii childien
wouldnotbewoiking-classthemselves.
Tepioblem,ofcouise,isthatahigheieducationsystemcan-
not be expanded foievei. At a ceitain point one ends up with a
signicantpoitionofthepopulationunabletondwoikevenie-
motelyinlinewiththeiiqualications,whohaveeveiyieasonto
be angiy about theii situation, and who also have access to the
entiie histoiy of iadical thought. Duiing the twentieth centuiy,
this was piecisely the situation most likely to spaik ievolts and
insuiiectionsievolutionaiyheioesfiomChaiimanMaotoFidel
Castioalmostinvaiiablytuinouttobechildienofpooipaients
whosciimpedtogivetheiichildienabouigeoiseducation,onlyto
discoveithatabouigeoiseducationdoesnot,initself,guaiantee
entiyintothebouigeoisie.Bythelatesixtiesandeailyseventies,
theveiypointwheietheexpansionoftheuniveisitysystemhita
deadend,campusesweie,piedictably,exploding.
Whatfollowedcouldbeseenasakindofsettlement.Campus
iadicalsweieieabsoibedintotheuniveisity,butsettowoiklaige-
ly at tiaining childien of the elite. As the cost of education has
skyiocketed,nancialaidhasbeencutback,andthegoveinment
has begun aggiessively puisuing student loan debts that once
existed laigely on papei, the piospect of social mobility thiough
education above all libeial aits education has been iapidly
AvrvorAi:vuis:s|77
diminished.Tenumbeiofwoiking-classstudentsinmajoiuni-
veisities,whichsteadilygiewuntilatleastthelatesixties,hasnow
beendecliningfoidecades.
If woiking-class Bush voteis tend to iesent intellectuals moie
thantheydotheiich,then,themostlikelyieasonisbecausethey
canimaginescenaiiosinwhichtheymightbecomeiich,butcan-
notimagineoneinwhichthey,oianyoftheiichildien,couldevei
becomemembeisoftheintelligentsia?Ifyouthinkaboutit,this
is not an unieasonable assessment. A mechanic fiom Nebiaska
knows it is highly unlikely that his son oi daughtei will evei be-
comeanEnionexecutive.Butitispossible.Teieisviituallyno
chanceontheotheihandthathischild,nomatteihowtalented,
willeveibecomeaninteinationalhumaniightslawyei,oiadiama
ciiticfoithe^ew York Tines.Heieweneedtoiemembeinotjust
thechangesinhigheieducation,butalsotheiolethatunpaid,oi
eectivelyunpaid,inteinships.Ithasbecomeafactoflifeinthe
United States that if one chooses a caieei foi any ieason othei
thanthemoney,foitheistyeaioitwoonewillnotbepaid.Tis
isceitainlytiueifonewishestobeinvolvedinaltiuisticpuisuits:
say,tojointhewoildofchaiities,oiNGOs,oitobecomeapoliti-
calactivist.Butitisequallytiueifonewantstopuisuevalueslike
BeautyoiTiuth:tobecomepaitofthewoildofbooks,oitheait
woild,oianinvestigativeiepoitei.Tecustomeectivelysealso
any such caieei foi any pooi student who actually does attain a
libeialaitseducation.Suchstiuctuiesofexclusionhadalwaysex-
istedofcouise,especiallyatthetop,butiniecentdecadesfences
havebecomefoitiesses.
Ifthatmechanicssonoidaughteiwishestopuisuesome-
thinghighei,moienoble,foiacaieei,whatoptionsdoessheie-
allyhave?Likelyjusttwo.Shecanseekemploymentwithheilocal
chuich,whichishaidtoget.OishecanjointheAimy.
Tisis,ofcouise,thesecietofnobility.Tobenobleistobegen-
eious, high-minded, altiuistic, to puisue highei foims of value.
Butitisalsotobeabletodosobecauseonedoesnotieallyhave
to think too much about money. Tis is piecisely what oui sol-
dieisaiedoingwhentheygivefieedentalexaminationstovillag-
eis:theyaiebeingpaid(modestly,butadequately)todogoodin
thewoild.Seeninthislight,itisalsoeasieitoseewhatieallyhap-
penedatuniveisitiesinthewakeofthe1960sthesettlementI
mentionedabove.Campusiadicalssetouttocieateanewsociety
78 | DvioGvrnrv
thatdestioyedthedistinctionbetweenegoismandaltiuism,value
andvalues.Itdidnotwoikout,buttheyweie,eectively,oeied
akindofcompensation:thepiivilegetousetheuniveisitysystem
tocieatelivesthatdidso,intheiiownlittleway,tobesuppoited
in ones mateiial needs while puisuing viitue, tiuth, and beauty,
andaboveall,topassthatpiivilegeontotheiiownchildien.One
cannot blame them foi accepting the oei. But neithei can one
blame the iest of the countiy foi iesenting the hell out of them.
Notbecausetheyiejectthepioject:asIsay,thisiswhatAmeiica
isallabout.
As I always tell activists engaged in the peace movement and
countei-ieciuitment campaigns: why do woiking class kids join
theAimyanyway?Becauselikeanyteenagei,theywanttoescape
thewoildoftediouswoikandmeaninglessconsumeiism,tolive
alifeofadventuieandcamaiadeiieinwhichtheybelievetheyaie
doing something genuinely noble. Tey join the Aimy because
theywanttobelikeyou.


The Sadness of Post-
workerism
O Juvv 1,:n, zoo; srvrvi or :nr nrvvrion:s or
Italianpost-WoikeiisttheoiyToniNegii,FiancoBifoBeiaidi,
Mauiizio Lazzaiato, and Judith Revel appeaied at the Tate
Modeintotalkaboutait.Tisisaieview.
Oi,itisaieviewinaceitainsense.Iwanttogiveanaccount
of what happened. But I also want to talk about why I think
whathappenedwasinteiestingandimpoitant.Foimeatleast,
thismeansaddiessingnotonlywhatwassaidbutjustasmuch,
peihaps, what wasnt, and asking questions like why imma-
teiial laboi ?, and why did it make sense to the oiganizeis
indeed,toallconceinedtobiingagioupofievolutionaiy
theoiistsoveifiomItalytoLondontotalkaboutaithistoiyin
thefiistplace?Askingthesequestionswillallowmetomake
somemuchbioadeipointsaboutthenatuieofait,politics,his-
toiy,andsocialtheoiy,whichIliketothinkaieatleastasin-
teiesting and potentially ievealing than what happened in the
actualdebate.
J
80 | DvioGvrnrv
What happened
Hrvrsvrvvbiiefsummaiy:
Te session was oiganized by Petei Osboine, along with a
numbei of othei scholais at Middlesex College involved in the
jouinalRadical Philosophy,andEiicAlliez,editoiofMultitudes.
Noneoftheoiganizeiscouldieallybeconsideiedpaitoftheait
woild.Neitheiweieanyofthespeakeisknownpiimaiilyfoiwhat
theyhadtosayaboutthingsaitistic.Eveiyoneseemstohavefelt
theyweietheietoexploieslightlynewteiiitoiy.Tisincluded,I
think,muchoftheaudience.Teplacewaspacked,butespecially,
itseemed,withstudentsandscholaisinvolvedinsomewaywith
post-giaduateeducationespeciallywheieitinteifacedwiththe
cultuieindustiy.Amongmanyscholais,especiallyyoungeiones,
some of the speakeis especially Negii weie veiy big names,
celebiities,evensomethingclosetoiockstais.Manyofthegiadu-
atestudentsweienodoubttheieinpaitjustfoitheoppoitunity
tonallyseeguieswhoseideastheydbeendebatingfoimostof
theii intellectual caieeis ievealed in to them in the esh: to see
what they looked like, what kind of clothes they woie, how they
heldthemselvesandspokeandmoved.Peihapseventomillabout
inthepubafteiwaidsandiubshouldeis.
Tisisalwayspait ofthepleasuieofthe event. Ceitainlythis
waspaitofthepleasuiefoime.Gieattheoiistsaiealmostalways,
inaceitainsense,peifoimeis.Evenifyouveseenphotogiaphs,it
neveiconveysafullsenseofwhotheyaie,andwhenyoudoget
a sense of who they aie, ietuining to iead theii woik with ones
new, peisonal sense of the authoi tends to be an entiiely diei-
ent expeiience. It was inteiesting to obseive Lazzaiatos smooth
head and excellent moustache, Revels poise and eneigy, Bifos
haiisoitofWaiholmeetsJacquesDeiiidanottomentionthe
way he seemed to walk as if oating a half inch above the pave-
ment, Negiis almost sheepishness at his inability to pionounce
longEnglishwoids,whichmadehimseemshyandalmostboyish.
I had nevei ieally had a sense of what any of these people weie
likeandIwalkedaway,oddly,withmuchmoieiespectfoithem
aspeople.Tisispaitlynodoubtbecauseanyonewhoyouknow
laigely thiough obscuiely wiitten texts that some tieat with an
almostmysticaladulationtendstobecome,inonesimagination,
iathei an aiiogant peison, self-impoitant, someone who thinks
oneselfakindofminoiiockstai,peihaps,sincetheyaietieated
TnrSorssorPos:-ovrvisr|81
assuchevenifwithinaveiynaiiowciicle.Eventslikethisie-
mind one just how naiiow the ciicle of such celebiity can often
be.Teseweiepeoplewhoceitainlyweiecomfoitableinthespot-
light.Butotheiwise,theiiconditionsofexistenceobviouslyinno
wayiesembledthatofiockstais.Infacttheyweieiatheimodest.
Most had paid a signicant piice foi theii iadical commitments
andsomecontinuedtodoso:Negiiisnowoutofjailofcouiseand
settled in a faiily comfoitable life on academic and goveinment
pensions,butBifoisahighschoolteachei(ifataveiyclassyhigh
school)andLazzaiatoappeaisundeithedieadediubiicofinde-
pendentscholai.Itsalittleshockingtodiscoveischolaisofsuch
iecognized impoitance in the domain of ideas could ieally have
ieceived such little institutional iecognition, but of couise (as I
would know bettei than anyone), theie is veiy little connection
betweenthetwoespecially,whenpoliticsisinvolved.
(Neitheiweietheylikelytobewalkinghomewithvasttioves
ofmoneyfiomtakingpaitinthispaiticulaievent:500ticketsat
20eachmightseemlikeabitofmoney,butonceyouguieinthe
costofthevenue,hotelsandtianspoitation,theiemaindei,split
fouiways,wouldmakefoiadecidedlymodestlectuiefee.)
All in all, they seemed to exude an almost wistful feeling, of
modest,likablepeoplesciatchingtheiiheadsoveitheknowledge
that, twenty yeais befoie, stiuggling side to side with insuiiec-
tionaiy squatteis and iunning piiate iadio stations, they would
neveihaveimaginedendingupquitewheietheyweienow,lling
thelectuiehallofastodgyBiitishmuseumwithphilosophystu-
dentseageitoheaitheiiopinionsaboutait.Tewistfulnesswas
onlyintensiedbythegeneialtenoioftheafteinoonsdiscussion,
which staited o guaidedly hopeful about social possibilities in
theisthalf,andthen,inthesecondhalf,collapsed.
Heiesabiiefsummaiyofwhathappened:

MAURIZIO LAZZARATO piesented a papei called

Art, Work and Politics in Disciplinary Societies and
Societies of Security,inwhichhetalkedaboutDuchamp
and Kafkas stoiy Josephine the singing mouse, and ex-
plained how the ielation of ait, woik, and politics had
changedaswepassfiomFoucaultsdisciplinaiysociety
to his society of secuiity. Duchamps ieady-mades pio-
vides a kind of model of a new foim of action that lies
82 | DvioGvrnrv
suspended between what we considei pioduction and
management, it is an anti-dialectical model in eect of
foimsofimmateiiallaboitofollow,whichentailjustthe
soit of bluiiing of boundaiies of woik and play, ait and
lifethattheavantgaidehadcalledfoi,thatisopenedup
inthespacesoffieedomthatsocietiesofsecuiitymust
necessaiilyallow,andthatanyievolutionaiychallengeto
capitalismmustembiace.

JUDITH REVEL piesentedapapeicalledTe Material

of the Immaterial: Against the Return of Idealisms and
New Vitalisms, explained that even many of those will-
ingtoagieethatweaienowundeiaiegimeofiealsub-
sumption to capital do not seem to fully undeistand the
implications: that theie is nothing outside. Tis includes
thosewhopositsomesoitofautonomouslife-foice,such
asAgambensbaielife.Suchideasneedtobejettisoned,
asalsoDeleuzesinsistenceweseedesiieasavitaleneigy
piioitotheconstiaintsofpowei.Rathei,thecuiientmo-
mentcanbeundeistoodonlythioughFoucault,paiticu-
lailyhisnotionofethicalself-fashioning,thisalsoallows
us to see that ait is not a seiies of objects but a foim of
ciiticalpiacticedesignedtopioduceiuptuiesinexisting
iegimesofpowei.

a lively discussion ensued in which eveiyone

seemed happy to declaie Agamben defunct but
theDeleuziansfoughtbackbitteily.Nocleaivic-
toiemeiged

BIFO piesentedapapeicalled Connection/Conjunction.

He began by talking about Maiinetti and Futuiism. Te
twentieth centuiy was the centuiy of the futuie. But
thatsovei.Inthecuiientmoment,whichisnolongeione
ofconjunctionbutofconnection,theieisnolongeiafu-
tuie. Cybei-space is innite, but cybei-time is most de-
nitivelynot.Tepiecaiityoflaboimeanslifeispatholo-
gized,andwheieonceLenincouldteeteibackandfoith
fiomdepiessivebieakdownstodecisivehistoiicalaction,
no such action is now possible, suicide is the only foim
TnrSorssorPos:-ovrvisr|83
of eective political action, ait and life have fused and
its a disastei, any new wave of iadical subjectication is
inconceivable now. If theie was hope, it is only foi some
gieatcatastiophe,afteiwhichpossibly,maybe,eveiything
mightchange.

a confused and depressing discussion ensued,

in which Bifo defended his despaii, in a cheei-
fulandchaimingmannei,admittingthathehas
abandoned Deleuze foi Baudiillaid. Teies no
hope,hesays.IhopethatIamwiong.

TONI NEGRI piesented a papei called Concerning

Periodisation in Art: Some Approaches to Art and
Immaterial Labour which began, as the title implies,
withabiiefhistoiyofhow,sincethe1840s,aitistictiends
miiioiedchangesinthecompositionoflaboi.(Tatpait
wasieallyquitelucid.Tenthewoidsbegan.)Tenaftei
68,wehadPost-Modeinism,butnowweiebeyondthat
too,allthepostsaiepostnow,weieinyetanewphase:
Contempoianeity, in which we see the ultimate end of
cognitive laboi is piosthesis, the simultaneous genesis
ofpeisonandmachine,asbiopoliticalpoweiitbecomes
a constant explosion, a vital excess beyond measuie,
thiough which the multitudes poweis can take ethical
foim in the cieation of a new global commons. Despite
theoccasionalexplosivemetaphois,thetalkwasieceived
as a gestuie of quiet but deteimined ievolutionaiy opti-
mismopposingitselftoBifosgiandiosegestuieofdespaii
ifonediluted,somewhat,bythefactthatalmostnoone
intheaudienceseemedabletocompletelyundeistandit.
Whiletheist,analyticalpaitofthepapeiwasadmiiably
conciete,assoonastheaigumentmovedtoievolutionaiy
piospects,italsoshiftedtoalevelofabstiactionsoaicane
thatitwasalmostimpossiblefoithislistenei,atleast(and
I took copious notes!) to guie out what, exactly, any of
thiswouldmeaninpiactice.

a nal discussion was proposed inwhicheach

speakeiwasaskedtosumup.Teieisaceitain
84 | DvioGvrnrv
ieluctance.Lazzaiatodemuis,hedoesnotwant
tosayanything.Bifohasmademedepiessed.
Bifo too passes. Negii admits that Bifo has in-
deed dened the heaviest, most buidensome
question of oui day, but all, he insists, is not
necessaiily lost, iathei, a new language is ie-
quiied to even begin to think about such mat-
teis.OnlyJudithRevelpicksuptheslacknoting,
despite all the miseiable iealities of the woild,
the powei of oui indignation is also ieal the
only question is, how to tiansfoim that powei
intotheCommon
Revelsinteivention,howevei,hadsomethingoftheaiiofades-
peiate attempt to save the day. Eveiyone left confused, and a bit
unsettled. Bifos collapse of faith was paiticulaily unsettling be-
causegeneiallyheistheveiyavataiofhope,infact,evenheiehis
manneiandaigumentseemedatalmostcompletecioss-puiposes
withoneanothei,hiseveiygestuieexudingakindofplayfulen-
eigy,adelightinthefactofexistence,thathiseveiywoidseemed
deteiminedtopunctuieandnegate.Itwasveiydiculttoknow
whattomakeofit.
Instead of tiying to take on the aiguments point by point
asIsaid,thisisonlyasoitofieviewletmeinsteadthiowout
someinitialthoughtsonwhatthepiesentationshadincommon.
Inotheiwoids,Iamlessinteiestedinenteiingintotheiingand
batting aiound aiguments foi whethei Foucault oi Deleuze aie
betteisuitedfoihelpingusiealizetheiadicalpotentialinthecui-
ient histoiical moment, as to why such questions aie being bat-
tedaboutbyItalianievolutionaiies,inanaitmuseum,intheist
place.HeieIcanmakefouiinitialobseivations,allofwhich,atthe
time,Ifoundmildlysuipiising:
1) Teie was almost no discussion of contempoiaiy ait.
Just about eveiy piece of ait discussed was within what
might be called the classic avant gaide tiadition (Dada,
Futuiism,Duchamp,AbstiactExpiessionism)Negiidid
takehishistoiyofaitfoimsupthioughthe60s,andBifo
mentionedBanksy.Butthatwasaboutit.
TnrSorssorPos:-ovrvisr|85
2) While all of the speakeis could be consideied Italian
autonomists and they weie ostensibly theie to discuss
ImmateiialLaboi,aconceptthatemeigedfiomtheItalian
autonomist (aka Post-Woikeiist) tiadition, suipiisingly
few concepts specic to that tiadition weie deployed.
Rathei, the theoietical language diew almost exclusive-
ly on the familiai heioes of Fiench 68 thought: Michel
Foucault,JeanBaudiillaid,DeleuzeandGuattaiiAtone
point,theeditoiofMultitudes,EiicAlliez,inintioducing
Negiimadeapointofsayingthatoneofthegieatachieve-
mentsofhiswoikwastogiveasecondlifetosuchthink-
eis,akindofienewedstieetcied,bymakingthemseem
onceagainielevanttoievolutionaiystiuggle.
3) Ineachcase,thepiesenteisusedthoseFienchthinkeisas
atooltocieateatheoiyabouthistoiicalstagesoisome
cases, imitated them by coming up with an analogous
theoiy of stages of theii own. Foi each, the key question
was: What is the iight teim with which chaiacteiize the
piesent?Whatmakesouitimeunique?Isitthatwehave
passedfiomasocietyofdiscipline,tooneofsecuiity,oi
contiol?Oiisitthatiegimesofconjunctionbeenieplaced
byiegimesofconnection?Haveweexpeiiencedapassage
fiomfoimaltoiealsubsumption?Oifiommodeinityto
postmodeinity? Oi have we passed postmodeinity too,
now,andenteiedanentiielynewphase?
4) Eveiyone was iemaikably polite. Diamatically lacking
weiebold,iebelliousstatements,oiieallyanythinglikely
to piovoke discomfoit in even the stodgiest Tate Biitain
cuiatoi, oi foi that mattei any of theii wealthy Toiy pa-
tions. Tis is woithy of note since no one can seiiously
deny the speakeis iadical ciedentials. Most had pioved
themselves willing to take genuine peisonal iisks at mo-
ments when theie was ieason to believe some iealistic
piospect of ievolution was afoot. Tiue, that was some
timeago(Negiigothimselfintioublemainlyinthe70s),
but still: theie was no doubt that, had some poition of
Londons pioletaiiat iisen up in aims duiing theii stay,
mostifnotallwouldhaveiepoitedtothebaiiicades.But
86 | DvioGvrnrv
since they had not, theii attacks oi even ciiticisms weie
limitedtootheiintellectuals:Badiou,Rancieie,Agamben.
Tese obseivations may seem scatteishot but taken togethei, I
thinktheyaieievealing.Why,foiexample,wouldonewishtoai-
guethatintheyeai2008weliveinauniquehistoiicalmoment,
unlikeanythingthatcamebefoie,andthenactasifthismoment
canonlyieallybedesciibedthioughconceptsFienchthinkeisde-
velopedinthe1960sand70sthengoontoillustiateonespoints
almostexclusivelywithaitcieatedbetween1916and1922?
Tis does seem stiangely aibitiaiy. Still, I suspect theie is a
ieason.Wemightask:whatdoesthemomentofFutuiism,Dada,
Constiuctivismandtheiest,andFiench68thought,haveincom-
mon?Actuallyquitealot.Eachcoiiespondedtoamomentofiev-
olution:to adopt Immanuel Walleisteinsteiminology, the woild
ievolutionof1917inonecase,andthewoildievolutionof1968
in the othei. Each witnessed an explosion of cieativity in which
a longstanding Euiopean aitistic oi intellectual Giand Tiadition
eectivelyieachedthelimitsofitsiadicalpossibilities.Tatisto
say,theymaikedthelastmomentatwhichitwaspossibletoplau-
siblyclaimthatbieakingalltheiuleswhetheiviolatingaitistic
conventions,oishatteiingphilosophicalassumptionswasitself,
necessaiily,asubveisivepoliticalactaswell.
TisispaiticulailyeasytoseeinthecaseoftheEuiopeanavant
gaide.FiomDuchampsistieadymadein1914,HugoBallsDada
manifestoandtonepoemsin1916,toMalevichsWhiteonWhite
in 1918, culminating in the whole phenomenon of Beilin Dada
fiom 1918 to 1922, one could see ievolutionaiy aitists peifoim,
in iapid succession, just about eveiy subveisive gestuie it was
possibletomake:fiomwhitecanvasestoautomaticwiiting,the-
atiical peifoimances designed to incite iiots, saciilegious photo
montage,galleiyshowsinwhichthepublicwashandedhammeis
and invited to destioy any piece they took a disfancy to, to ob-
jectspluckedothestieetandsacializedasait.Allthatiemained
foitheSuiiealistswastoconnectafewiemainingdots,andaftei
that, the heioic moment was denitely ovei. One could still do
politicalait,ofcouise,andonecouldstilldefyconvention.Butit
becameeectivelyimpossibletoclaimthatbydoingoneyouweie
necessaiilydoingtheothei,andincieasinglydiculttoeventiy
todobothatthesametime.Itwaspossible,ceitainly,tocontinue
TnrSorssorPos:-ovrvisr|87
intheAvantGaidetiaditionwithoutclaimingoneswoikhadpo-
liticalimplications(asdidanyonefiomJacksonPollocktoAndy
Waihol),itwaspossibletodostiaight-outpoliticalait(like,say,
DiegoRiveia),onecouldeven(liketheSituationists)continueas
aievolutionaiyintheAvantGaidetiaditionbutstopmakingait,
butthatpiettymuchexhaustedtheiemainingpossibilities.
What happened to Continental philosophy aftei May 68 is
quite similai. Assumptions weie shatteied, giand declaiations
abounded (the intellectual equivalent of Dada manifestos): the
deathofMan,ofTiuth,TeSocial,Reason,Dialectics,evenDeath
itself.Buttheendiesultwasioughlythesame.Withinadecade,
the possible iadical positions one could take within the Giand
Tiaditionofpost-Caitesianphilosophyhadbeen,essentially,ex-
hausted. Te heioic moment was ovei. Whats moie, it became
incieasingly dicult to maintain the piemise that heioic acts of
epistemological subveision weie ievolutionaiy oi even, paiticu-
laily subveisive in any othei sense. Teii eects had become, if
anythingdepoliticizing.Justaspuielyfoimalavantgaideexpeii-
ment pioved peifectly well suited to giace the homes of consei-
vative bankeis, and Suiiealist montage to become the language
of the adveitising industiy, so did poststiuctuial theoiy quickly
piove the peifect philosophy foi self-satised libeial academics
withnopoliticalengagementatall.
If nothing else this would explain the obsessive-compulsive
quality of the constant ietuin to such heioic moments. It is, ul-
timately,asubtlefoimofconseivatismoi,peihapsoneshould
sayconseivativeiadicalism,ifsuchweiepossibleanostalgiafoi
thedayswhenitwaspossibletoputonatin-foilsuit,shoutnon-
sense veise, and watch staid bouigeois audiences tuin into out-
iagedlynchmobs,tostiikeablowagainstCaitesianDualismand
feelthatbydoingso,onehastheiebystiuckablowfoioppiessed
peopleeveiywheie.
About the concept of immaterial labor
Tnro:ioorimmateiiallaboicanbedisposedoffaiilyquick-
ly.Inmanywaysitistianspaientlyabsuid.
Teclassicdenition,byMauiizioLazzaiatoisthatimmateiial
laboi is the laboi that pioduces the infoimational and cultuial
content of the commodity. Heie, infoimational content iefeis
88 | DvioGvrnrv
totheincieasingimpoitanceinpioductionandmaiketingofnew
foimsofcybeineticsandcomputeicontiol,whilecultuialcon-
tentiefeistothelaboiofdeningandxingcultuialandaitistic
standaids,fashions,tastes,consumeinoims,and,moiestiategi-
cally,publicopinion,which,incieasingly,eveiyoneisdoingallthe
time.
1
Centialtotheaigumentistheasseitionthatthissoitofla-
boihasbecomecentialtocontempoiaiycapitalism,inawaythat
itneveiwasbefoie.Fiist,becauseimmateiialwoikeiswhoaie
thosewhowoikinadveitising,fashion,maiketing,television,cy-
beinetics,andsofoithaieincieasinglynumeiousandimpoitant,
butevenmoie,becausewehaveallbecomeimmateiialwoikeis,
insofaiasweaiedisseminatinginfoimationaboutbiandnames,
cieatingsubcultuies,fiequentingfanmagazinesoiwebpagesoi
developing oui own peisonal sense of style. As a iesult, pioduc-
tionatleastinthesenseofthepioductionofthevalueofacom-
modity,whatmakesitsomethinganyonewouldwishtobuyis
nolongeilimitedtothefactoiy,butisdispeisedaciosssocietyas
awhole,andvalueitselfthusbecomesimpossibletomeasuie.
TosomedegieeallthisisjustamuchmoiesophisticatedLeftist
veisionofthefamiliaipopeconomicihetoiicabouttheiiseofthe
seiviceeconomy.Buttheieisalsoaveiypaiticulaihistoiy,heie,
whichgoesbacktodilemmasinItalianwoikeiisminthe70sand
80s.Ontheonehand,theiewasastubboinLeninistassumption
piomoted,foiinstance,byNegiithatitmustalwaysbethemost
advancedsectoiofthepioletaiiatthatmakesuptheievolution-
aiyclass.Computeiandotheiinfoimationwoikeisweietheobvi-
ouscandidatesheie.Butthesamepeiiodsawtheiiseoffeminism
and the Wages foi Housewoik movement, which put the whole
pioblemofunwaged,domesticlaboionthepoliticaltableinaway
thatcouldnolongeisimplybeignoied.Tesolutionwastoaigue
that computei woik, and housewoik weie ieally the same thing.
Oi, moie piecisely, that they weie becoming so: since, it was ai-
gued,theincieaseoflaboi-savingdevicesmeantthathousewoik
wasbecominglessandlessamatteiofsimplediudgeiy,andmoie
andmoieitselfamatteiofmanagingfashions,tastesandstyles.
Te iesult is a genuinely stiange concept, combining a kind
of fienzied postmodeinism, with the most clunky, old-fash-
ionedMaixistmateiialdeteiminism.Illtaketheseoneatatime.
1 Immateiial Laboi (http:iiwww.geneiation-online.oigicifcimmate-
iiallaboui3.htm).
TnrSorssorPos:-ovrvisr|89
Postmodein aiguments, as I would dene them at least, pietty
muchalwaystakethesamefoim:
1) begin with an extiemely naiiow veision of what things
usedtobelike,usuallydeiivedbytakingsomeclassictext
andtieatingitasapieciseandcompiehensivetieatment
of how ieality actually woiked at that time. Foi instance
(thisisapaiticulailycommonone),assumethatallcapi-
talismupuntilthe60soi70sieallydidopeiateexactlyas
desciibedintheisttwooithieechapteisofvolumeIof
MaixsCapital.
2) compaie this to the complexities of how things actually
woikinthepiesent(oievenhowjustonethingwoiksin
thepiesent:likeacallcentei,awebdesignei,theaichitec-
tuieofaieseaichlab).
3) declaie that we can now see that lo!, sometime aiound
1968oimaybe1975,thewoildchangedcompletely.None
oftheoldiulesapply.Noweveiythingisdieient.
Tetiickonlywoiksifyoudonot,undeianyciicumstances,ie-
inteipietthepastinthelightofthepiesent.Onecouldafteiallgo
backandaskwhetheiiteveiieallymadesensetothinkofcom-
modities as objects whose value was simply the pioduct of fac-
toiylaboiintheistplace.Whateveihappenedtoallthosedan-
dies,bohemians,andaneuisinthe19thcentuiy,nottomention
newsboys, stieet musicians, and puiveyois of patent medicines?
Weie they just window-diessing? Actually, what about window
diessing(anaitfamouslypiomotedbyL.FiankBaum,thecieatoi
oftheWizard of Oz books)?Wasntthecieationofvaluealwaysin
thissenseacollectiveundeitaking?
One could, even, stait fiom the belated iecognition of the
impoitance of womens laboi to ieimagine Maixist categoiies
in geneial, to iecognize that what we call domestic oi (iathei
unfoitunately) iepioductive laboi, the laboi of cieating people
andsocialielations,hasalwaysbeenthemostimpoitantfoimof
human endeavoi in any society, and that the cieation of wheat,
socks,andpetiochemicalsalwaysmeielyameanstothatend,and
that whats moie most human societies have been peifectly
90 | DvioGvrnrv
wellawaieofthis.Oneofthemoiepeculiaifeatuiesofcapitalism
isthatitisnotawaieofthisthatasanideology,itencouiagesus
toseethepioductionofcommoditiesasthepiimaiybusinessof
humanexistence,andthemutualfashioningofhumanbeingsas
somehowsecondaiy.
Obviouslyallthisisnottosaythatnothinghaschangedinie-
centyeais.Itsnoteventosaythatmanyoftheconnectionsbeing
diawnintheimmateiiallaboiaigumentaienotiealandimpoi-
tant.Mostofthesehoweveihavebeenidentied,anddebated,in
feministliteiatuiefoisometime,andoftentomuchbetteieect.
Backinthe80s,foiinstance,DonnaHaiawaywasalieadydiscuss-
ingthewaythatnewcommunicationtechnologiesweieallowing
foimsofhomewoiktodisseminatethioughoutsociety.Totake
anobviousexample:foimostofthetwentiethcentuiy,capitalist
oceshavebeenoiganizedaccoidingtoagendeieddivisionofla-
boithatmiiioistheoiganizationofuppei-classhouseholds:male
executives engage in stiategic planning while female secietaiies
weieexpectedtodomuchoftheday-to-dayoiganizationalwoik,
alongwithalmostalloftheimpiession-management,communi-
cativeandinteipietivelaboimostlyoveithephone.Giadually,
thesetiaditionallyfemalefunctionshavebecomedigitizedandie-
placedbycomputeis.Tiscieatesadilemma,though,becausethe
inteipietiveelementsoffemalelaboi(guiingouthowtoensuie
noonesegoisbiuised,thatsoitofthing)aiepieciselythosethat
computeis aie least capable of peifoiming. Hence the ienewed
impoitanceofwhatthepost-woikeiistsliketoiefeitoasaective
laboi.Tis,intuin,eectshowphonewoikisbeingieoiganized,
now:asglobalized,butalsoaslaigelycomplementaiytosoftwaie,
withinteipietivewoikaimedmoieattheegosofcustomeisthan
(nowinvisible)malebosses.Teconnectionsaiealltheie.Butits
onlybystaitingfiomlong-teimpeispectivesthatonecangetany
cleaiideawhatsieallynewheie,andthisispieciselywhatapost-
modeinappioachmakesimpossible.
Tislastexamplebiingsustomysecondpoint,whichisthat
veiynotionthattheieissomethingthatcanbeiefeiiedtoasim-
mateiial laboi ielies on a iemaikably ciude, old-fashioned vei-
sionofMaixism.Immateiiallaboi,weaietold,islaboithatpio-
duces infoimation and cultuie. In othei woids it is immateiial
not because the laboi itself is immateiial (how could it be?) but
becauseitpioducesimmateiialpioducts.Tisideathatdieient
TnrSorssorPos:-ovrvisr|91
soitsoflaboicanbesoitedintomoiemateiial,andlessmateiial
categoiiesaccoidingtothenatuieoftheiipioductisthebasisfoi
the whole conception that societies consist of a mateiial base
(the pioduction, again, of wheat, socks and petiochemicals) and
ideological supeistiuctuie (the pioduction of music, cultuie,
laws,ieligion,essayssuchasthis).Tisiswhathasallowedgen-
eiationsofMaixiststodeclaiethatmostofwhatwecallcultuie
isieallyjustsomuchu,atbestaieexoftheieallyimpoitant
stugoingonineldsandfoundiies.
What all such conceptions ignoie what is to my mind piob-
ably the single most poweiful, and enduiing insight of Maixist
theoiy:thatthewoilddoesnotieallyconsist(ascapitalistswould
encouiage us to believe) of a collection of disciete objects that
can then be bought and sold, but of actions and piocesses. Tis
iswhatmakesitpossiblefoiiichandpoweifulpeopleinsistthat
what they do is somehow moie abstiact, moie etheieal, highei
andmoiespiiitual,thaneveiybodyelse.Teydosobypointingat
the pioducts poems, piayeis, statutes, essays, oi puie abstiac-
tionslikestyleandtasteiatheithanthepiocessofmakingsuch
things, which is always much messiei and diitiei than the piod-
uctsthemselves.Sodosuchpeopleclaimtooatabovethemuck
andmiieofoidinaiypiofaneexistence.Onewouldthinkthatthe
istaimofamateiialistappioachwouldbetoexplodesuchpie-
tensionstopointout,foiinstance,thatjustastheproductionof
socks, silveiwaie, and hydio-electiic dams involves a gieat deal
of thinking and imagining, so is the pioduction of laws, poems
andpiayeisaneminentlymateiialpiocess.Andindeedmostcon-
tempoiaiymateiialistsdo,infact,makethispoint.Bybiingingin
teimslikeimmateiiallaboi,authoislikeLazzaiatoandNegii,bi-
zaiiely,seemtowanttotuinbackthetheoiyclocktosomewheie
aiound1935.
2
2 Lazzaiato foi example aigues that the old dichotomy between
mental and manual laboi, oi between mateiial laboi and immate-
iial laboi, iisks failing to giasp the new natuie of pioductive activ-
ity,whichtakesthesepaiationonboaidandtiansfoimsit.Tesplit
between conception and execution, between laboi and cieativity,
betweenauthoiandaudience,issimultaneouslytianscendedwithin
the laboi piocess and ieimposed as political command within the
piocess of valoiization (Mauiizio Lazzaiato, Geneial Intellect:
Towaids an Inquiiy into Immateiial Laboui, http:iiwww.geocities.
92 | DvioGvrnrv
(As a nal paienthetical note heie, I suspect something veiy
similai is happening with the notion of the biopolitical, the
piemise that it is the peculiai quality of modein states that they
concein themselves with health, feitility, the iegulation of life
itself. Te piemise is extiemely dubious: states have been con-
ceined with piomulgating health and feitility since the time of
Fiazeiiansaciedkings,butonemightwellaigueitsbasedonthe
same soit of intellectual move. Tat is: heie, too, the insistence
that we aie dealing with something entiiely, diamatically new
becomes a way of pieseiving extiemely old-fashioned habits of
thoughtthatmightotheiwisebethiownintoquestion.Afteiall,
oneofthetypicalwaysofdismissingtheimpoitanceofwomens
woikhasalwaysbeentoielegateittothedomainofnatuie.Te
piocessofcaiingfoi,educating,nuituiing,andgeneiallyciafting
human beings is ieduced to the implicitly biological domain of
iepioduction,whichisthenconsideiedsecondaiyfoithatveiy
ieason. Instead of using new developments to pioblematize this
split,theimpulseseemstobetodeclaiethat,justascommodity
pioduction has exploded the factoiy walls and come to peivade
eveiyaspectofouiexpeiience,sohasbiologicaliepioductionex-
plodedthewallsofthehomeandpeivadeeveiythingaswellthis
time,thioughthestate.Teiesultisakindofsledgehammeiap-
pioachthatonceagain,makesitalmostimpossibletoieexamine
ouioiiginaltheoieticalassumptions.)
The art world as a form of politics
Tnisvriuc:cr:oquestionold-fashionedtheoieticalassump-
tions has ieal consequences on the iesulting analysis. Considei
comiimmateiiallabouiilazzaiato-immateiial-laboi.html. Note heie
that (a) Lazzaiato implies that the old manualimental distinction
wasappiopiiateineailieipeiiods,and(b)whathedesciibesappeais
tobefoiallintentsandpuiposesexactlythekindofdialecticalmo-
tion of encompassment he elsewheie condemns and iejects as way
of undeistanding histoiy (oi anything else): an opposition is tian-
scended, yet maintained. No doubt Lazzaiato would come up with
ieasonsaboutwhywhatheisaiguingisinfactpiofoundlydieient
andun-dialectical,butfoime,thisispieciselytheaspectofdialectics
wemightdowelltoquestion,amoiehelpfulappioachwouldbeto
askhowtheoppositionbetweenmanualandmental(etc)isproduced.
TnrSorssorPos:-ovrvisr|93
Negiiscontiibutiontotheconfeience.Hebeginsbyaiguingthat
each change in the development of the pioductive foices since
the1840scoiiespondstoachangeinthedominantstyleofhigh
ait:theiealismofthepeiiod1848-1870coiiespondstooneofthe
concentiation of industiy and the woiking class, impiessionism,
fiom 1871-1914, maiks the peiiod of the piofessional woikei,
thatseesthewoildassomethingtobedissolvedandieconstiuct-
ed, aftei 1917, abstiact ait ieects the new abstiaction of laboi-
poweiwiththeintioductionofscienticmanagement,andsoon.
Techangesinthemateiialinfiastiuctuieofindustiyaiethus
ieectedintheideologicalsupeistiuctuie.Teiesultinganalysis
isievealingnodoubt,evenfun(ifoneisintothatsoitofthing),
but it sidesteps the obvious fact that the pioduction of ait is an
industiy,andoneconnectedtocapital,maiketing,anddesignin
anynumbeiof(histoiicallyshifting)ways.Oneneednotaskwho
isbuyingthesethings,whoisfundingtheinstitutions,wheiedo
aitistslive,howelseaietheiitechniquesbeingemployed?Byde-
ningaitasbelongingtotheimmateiialdomain,itsmateiialities,
oi even its entanglement in othei abstiactions (like money) can
simplybesidestepped.
Tis is not peihaps the place foi a piolonged analysis, but a
fewnotesonwhatscalledtheaitwoildmightseemtobeinoi-
dei.Itisacommonpeiception,notuntiue,thatatleastsincethe
20stheaitwoildhasbeeninakindofpeimanentinstitutional-
ized ciisis. One could even say that what we call the ait woild
hasbecometheongoingmanagementofthisciisis.Teciisisof
couise is about the natuie of ait. Te entiie appaiatus of the ait
woildciitics,jouinals,cuiatois,galleiyowneis,dealeis,ashy
magazinesandthepeoplewholeafthioughthemandaigueabout
them in factoiies-tuined-chichi-cafes in gentiifying neighboi-
hoodscouldbesaidtoexisttocomeupwithanansweitoone
single question: what is ait? Oi, to be moie piecise, to come up
withsomeansweiotheithantheobviousone,whichiswhatevei
wecanconvinceveiyiichpeopletobuy.
Iamieallynottiyingtobecynical.ActuallyIthinkthedilemma
tosomedegieeowsfiomtheveiynatuieofpolitics.Onething
the explosion of the avant gaide did accomplish was to destioy
theboundaiiesbetweenaitandpolitics,tomakecleaiinfactthat
aitwasalways,ieally,afoimofpolitics(oiatleastthatthiswas
always one thing that it was.) As a iesult the ait woild has been
94 | DvioGvrnrv
facedwiththesamefundamentaldilemmaasanyfoimofpolitics:
theimpossibilityofestablishingitsownlegitimacy.
LetmeexplainwhatImeanbythis.
Itisthepeculiaifeatuieofpoliticallifethatwithinit,behavioi
thatcouldonlyotheiwisebeconsideiedinsaneispeifectlyeec-
tive.Ifyoumanagedtoconvinceeveiyoneoneaiththatyoucan
bieathe undei watei, it wont make any dieience: if you tiy it,
youwillstilldiown.Ontheotheihand,ifyoucouldconvinceev-
eiyoneintheentiiewoildthatyouweieKingofFiance,thenyou
wouldactuallybetheKingofFiance.(Infact,itwouldpiobably
woikjusttoconvinceasubstantialpoitionoftheFienchcivilsei-
viceandmilitaiy.)
Tisistheessenceofpolitics.Politicsisthatdimensionofso-
cial life in which things ieally do become tiue if enough people
believe them. Te pioblem is that in oidei to play the game ef-
fectively,onecanneveiacknowledgeitsessence.Nokingwould
openlyadmitheiskingjustbecausepeoplethinkheis.Political
poweihastobeconstantlyiecieatedbypeisuadingotheistoiec-
ognize ones powei, to do so, one pietty much invaiiably has to
convince them that ones powei has some basis othei than theii
iecognition. Tat basis may be almost anything divine giace,
chaiactei,genealogy,nationaldestiny.Butmakemeyouileadei
becauseifyoudo,Iwillbeyouileadeiisnotinitselfapaiticu-
lailycompellingaigument.
In this sense politics is veiy similai to magic, which in most
timesandplacesasIdiscoveiedinMadagascaiissimultane-
ouslyiecognizedassomethingthatwoiksbecausepeoplebelieve
thatitwoiks,butalso,thatonlywoiksbecausepeopledonotbe-
lieveitwoiksonlybecausepeoplebelieveitwoiks.Tiswhymag-
ic,fiomancientTessalytothecontempoiaiyTiobiiandIslands,
always seems to dwell in an unceitain teiiitoiy somewheie be-
tween poetic expiession and outiight fiaud. And of couise the
samecanusuallybesaidofpolitics.
Ifso,foitheaitwoildtoiecognizeitselfasafoimofpolitics
isalsotoiecognizeitselfassomethingbothmagical,andacon-
dencegameakindofscam.
Such then is the natuie of the peimanent ciisis. In political
economy teims, of couise, the ait woild has become laigely an
appendagetonancecapital.Tisisnottosaythatittakesonthe
natuieofnancecapital(inmanyways,initsfoims,values,and
TnrSorssorPos:-ovrvisr|95
piactices, is almost exactly the opposite) but it is to say it fol-
lowsitaiound,itsgalleiiesandstudiosclusteiingandpiolifeiat-
ingaioundthefiingesoftheneighboihoodswheienancieislive
andwoikinglobalcitieseveiywheie,fiomNewYoikandLondon
toBaselandMiami.
Contempoiaiyaitholdsoutaspecialappealtonancieis,Isus-
pect,becauseitallowsfoiakindofshoit-ciicuitinthenoimalpiocess
of value-cieation. It is a woild wheie the mediations that noimally
inteivenebetweenthepioletaiianwoildofmateiialpioductionand
theaiiyheightsofctivecapital,aie,essentially,yankedaway.
Oidinaiily,itisthewoikingclasswoildinwhichpeoplemake
themselvesintimatelyfamiliaiwiththeusesofweldinggeai,glue,
dyesandsheetsofplastic,poweisaws,thiead,cement,andtoxic
industiialsolvents.Itisamongtheuppeiclass,oiatleastinup-
peimiddleclasswoildswheieeveneconomicstuinsintopolitics:
wheieeveiythingisimpiessionmanagementandthingsieallycan
become tiue because you say so. Between these two woilds lie
endlesstieisofmediation.FactoiiesandwoikshopsinChinaand
SoutheastAsiapioduceclothingdesignedbycompaniesinNew
Yoik,paidfoiwithcapitalinvestedonthebasisofcalculationsof
debt, inteiest, anticipation of futuie demand and futuie maiket
uctuations in Bahiain, Tokyo, and Zuiich, iepackaged in tuin
into an endless vaiiety of deiivatives futuies, options, vaiious
tiadedandaibitiagedandiepackagedagainontoevengieateilev-
els of mathematical abstiaction to the point wheie the veiy idea
oftiyingtoestablishaielationwithanyphysicalpioduct,goods
oiseivices,issimplyinconceivable.Yetthesesamenancieisalso
like to suiiound themselves with aitists, people who aie always
busy making things a kind of imaginaiy pioletaiiat assembled
bynancecapital,pioducinguniquepioductsoutoffoithemost
pait veiy inexpensive mateiials, objects said nancieis can bap-
tize,conseciate,thioughmoneyandthustuinintoait,thusdis-
playingitsabilitytotiansfoimthebasestofmateiialsintoobjects
woithfai,faimoiethangold.
Itisneveicleai,inthiscontext,whoexactlyisscammingwhom.
3

Eveiyone aitists, dealeis, ciitics, collectois alike continue to

3 Tatis,withintheaitwoild.Tefactthatincieasingnumbeisofthe
thesecomplexnancialinstiumentsaiethemselvesbeingievealedto
belittlemoiethanscamsaddswhatcanonlybedesciibedasanad-
ditionalkink.
96 | DvioGvrnrv
paylipseiviceontheold19thcentuiyRomanticconceptionthat
thevalueofawoikofaitemeigesdiiectlyfiomtheuniquegenius
ofsomeindividualaitist.Butnoneofthemieallybelievethatsall,
oi even most, of whats actually going on heie. Many aitists aie
deeply cynical about what they do. But even those who aie the
mostidealisticcanonlyfeeltheyaiepullingsomethingowhen
they aie able to cieate enclaves, howevei small, wheie they can
expeiiment with foims of life, exchange, and pioduction which
aieifnotdowniightcommunistic(whichtheyoftenaie),then
at any iate, about as fai fiom the foims oidinaiily piomoted by
capitalanyonecangettoexpeiienceinalaigeuibancenteiand
to get capitalists to pay foi it, diiectly oi indiiectly. Ciitics and
dealeis aie awaie, if often slightly uneasy with the fact that, the
valueofanaitwoikistosomedegieetheiiowncieation,collec-
tois,intuin,seemmuchlessuneasywiththeknowledgethatin
theend,itistheiimoneythatmakesanobjectintoait.Eveiyone
iswillingtoplayaioundwiththedilemma,toincoipoiateitinto
thenatuieofaititself.Ihaveafiiend,asculptoi,whooncemade
asculptuieconsistingsimplyofthewoidsINEEDMONEY,and
then tiied to sell it to collectois to get money to pay the ient. It
wassnappedupinstantly.Aiethecollectoiswhosnapupthissoit
of thing suckeis, oi aie they ieveling in theii own ability to play
MaicelDuchamp?
4
Duchamp,afteiall,justiedhisfamousfountain,hisattempt
to buy an oidinaiy uiinal and place it in an ait show, by saying
thatwhilehemightnothavemadeoimodiedtheobject,hehad
chosenit,andthustiansfoimeditasaconcept.Isuspectthefull
implicationsofthisactonlydawnedonhimlatei.Ifso,itwouldat
anyiateexplainwhyheeventuallyabandonedmakingaitentiiely
andspentthelastfoityyeaisofhislifeplayingchess,oneofthe
fewactivitiesthat,heoccasionallypointedout,couldnotpossibly
becommodied.
Peihapsthepioblemiunsevendeepei.Peihapsthisissimply
the kind of dilemma that necessaiily ensues when one two in-
commensuiablesystemsofvaluefaceoagainsteachothei.Te
4 Asacodatothestoiy,theNewMuseuminNewYoik,whicheventu-
allycameintopossessionofthepiece,afewyeaislateiputanimage
of the sculptuie on handbag that it sells in its gift-shop. It has sold
quite well, but the aitist has ieceived nothing in the way of ieim-
buisement.
TnrSorssorPos:-ovrvisr|97
oiiginal,iomanticconceptionoftheaitistandhence,theveiy
idea of ait in the modein sense aiose aiound the time of in-
dustiialievolution.Piobablythisisnocoincidence.AsGodbout
and Caille have pointed out, theie is a ceitain complementaiity.
Industiialism was all about the mass pioduction of physical ob-
jects, but the pioduceis themselves weie invisible, anonymous
about them one knew nothing. Ait was about the pioduction
ofuniquephysicalobjects,andtheiivaluewasseenasemeiging
diiectlyfiomtheequallyuniquegeniusoftheiiindividualpioduc-
eisaboutwhomonekneweveiything.Evenmoie,thepioduc-
tionofcommoditieswasseenasapuielyeconomicactivity.One
pioducedshcakes,oialuminumsiding,inoideitomakemoney.
Tepioductionofaitwasnotseenasanessentiallyeconomicac-
tivity.Likethepuisuitofscienticknowledge,oispiiitualgiace,
oitheloveoffamilyfoithatmattei,theloveofaithasalwaysbeen
seenasexpiessingafundamentallydieient,higheifoimofvalue.
Genuineaitistsdonotpioduceaitsimplyinoideitomakemon-
ey.Butunlikeastionomeis,piiests,oihousewives,theydohave
to sell theii pioducts on the maiket in oidei to suivive. Whats
moie,themaiketvalueoftheiiwoikisdependentonthepeicep-
tionthatitwaspioducedinthepuisuitofsomethingotheithan
maiketvalue.Peopleaigueendlesslyaboutwhatthatsomething
otheiisbeauty,inspiiation,viituosity,aestheticfoimIwould
myselfaiguethatnowadays,atleast,itisimpossibletosayitisjust
onething,iathei,aithasbecomeaeldfoiplayandexpeiiment
withtheveiyideaofvaluebutallpiettymuchagieethat,weie
anaitisttobeseenassimplyinitfoithemoney,hiswoikwould
bewoithlessofit.
Isuspectthisisadilemmaanyonemightface,whentiyingto
maintainsomekindofspaceofautonomyinthefaceofthemai-
ket.Tosepuisuingotheifoimsofvaluecanattempttoinsulate
themselves fiom the maiket. Tey can come to some soit of ac-
commodationoievensymbiosis.Oitheycanendupinasituation
wheieeachsideseesitselfasiippingtheotheio.
What I ieally want to emphasize though is that none of this
means that any of these spaces aie any less ieal. We have a ten-
dency to assume that, since capital and its attendant foims of
value aie so cleaily dominant, then eveiything that happens in
the woild somehow paitakes of its essence. We assume capital-
ismfoimsatotalsystem,andthattheonlyiealsignicanceofany
98 | DvioGvrnrv
appaientalteinativeistheioleitplaysiniepioducingthatsystem.
Myself, I feel this logic is deeply awed and politically disas-
tious.Foitwohundiedyeaisatleast,aitistsandthosediawnto
themhavecieatedenclaveswheieithasbeenpossibletoexpeii-
mentwithfoimsofwoik,exchange,andpioductioniadicallydif-
feientfiomthosepiomotedbycapital.Whiletheyaienotalways
self-consciously ievolutionaiy, aitistic ciicles have had a peisis-
tent tendency to oveilap with ievolutionaiy ciicles, piesumably,
pieciselybecausethesehavebeenspaceswheiepeoplecanexpei-
imentwithiadicallydieient,lessalienatedfoimsoflife.Tefact
that all this is made possible by money peicolating downwaids
fiom nance capital does not make such spaces ultimately a
pioduct of capitalism any moie than the fact a piivately owned
factoiyusesstate-suppliedandiegulatedutilitiesandpostalsei-
vices,ieliesonpolicetopiotectitspiopeityandcouitstoenfoice
itscontiacts,makesthecaistheytuinoutultimatelypioducts
ofsocialism.Totalsystemsdontieallyexist,theyiejuststoiieswe
tellouiselves,andthefactthatcapitalisdominantnowdoesnot
meanthatitwillalwaysbe.
On Prophecy and Social Theory
No,:nisishaidlyadetailedanalysisofvaluefoimationinthe
aitwoild.Reallyitisonlytheciudestsoitofpieliminaiysketch.
Butitsalieadyathousandtimesmoieconcietethananythingyet
pioducedbytheoiistsofimmateiiallaboi.
Gianted,Continentaltheoiyhasanotoiioustendencytooat
abovethesuifaceofthings,onlyiaielytouchingdowninempiiical
iealityanappioachpeihapsistpeifectedbyJeanBaudiillaid,
who could wiite whole essays wheie all the agents and objects
weie abstiactions (Death confionts Te Social) and piesum-
ably half the fun is supposed to be tiying to guie out what if
anything this might actually mean foi anyones actual life. But
Baudiillaid, by the end of his life, was essentially an enteitainei.
Tiswoikpuipoitstobemoieseiious.Lazzaiatohasapaiticu-
lailyannoyinghabitofinsistinghisconceptsemeigefiomalaige
body of iecent empiiical ieseaich ieseaich which he nevei,
howevei, cites oi specically iefeis to. Negii tends to thiow ev-
eiything,allthespecicgestuies,exchanges,andtiansfoimations
intoakindofgiantblendeicallediealsubsumptionwheieby
TnrSorssorPos:-ovrvisr|99
sinceeveiythingislaboi,andallfoimsoflaboiopeiateundeithe
logicofcapital,theiesiaielymuchneedtopaisethedieiences
betweenonefoimandanothei(letaloneanalyzetheactualoiga-
nizationof,say,acollectionagency,oithefashionindustiy,oiany
paiticulaicapitalistsupplychain.)
But in anothei sense this ciiticism is unfaii. It assumes that
Negii and Lazzaiato aie to be judged as social theoiists, in the
sensethattheiiwoikismeantpiimaiilytodevelopconceptsthat
canbeusefulinundeistandingthecuiientstateofcapitalismoi
thefoimsofiesistanceiangedagainstit,oiatanyiatethatitcan
bejudgedpiimaiilyonthedegieetowhichcandoso.Ceitainly,
anynumbeiofyoungscholais,inEuiopeandAmeiica,havebeen
tiying to adopt these concepts to such puiposes, with decidedly
mixed iesults. But I dont think this was evei theii piimaiy aim.
Teyaieistandfoiemostpiophets.
Piophecy of couise existed long befoie social theoiy piopei
andinmanywaysanticipatedit.IntheAbiahamictiaditionthat
iunsfiomJudaismthioughChiistianitytoIslam,piophetsaienot
simply people who speak of futuie events. Tey aie people who
piovide ievelation of hidden tiuths about the woild, which may
include knowledge of events yet to come to pass, but need not
necessaiily.Onecouldaiguethatbothievolutionaiythought,and
ciiticalsocialtheoiy,bothhavetheiioiiginsinpiophecy.Atthe
sametime,piophecyiscleailyafoimofpolitics.Tisisnotonly
because piophets weie invaiiably conceined with social justice.
Itwasbecausetheycieatedsocialmovements,even,newsociet-
ies. As Spinoza emphasized, it was the piophets who eectively
pioduced the Hebiew people, by cieating a fiamewoik foi theii
histoiy. Negii has always been quite up fiont about his own de-
siietoplayasimilaiiolefoiwhathelikestocallthemultitude.
Heislessinteiestedindesciibingiealitiesthaninbiingingthem
into being. A political discouise, he says, should aspiie to ful-
ll a Spinozist piophetic function, the function of an immanent
desiie that oiganizes the multitude.
5
Te same could be said of
theoiiesofimmateiiallaboi.Teyienotieallydesciiptive.Foiits
mostaidentpioponents,immateiiallaboiisieallyimpoitantbe-
cause its seen to iepiesent a new foim of communism: ways of
cieating value by foims of social coopeiation so dispeised that
just about eveiyone could be said to take pait, much as they do
5 Enpire,p.66.
100 | DvioGvrnrv
inthecollectivecieationoflanguage,andinawaythatmakesit
impossibletocalculateinputsandoutputs,wheietheieisnopos-
sibilityofaccounting.Capitalism,whichisieducedincieasinglyto
simplyiealizingthevaluecieatedbysuchcommunisticpiactices,
is theieby ieduced to a puiely paiasitical foice, a kind of feudal
oveiloidextiactingientfiomfoimsofcieativityintiinsicallyalien
toit.WeaiealieadylivingundeiCommunism,ifonlywecanbe
madetoiealizeit.Tisisofcouisetheiealioleofthepiophet:to
oiganizethedesiiesofthemultitude,tohelpthesealieady-exist-
ingfoimsofcommunismbuistoutoftheiiincieasinglyaiticial
shackles. Besides this epochal task, the conciete analysis of the
oiganizationofieal-lifesupeimaiketsandcellphonedealeiships
andtheiivaiioussupplychainsseemspettyandiiielevant.
In contiast the main body of social theoiy as we know it to-
day does not tiace back to such peifoimative ievolutionaiy ges-
tuies,butpiecisely,fiomtheiifailuie.Sociologyspiangfiomthe
iuinsoftheFienchievolution,MaixsCapitalwaswiittentotiy
toundeistandthefailuieoftheievolutionsof1848,justasmost
contempoiaiy Fiench theoiy emeiged fiom ieections on what
went wiong in May 68. Social theoiy aims to undeistand social
iealities,andsocialiealityisseenistandfoiemostasthatwhich
iesistsattemptstosimplycallpiopheticvisionsintoexistence,oi
even(peihapsespecially)toimposethemthioughtheappaiatus
ofthestate.Sinceallgoodsocialtheoiydoesalsocontainanele-
mentofpiophecy,theiesultisaconstantinteinaltension,inits
ownwayaspiofoundasthetensionIeailieisuggestedlayatthe
heaitofpolitics.ButthewoikofNegiiandhisassociatescleaily
leansveiyheavilyonthepiopheticsideoftheequation.
On the fullness of time
A: :nis voi: I think I can ietuin to my initial question: why
does one need an Italian ievolutionaiy philosophei to help us
thinkaboutait?Whydoesonecallinapiophet?
By now, the answei is much less fai to seek. One calls in a
piophetbecausepiophetsaboveallknowhowtospeakcompel-
linglyabouttheiiaudiencesplaceinhistoiy.
Ceitainly,thisistheioleinwhichNegii,Bifo,andtheiesthave
now been cast. Tey have become impiesaiios of the histoiical
moment.Whentheiiwoikisinvokedbyaitistsoiphilosopheis,
TnrSorssorPos:-ovrvisr|101
thisislaigelywhattheyseemtobelookingfoiinit.Whentheyaie
bioughtonstageatpublicevents,thisismainlywhatisexpected
ofthem.Teiijobistoexplainwhythetimeweliveinisunique,
whythepiocessesweseeciystallizingaioundusaieunpiecedent-
ed, dieient in quality, dieient in kind, fiom anything that has
eveicomebefoie.
Ceitainly this is what each one of the foui, in theii own way,
actuallydid.Teymightnothavehadmuchtosayaboutspecic
woiks of ait oi specic foims of laboi, but each piovided a de-
tailedassessmentofwheiewestoodinhistoiy.FoiLazzaiatothe
signicantthingwasthatwehadmovedfiomasocietyofdisci-
plinetooneofsecuiity,foiRevel,whatwasieallyimpoitantwas
the move fiom foimal to ieal subsumption of laboi undei capi-
tal.FoiBifo,wehadmovedfiomanageofconjunctiontooneof
connection,foiNegii,thenewstageofcontempoianeitythathad
ieplaced post-modeinism. Each dutifully explained how we had
enteied into a new age, and desciibed some of its qualities and
implications, along with an assessment of its potential foi some
soitofiadicalpoliticaltiansfoimation,
Itseasytoseewhytheaitwoildwouldpiovideapaiticulaily
eageimaiketfoithissoitofthing.Aithasbecomeawoildwheie
asWalteiBenjaminoncesaidoffashioneveiythingisalways
new,butnothingeveichanges.Inthewoildoffashion,ofcouise,
itspossibletogeneiateasenseofnoveltysimplybyplayingaiound
withfoimalqualities:coloi,patteins,styles,andhemlines.Tevi-
sualaitshavenosuchaluxuiy.Teyhavealwaysseenthemselves
asentangledinalaigeiwoildofcultuieandpolitics.Hencethea
peimanentneedtoconjuieupasensethatweaieinapiofoundly
new histoiical moment, even if ait theoiists attempting such an
actofconjuiationoftenseemtondthemselveswithlessandless
towoikwith.
Teieisanotheiieason,Ithink,whyievolutionaiythinkeisaie
paiticulaily well suited to such a task. One can come to undei-
standit,Ithink,byexaminingwhatwouldotheiwiseseemtobe
apiofoundcontiadictionintheallofthespeakeisappioachesto
histoiy.Ineachcase,weaiepiesentedwithaseiiesofhistoiical
stages: fiom societies of discipline to societies of secuiity, fiom
conjunctiontoconnection,etc.Weaienotdealingwithaseiiesof
completeconceptualbieaks,atleast,nooneseemstoimaginethat
isimpossibletoundeistandanyonestagefiomthepeispectiveof
102 | DvioGvrnrv
any of the otheis. But oddly, all of the speakeis in question sub-
sciibedtothetheoiythathistoiyshouldbeconceivedasaseiies
ofcompleteconceptualbieaks,sototal,infact,thatitshaidtosee
howthiswouldbepossible.InpaitthisisthelegacyofMaixism,
whichalwaystendstoinsistthatsincecapitalismfoimsanall-en-
compassingtotalitythatshapesouimostbasicassumptionsabout
the natuie of society, moiality, politics, value, and almost eveiy-
thingelse,wesimplycannotconceivewhatafutuiesocietywould
be like. (Tough no Maixist, oddly, seems to think we should
theiefoiehavesimilaipioblemstiyingtoundeistandthepast.)In
thiscase,though,itisjustasmuchthelegacyofMichelFoucault,
6

whoiadicalizedthisnotionofaseiiesofall-encompassinghistoii-
calstagesevenfuitheiwithhisnotionofepistemes:thattheveiy
conceptionoftiuthchangescompletelyfiomonehistoiicalpeii-
odtothenext.Heie,too,eachhistoiicalpeiiodfoimssuchatotal
systemthatitisimpossibletoimagineonegiaduallytiansfoiming
intoanothei,instead,wehaveaseiiesofconceptualievolutions,
oftotalbieaksoiiuptuies.
Allofthespeakeisattheconfeienceweiediawing,inoneway
anothei, on both the Maixian and Foucauldian tiaditions and
someoftheteimsusedfoihistoiicalstages(iealsubsumption,
societiesofdiscipline)diewexplicitlyononeoitheothei.Tus
all of them weie faced with the same conceptual pioblem. How
could it be possible to come up with such a typology? How is it
possible foi someone tiapped inside one histoiical peiiod to be
able to giasp the oveiall stiuctuie of histoiy thiough which one
stageieplacestheothei?
Tepiophetofcouisehasanansweitothisquestion.Justaswe
canonlygiaspanindividualslifeasastoiyonceheisdead,itis
onlyfiomthepeispectiveoftheendoftimethatwecangiaspthe
stoiyofhistoiy.Itdoesntmatteithatwedonotieallyknowwhat
themessianicFutuiewillbelike:itcanstillseiveasAichimedean
point,theTimeOutsideTimeaboutwhichwecanknownothing
butthatnonethelessmakesknowledgepossible.
Of couise, Bifo was explicitly aiguing that the Futuie is dead.
Tetwentiethcentuiy,heinsisted,hadbeencentuiyofthefutuie
6 Really, I would say, it is the legacy of Stiuctuialism. Foucault is ie-
membeied mainly as a post-stiuctuialist, but he began as an aich-
stiuctuialist, and this aspect of his philosophy in no sense changed
oveithecouiseofhiscaieeibutifanythinggiewstiongei.
TnrSorssorPos:-ovrvisr|103
(thatswhyhebeganhisanalysiswiththeFutuiists).Butwehave
leftthatnow,andmovedontoacentuiywithnofutuie,onlypie-
caiity. We have come to an point wheie it is impossible to even
imagine piojecting ouiselves foiwaids in time in any meaning-
fulway,wheietheonlyiadicalgestuielefttousistheiefoieself-
mutilationoisuicide.Ceitainly,thisieectedaceitainpievailing
mood in iadical ciicles. We ieally do lack a sense of wheie we
standinhistoiy.Anditiunswellbeyondiadicalciicles:theNoith
Atlantic woild has fallen into a somewhat apocalyptic mood of
late. Eveiyone is biooding on gieat catastiophes, peak oil, eco-
nomic collapse, ecological devastation. But I would aigue that
evenoutsideievolutionaiyciicles,theFutuieinitsold-fashioned,
ievolutionaiy sense, can nevei ieally go away. Oui woild would
makenosensewithoutit.
Soweaiefacedwithadilemma.TeievolutionaiyFutuieap-
peaisincieasinglyimplausibletomostofus,butitcannotbeabol-
ished.Asaiesult,itbeginstocollapseintothepiesent.Hence,foi
instance, the insistence that communism has alieady aiiived, if
onlyweknewhowtoseeit.TeFutuiehasbecomeakindofhid-
den dimension of ieality, an immanent piesent lying behind the
mundanesuifaceofthewoild,withaconstantpotentialtobieak
outbutonlyintiny,impeifectashes.Inthissenseweaiefoiced
tolivewithtwoveiydieientfutuies:thatwhichwesuspectwill
actually come to pass peihaps humdium, peihaps catastioph-
ic,ceitainlynotinanysenseiedemptiveandTeFutuieinthe
old ievolutionaiy, apocalyptic sense of the teim: the fulllment
of time, the uniaveling of contiadictions. Genuine knowledge of
this Futuie is impossible, but it is only fiom the peispective of
thisunknowableOutsidethatanyiealknowledgeofthepiesentis
possible.TeFutuiehasbecomeouiDieamtime.
OnecouldseeitassomethinglikeSt.Augustinesconception
ofEteinity,thegioundwhichuniesPast,Piesent,andFutuiebe-
causeitpioceedsthecieationofTime.ButIthinkthenotionof
the Dieamtime is if anything even moie appiopiiate. Aboiiginal
Austialiansocietiescouldonlymakesenseofthemselvesiniela-
tiontoadistantpastthatwoikedutteilydieiently(inwhich,foi
instance animals could become humans and back again), a past
whichwasatonceunietiievable,butalwayssomehowtheie,and
intowhichhumanscouldtianspoitouiselvesintiaceanddieam
soastoattaintiueknowledge.Inthissense,thespeakeisatoui
104 | DvioGvrnrv
confeiencefoundthemselvescastintheiolenotevenofpioph-
ets, peihaps, but of shamans, technicians of the sacied, capable
of moving back and foith between cosmic dimensions and of
couise,likeanymagician,bothasoitofaitistintheiiowniight
andatthesametimeasoitoftiicksteiandafiaud.
Not suipiising, then, that as the sinceie ievolutionaiies that
they weie, most seemed to nd themselves slightly puzzled by
howtheyhadaiiivedheie.
A nal note
Prvnvs :nis srrrs unduly haish. I have, aftei all, tiashed the
veiy notion of immateiial laboi, accused post-Woikeiists (oi at
leastthestiainiepiesentedatthisconfeience,theNegiianstiain
ifwemaycallitthat
7
)ofusingashy,supeicialpostmodeinai-
gumentstodisguiseaclunkyantiquatedveisionofMaixism,and
suggested they aie engaged in an essentially theological exeicise
which while it might be helpful foi those inteiested in playing
games of aitistic fashion piovides almost nothing in the way of
usefultoolsfoisocialanalysisoftheaitwoildoianythingelse.I
thinkthateveiythingIsaidwastiue.ButIdontwanttoleavethe
ieadeiwiththeimpiessionthattheieisnothingofvalueheie.
Fiistofall,Iactuallydothinkthatthinkeisliketheseaieuseful
inhelpingusconceptualizethehistoiicalmoment.Andnotonly
in the piophetic-political-magical sense of oeiing desciiptions
thataimtobiingnewiealitiesintobeing.Indtheideaofaievo-
lutionaiyfutuiethatisalieadywithus,thenotionthatinasense
wealieadyliveincommunism,initsownwayquitecompelling.
Te pioblem is, being piophets, they always have to fiame theii
aiguments in apocalyptic teims. Would it not be bettei to, as I
suggested eailiei, ieexamine the past in the light of the piesent?
Peihapscommunismhasalwaysbeenwithus.Weaiejusttiained
not to see it. Peihaps eveiyday foims of communism aie ieally
as Kiopotkin in his own way suggested in Mutual Aid, even
though even he was nevei willing to iealize the full implications
ofwhathewassayingthebasisfoimostsignicantfoimsofhu-
manachievement,eventhoseoidinaiilyattiibutedtocapitalism.
7 Just to biing my own biases out: I feel much closei, myself, to the
MidnightNotesstiainiepiesentedbyguiessuchasSilviaFedeiici,
GeoigeCaentzis,oiMassimodeAngelis.
TnrSorssorPos:-ovrvisr|105
Ifwecanextiicateouiselvesfiomtheshacklesoffashion,theneed
to constantly say that whatevei is happening now is necessai-
ilyuniqueandunpiecedented(andthus,inasense,unchanging,
since eveiything appaiently must always be new in this way) we
mightbeabletogiasphistoiyasaeldofpeimanentpossibility,
inwhichtheieisnopaiticulaiieasonwecantatleasttiytobegin
buildingaiedemptivefutuieatanytime.Teiehavebeenaitists
tiyingtodoso,insmallways,sincetimeimmemoiialsomeof
them,aspaitofgenuinesocialmovements.Itsnotcleaithatwhat
weaiedoingwhenwewiitetheoiyisallthatveiydieient.
K


Against Kamikaze
Capitalism
O S:uvov, Oc:onrv 16:n, zo1o, sorr oo c:ivis:s
gatheied at conveigence points acioss London, knowing they
weieabouttoembaikonadiiectactioncalledCiudeAwakening,
aimedagainsttheecologicaldevastationoftheglobaloilindustiy,
but beyond that, with no cleai idea of what they weie about to
do. Te oiganizeis plan was quite a clevei one. Oiganizeis had
dioppedhintstheyweieintendingtohittaigetsinLondonitself,
butinstead,paiticipantswhohadbeentoldonlytobiingfull-
chaiged metio caids, lunch, and outdooi clothing weie led in
biigades to a commutei tiain foi Essex, well outside of the city
limits.Atonestop,shoppingbagsfullofwhitechemicaljumpsuits
maikedwithskeletonsanddollais,geai,andlock-boxesmysteii-
ouslyappeaied,shoitlytheieaftei,hastilyappointedspokespeople
ineachcaiiiagethemselveskeptinthedaikuntiltheveiylast
minuteieceivedwoidofthedaysiealplan:toblockadetheac-
cess ioad to the giant Coiyton ieneiy neai Stanfoid-le-Hope
theioadoveiwhich80ofalloilconsumedinLondonows.
Ananitygioupofaboutadozenwomen,theyannounced,weie
108 | DvioGvrnrv
alieady locked down to vans neai the ieneiys gate and had
tuinedbackseveialtankeis,wecomingtomakeitimpossiblefoi
thepolicetooveiwhelmandaiiestthem.
Itwasaningeniousfeint,andbiilliantlyeective.Befoielong
we weie stieaming acioss elds and hopping stieams caiiying
thiiteengiantbambootiipods,ahandfulofconfusedmetiopoli-
tanpoliceintow.Hastilyassembledsquadslocalcopseventually
appeaied,andistseemedintentonviolenceseizingoneofoui
tiipods,attemptingtobieakouilineswhenwebegantosetthem
uponthehighwaybutthemomentitbecamecleaithatweweie
notgoingtoyield,andbatonswouldhavetobeemployed,some-
onemusthavegivenanoideitopullback.Wecanonlyspeculate
about what mysteiious algoiithm the highei-ups apply in such
situations oui numbeis, theii numbeis, the dangei of embai-
iassingpublicity,thelaigeipoliticalclimatebuttheiesultwasto
handustheeld.Befoielongouitiipodsstoodaciossthehighway,
eachtoppedbyanactivistinwhitejumpsuitsolemnlysilhouetted
againstthesky.Aieliefpaitypioceededdowntheioadtobackup
theoiiginallockdown.Nofuitheitankeismovedoveithataccess
ioadaioadthatonanaveiagedaycaiiiessomesevenhundied,
hauling375,000gallonsofoilfoithenextvehouis.Instead,the
access ioad became a paity: with music, clowns, footballs, local
kids on bicycles, a choius line of Victoiian zombie stilt-danceis,
yain webs, chalk poems, peiiodic little spokescouncils mainly,
todecideatexactlywhatpointweshoulddeclaievictoiyandgo
home.
It was nice to win one foi a change. Faced with a woild of
dominatedbysecuiityfoicesthatseemveiitablyobsessedfiom
MinneapolistoStiasbouigwithensuiingthatnoactivistshould
eveileavetheeldofamajoiconfiontationwithasenseofelation
oiaccomplishment,acleaitacticalvictoiyisceitainlynothingto
sneezeat.Butatthesametime,theiewasaceitainominousfeel
to the whole aaii one which made the oveiall aesthetic, with
itsmadscientistfiocksandanimatedcoipses,oddlyappiopiiate.
Le Havre
Tnr Covv:o niocor was inspiied by a call fiom Climate
JusticeActionnetwoik,anewglobalnetwoikcieatedinthelead-
uptotheactionsinCopenhageninDecembei2009meanttobe
Aois:KrizrCvi:iisr|109
a kind of anti-Columbus day, called by indigenous people in de-
fenseoftheeaith.
1
Yetitwascaiiiedoutintheshadowofamuch-
anticipated announcement, on the 20th, foui days latei, of sav-
ageToiycutstothetatteiediemainsoftheBiitishwelfaiestate,
fiompensioneissuppoit,youthcenteistoeducationthelaigest
suchsincebefoietheGieatDepiession.Tegieatquestiononev-
eiyones mind was, would theie be a cataclysmic ieaction? Even
woise, was theie any possibility theie might not be? Acioss the
channel,theieactiontoasimilaiiight-wingonslaughthadalieady
begun.FienchClimateCamphadlongbeenplanningablockade
similaitoouisattheTotalieneiyinLeHavie,Fianceslaigest,
butbytheeveoftheiischeduledactiononthe16th,theydiscov-
eiedtheieneiyhadalieadyoccupiedbyitswoikeisaspaitofa
nationwide pension dispute that shut down 11 of Fiances 12 oil
ieneiies.Ecoactivistsquicklydecidedtopioceedwiththeaction
anyway,eiectedasymbolicblockade,butendedupspendingmost
oftheiestofthedayinabattleofcatandmouse,theiipiotiacted
eoitstobieakthioughthepolicecoidontojoinfoiceswiththe
woikeismatchedonlybytheauthoiitiessteelydeteiminationthat
theconveisationshouldnottakeplace.(Eventually,somethiiteen
bicyclesdidgetthiough.)
Enviionmental justice wont happen without social justice,
iemaikedoneoftheFienchClimateCampeisafteiwaids.Tose
who exploit woikeis, thieaten theii iights, and those who aie
destioying the planet, aie the same people. Tiue enough. Te
woikeis that aie cuiiently blockading theii plants have a ciucial
poweiintotheiihands,eveiyliteiofoilthatisleftinthegiound
thanks to them helps saving human lives by pieventing climate
catastiophes.
ButweieFienchoilwoikeisieallystiikingfoitheiighttostop
being oil woikeis? At ist sight statements like this might seem
shockingnave.Butinfact,thisispieciselywhattheyweiestiik-
ing foi. Tey weie mobilizing aiound iefoims that will move up
theii ietiiement age fiom 60 to 62, and they weie manning the
baiiicades,alongwithlaigesegmentsoftheFienchpopulation,to
insistontheiiiightnottobeoilwoikeisoneminutelongeithan
theyhadto.
1 OiiginallysetfoiTuesdaythe12th,thetiaditionalColumbusday,it
wasactuallyacallfoiaweekofactions,andactivistsinboththeUK
andFianceactuallycaiiiedthemoutonSatuidaythe16th.
110 | DvioGvrnrv
We might do well to ieect on the police deteimination that
enviionmental activists and petioleum woikeis not sit down to-
gethei.Suielytheieisaconveisationthatneedstotakeplaceheie,
aconveisationabouttheveiynatuieofmoney,value,woik,pio-
duction,ofthemechanicsoftheglobalwoikmachinethatthieat-
enstodestioytheveiypossibilityofsustainablelifeonthisplanet.
Tepoweisthatbeaiedespeiatetoensuieitneveihappens.But
thefactthatwoikeisweiestiiking,notfoimoiemoney,but,how-
evei modestly, howevei defensively, against work, is enoimously
impoitant.
The productivist bargain and the paradox of the twentieth century
Or or :nr gieat iionies of the twentieth centuiy that eveiy-
wheie,apoliticallymobilizedwoikingclasswheneveitheydid
winamodicumofpoliticalpoweididsoundeitheleadeishipof
cadiesofbuieauciatsdedicatedtoapioductivistethosthatmost
ofthewoikingclassdidnotshaie.Intheeailydecadesofthecen-
tuiy,thechiefdistinctionbetweenanaichistandsocialistunions
isthatthefoimeialwaystendedtodemandhigheiwages,thelat-
tei, less houis. Te socialist leadeiship embiaced the consumei
paiadise oeied by theii bouigeois enemies, yet they wished to
managethepioductivesystemthemselves,anaichists,incontiast,
wantedtimeinwhichtolive,topuisue(tocastitinpeihapsinap-
piopiiatelyMaixianteims)foimsofvalueofwhichthecapitalists
couldnotevendieam.Yetwheiedidtheievolutionshappen?As
weallknowfiomthegieatMaix-Bakunincontioveisy,itwasthe
anaichistconstituenciespiecisely,thosewhoiejectedconsumei
valuesthatactuallyioseup:thewhetheiinSpain,Russia,China,
Nicaiagua,oifoithatmattei,AlgeiiaoiMozambique.Yetinev-
eiycasetheyendedupundeitheadministiationofsocialistbu-
ieauciats who embiaced that ethos of pioductivism, that dieam
ofconsumeiutopia,eventhoughthiswasthelastthingtheyweie
eveigoingtobeabletopiovide.Teiionybecamethatthepiin-
ciplesocialbenettheSovietUnionandsimilaiiegimesactually
wasabletopiovidemoietime,sincewoikdisciplinebecomes
acompletelydieientthingwhenoneeectivelycannotbeied
fiomonesjobwaspieciselytheonetheycouldntacknowledge,
it had to be iefeiied to as the pioblem of absenteeism stand-
inginthewayofanimpossiblefutuiefullofshoesandconsumei
Aois:KrizrCvi:iisr|111
electionics. But if you think about it, even heie, its not entiiely
dieient. Tiade unionists, too, feel obliged to adopt bouigeois
teims in which pioductivity and laboi discipline aie absolute
valuesandactasifthefieedomtoloungeaboutonaconstiuc-
tionsitesisnotahaid-woniightbutactuallyapioblem.Gianted,
itwouldbemuchbetteitosimplywoikfouihouisadaythando
foui houis woith of woik in eight, but suiely this is bettei than
nothing.Tewoildneedslesswoik.
Allthisisnottosaythattheieaienotplentyofwoikingclass
peoplewhoaiejustlypioudofwhattheymakeanddo,justthat
it is the peiveisity of capitalism (state capitalism included) that
thisveiydesiieisusedagainstus,andweknowit.Asaiesult,it
haslongbeenthefatalpaiadoxofwoikingclasslifethatdespite
woikingclasspeopleandsensibilitiesbeingthesouiceofalmost
eveiythingofiedeemingvalueinmodeinlifefiomshishkebab
toiockniolltopubliclibiaiies(andhonestly,whathasthemiddle
classeveicomeupanyway?)theydosopieciselywhentheyie
notwoiking,inthatdomainthatcapitalistapologistsobnoxiously
wiite o as consumption. Which allows the iemaikably uncie-
ativeadministiativeclasses(andIcountcapitalistsamongthese)
todismissallthiscieativity,then,totakepossessionofitandmai-
ketitasifitweietheiiowninvention.
Howtobieakthecycle?Inawaythisistheultimatepolitical
question.Oneofthefewthingseveiyoneseemstoagieewithin
public discouise on the budget, iight now, oi ieally on any kind
of class politics, is that, at least foi those capable of woik, only
those willing to submit to will-nigh insane levels of laboi disci-
plinecouldpossiblyhaveanyiighttoanythingthatwoik,and
notjustwoik,woikofthesoitconsideiedvaluablebynancieis
istheonlylegitimatemoialjusticationfoiiewaidsofanysoit.
Tis is not an economic aigument. Its a moial one. Its pietty
obviousthattheieaiemanyciicumstanceswheie,evenfioman
economistspeispective,toomuchwoikispieciselythepioblem.
Yet eveiy time theie is a ciisis, the answei on all sides is always
thesame:peopleneedtowoikmoie!Teiessomeoneouttheie
woiking less than you, a handicapped woman who isnt ieally as
handicappedsheslettingontobe,Fienchwoikeiswhogettoie-
tiie befoie theii souls and bodies have been entiiely destioyed,
lazypoiteis,aitstudents,benetcheats,andthismust,somehow,
bewhatsieallyiuiningthingsfoieveiyone.
112 | DvioGvrnrv
So, what was neoliberalism?
I :nis, :nr obsession with woik is peifectly in keeping with
the spiiit of neolibeialism itself, which, in its lattei days is be-
coming incieasingly ievealed foi ieally always was: that foim of
capitalist goveinance that always places political consideiations
aheadofeconomicones.Asaiesultitwasanideologicaltiiumph
and an economic catastiophe. Neolibeialism was the movement
that managed to convince eveiyone in the woild that economic
giowth was the only thing that matteied, even as, undei its ae-
gis ieal global giowth iates collapsed, sinking to peihaps a thiid
ofwhattheyhadbeenundeieailiei,state-diiven,socialwelfaie-
oiiented foims of capitalism. Neolibeialism was the system that
managed to convince eveiyone in the woild that nancial elites
weietheonlypeoplecapableofmanagingoimeasuiingthevalue
ofanything,evenasinoideitodoso,itendeduppiomulgating
an economic cultuie so iiiesponsible that it allowed those elites
to biing the entiie nancial aichitectuie of the global economy
tumblingontopofthembecauseoftheiiutteiinabilitytoassess
thevalueevenoftheiiownnancialinstiuments.Again,thiswas
noaccident.Tepatteinisconsistent.Wheneveitheieisachoice
between the political goal of demobilizing social movements, oi
convincingthepublictheieisnoviablealteinativetothecapitalist
oidei,andactuallyiunningaviablecapitalistoidei,neolibeialism
meansalwayschoosingthefoimei.
Almost all its claims aie lies. Yet they aie staitling eective
ones. Piecaiity is not ieally an especially eective way of oiga-
nizing laboi. Its iemaikably eective way of demobilizing laboi.
Tesameisofcouisetiueofconstantlyincieasinglylaboi-time.
Economically,itsifanythingcountei-pioductive(especiallyifwe
imagine capitalists do want to be able to pass on theii ill-gotten
gains to theii giandchildien), politically, theie is no bettei way
to ensuie people aie not politically active oi awaie than to have
themwoiking,commutingtowoik,oipiepaiingfoiwoikeveiy
momentoftheday.Saciicingsomanyofoneswakinghouisto
thegodsofpioductivityensuiesnoonehasaccesstooutsidepei-
spectivesthatwouldenablethemtonoticefoiinstancethat
oiganizing life this way ultimately decieases pioductivity. As a
iesult of this neolibeial obsession with stamping out alteinative
peispectives,sincethenancialcollapseof2008,wehavebeenleft
inthebizaiiesituationwheieitsplaintoeveiyonethatcapitalism
Aois:KrizrCvi:iisr|113
doesnt woik, but its almost impossible foi anyone to imagine
anythingelse.Tewaiagainsttheimaginationistheonlyonethe
capitalistshaveactuallymanagedtowin.
Kamikaze capitalism
I: oiv rrs sense, then, that the ist ieaction to the ciash
wasnotasmostactivists,includingmyself,piedictedaiush
towaids Gieen Capitalism, that is, an economic iesponse, but
iathei,apoliticalone.Tisistheiealmeaningofthebudgetcuts.
Anycompetenteconomistknowswheieiadicallyslashingspend-
ingduiingaiecessionislikelytolead.Teymightpietendothei-
wise,summoningupobscuiefoimulaetobackuptheiipolitical
pationsofthemoment,butthatsjusttheiijobtheyknowitsa
iecipefoidisastei.Teiesponseonlymakessensefiomapolitical
peispective. Financial elites, having shown the woild they weie
utteilyincompetentattheoneactivitytheyhadclaimedtheyweie
bestabletodothemeasuiementofvaluehaveiespondedby
joiningwiththeiipoliticalcioniesinaviolentattackonanything
thatevenlookslikeitmightpossiblypiovideanalteinativewayto
thinkaboutvalue,fiompublicwelfaietothecontemplationofait
oiphilosophy(oiatleast,thecontemplationofaitoiphilosophy
foianyotheiieasonthanthepuiposeofmakingmoney).Foithe
moment,atleast,capitalismisnolongeieventhinkingaboutits
long-teimviability.
Itisdistuibingtoknowthatoneisfacingasuicidalenemy,but
atleastithelpsusundeistandwhatweaieghtingfoi.Atthemo-
ment: eveiything. And yes, it is likely that in time, the capital-
istswillpickthemselvesup,gatheitheiiwits,stopbickeiingand
begintodowhattheyalwaysdo:beginpilfeiingthemostuseful
ideas fiom the social movements ianged against them (mutual
aid,decentialization,sustainability)soastotuinthemintosome-
thingexploitativeandhoiiible.Inthelongiun,iftheieistobea
longiun,itspiettymuchinevitable.Inthemeantime,though,we
ieallyaiefacingkamikazecapitalismanoideithatwillnothesi-
tatetodestioyitselfifthatswhatittakestodestioyitsenemies.
Itisnoexaggeiationtospeakofabattlebetweenthefoicesoflife
andthefoicesofdeathheie.
How,then,tobieakthebackofthepioductivistbaigain?Tis
ishaidlytheplacetooeidenitiveansweis,butatleastwecan
114 | DvioGvrnrv
thinkabouttheconveisationthatneedstobetakingplace.Andit
mightsuggestsomediiections.Itmighthelptostaitbyacknowl-
edgingthatweaieallwoikeisinsofaiasweaiecieative,andiesist
woik,andalsoiefusetoplaytheioleoftheadministiatoisthat
is, those who tiy to ieduce eveiy aspect of life to calculable val-
ue.Tatmeanstiyingtoundeistandthetiuenatuieoftheglobal
woikmachine,theiealielationofthosedomainsoflifeaiticially
sepaiatedintoeconomics.politics,andecology.Teielation
between oil and money actually piovides a stiiking illustiation.
Howisitthatwehavecometotieatmoney,whichafteiallisnoth-
ing but a social ielation, and theiefoie innitely expandable, as
if it weie a limited iesouice like petioleum (we must cut social
seivicesbecausewesimplydonthavethemoney),andoil,which
actuallyisalimitediesouice,asifitweiemoneyassomething
to be fieely spent to geneiate evei-incieasing economic activity,
asiftheiewouldneveibeanendtoit?Tetwofoimsofinsanity
aie,cleaily,linked.
Really a coin is just a piomise, and the only ieal limit to the
amountofmoneywepioduceishowmanypiomiseswewishto
maketooneanothei,andwhatsoit.Undeiexistingaiiangements,
ofcouise,theieaieallsoitsofothei,aiticiallimits:oveiwhois
legallyallowedtoissuesuchpiomises(banks),oideteiminewhat
kinds of piomises have what soit of compaiative weight (in the-
oiy, the maiket, in ieality, incieasingly buieauciatized systems
ofnancialassessment.)Itissuchaiiangementsthatallowusto
pietendthatmoneyissomekindofphysicalsubstance,thatdebts
aienotsimplypiomiseswhichwouldmeanthatagoveinments
piomisetopayinvestoisataceitainiateofinteiesthasnogieatei
moialstandaidthan,say,theiipiomisetoallowwoikeistoietiie
at a ceitain age, oi not to destioy the planet), but as some kind
of inexoiable moial absolute. Yet its this veiy tyianny of debt
on eveiy level that becomes the moial impeiative that foices
oilfiomtheeaithandconvincesusthattheonlysolutiontoany
moial ciisis is to conveit yet anothei poition of fiee human life
intolaboi.
Minor Compositions
Otheititlesintheseiies:
Precarious RhapsodyFiancoBifoBeiaidi
Inaginal MachinesStevphenShukaitis
^ew Lines of Alliance, ^ew Spaces of LibertyFelixGuattaii
andAntonioNegii
Te Occupation Cookbook
Users Guide to Denanding the InpossibleLaboiatoiyof
InsuiiectionaiyImagination
Spectacular CapitalisnRichaidGilman-Opalsky
Markets ^ot CapitalisnEd.GaiyChaitiei&ChailesW.
Johnson
Forthcoming:
Connunization its DiscontentsEd.BenjaminNoys
19 20ColectivoSituaciones
A Very Careful StrikePiecaiiasalaDeiiva
PunkadenicsEd.ZackFuiness
Art, Production and Social MovenentEd.GavinGiindon
Aswellasamultitudetocome