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    INVENTING THE FUTURE Postcapitalism and a World Without Work eiie Nick Srnicek and Alex Williams Acrledgements Intedution i pis by Vin 2015, (Nik Sek nd Aer Wile 2015 Agere ~ ‘Our Political Common Sense: Introducing Folk Politics Why Arent We Winning? A Caique of Todays Left ‘Why Are They Winaing? The Making of Neolibersl Hegemony Left Modernity The Future lt Working The ight fhe subbed fl {Ux 6 ead Suet Laon WIE OG 8:20 fy Sec St 101, Bri, AG. Pot Work Imaginaties wrvenoboekscam | ‘ANew Common Sense Building Power ‘Veoltheingrint of Now Let Bos - Conclusion Ise: s781 Toon 9) ISBN. 9787840982109), Notes (ISBNs 8 sera (UR Inder Bish Liar Cataloging in Pbicion Data Acaslogurecrd ribo eon te Bh Libary teary of Congr Calling Pubeation Dats Aaa rect fr dit bok ae fon iby of Congest "hppa Ee LT Selby Hover Te UK Edinburg Sein nel nd bund by CH Groep (UK) La, Cron RI YY Contents B 5 6 85 107 15 as mi Chapter 1 Our Political Common Sense: Introducing Folk Politics “Th next more water, and ej oo hee, wt fo something to happen, ike good concent objector awa ur prise ote our poy symbolic point had Ben made. Dave Mic Today it appears thatthe greatest amount of efit is needed to achieve the smallest degree of change. Millions march against the rag War, yt it goes heads planned. Hundreds of thousands potest austerity, but unprece ented budget cuts continue. Repeated student protest, occupations and tot stage agains ies in ution fe, bu hey continue their inexorable vance, Around the worl, people setup protest amps and mobilise against ‘cofomic inequality, bat the gap between the ich andthe poor keep gow {ng From the alter globalisation stuggle ofthe ate 1905, hough the ant ‘us and ecological coalitions ofthe ely 200s, and ito the new student prings and Occupy movements since 2008, x common pater emerges: resistance srugles rive tpidy, mobilise increasingly large numbers of people and yet fide avay onl tobe replaced by 2 renewed sense of pathy, ‘melancholy and defeat Despite the dss of lions fora batter word, the llc ofthese movements prove minimal 6 INVENTING THE FUTURE A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE PROTEST nite permeates this cjle of stages, ands ares, many ofthe tats om the contemporary Ie hive taken on a suaitic nature, laden with 2 ‘avy doe of atalim.The dorinant tis ~ protesting, marching, occupy ing and varius other foams of diet action ~ have become prt of well abled maative, with the people and the police each playing thet Sssgned cole. The lit ofthese actions ae particulary visible in hore ‘ef moments when thesxpt changes As cne activist putt of protest at the 2001 Sumit ofthe Americas: (i Api 20, he ist dy ofthe demonstrations, we marched nou hou sand toatl the fence, beind which 34 heads of ste Had gthered to hammer out hemihere trade del, Under hal of ctapallaunched teddy bear, sti dresed in Back ik remove the Fence’ sports sith bates and pulled it down. with guppes 2 onlookers cheered {em on. Fora brief moment nthing led between ws andthe ever tion cen. We seambled atop the toppled fence but fr the part we tent no futher, aif out intentional slang ad been spy eplace te atch chinink and concrete burier witha human ene of our own raking? Wesee here the synbolicand italic nature ofthe aston, combined with the th faving done something -but with a deeBiiRertainty tht appears sate fit beak wth the expected rate. The rl of dil protestor had {ven thee actvits no indication af what to, do when the faces fel Spectacular politcal confrontations like the Stap the War marches, the row aria melee against the G20 or Wold Tiade Organization ad the Toosng scenes of democracy i Qecupy Wall Stet al give the appearance ‘of being highly significant, a if something were genuinely at stake? Yet tothingchanged and longterm vets were traded fora simple egstation of discontent. 4 “To oud obsenen, it ofen not everclear what the nlovemens want ‘beyond expresing s generalised dicontet with the world. The Contempo ray pote has become a melange of wld and vared demas. The 2009 (620 sami in London, for intance, tured protestors mavehing for isues (OUR POLITICAL COMMON SENSE 7 that spanned fiom grandee anticeptlit stipulations to modest goals ented on mote local ise, When demands canbe discerned at all, they ‘sally to acute anything substantia. They ae often nothing more than empty slogans as meaningful a calling for wold peace In nore recent ‘stages, the verdes of making demands hasbeen questioned The Occupy ‘movement infamously struggled to aticulte meaningfl goals, word that ‘nyhing loo substantial would be divisive? And a brood range of student tecupationsaeros the Westem would has taken up the manta of ‘0 demand? under the misguided belie that demanding nothing i ical ‘When ased what the ultimate upshot ofthese ations has been, partic pts fer between admitting to a genera sere of ftlity an pointing to the adzaisation of those who tok par. Hf we lok at pots ody a8 an cexrciv in public awarenes, they ppeat to have had ited suces 2 best, "Thee mesages are mangled by an unsympathetic medi smiten by images of popaty destin assoming that the media even acknowledges form tf contention that has become increasingly tepettve and boring, Some gue that, rather than tying to achieve a cera end, these movements, protean occupations fat exit only for ther wn sake! The sim in his fase is to achive a certain transformation of the patcpans, and create 2 space utide of the usual operations of power. While there is a degree of tr to this, things ke potest amps tend to remain ephemer,sallscale tnd utinstely unable to eallenge the Inger structures ofthe neoliberal ‘eononie stem, This politics rnsmuted int paste ~ politics drug Crpetience, paps ~ rather than anything eapable of transforming society. Such pote at etre only in the minds ofthe partcpans,bypsing any anformation of social sructres. While thee efforts a racalisation Sn amarenseising are undoubtedly important to ve degre, there stil Temaine the question of exactly hen these sequences might pay of I there 1 point at which a eftcl mass of consiousness-asing wll be ready fr “ction? Protests ean build connections, encourage hope and remind people oftheir power. Yet, beyond thet transient feeling, politics sill demands the txeteieof that poet, et thee affective bond goto waste, Ife wil ntact ser onc ofthe lags cries of capitalism, then when? “The emphasis on the affective specs of potest plas into a broader tend that hat come to privilege the aleve asthe site of ral pois. Body, (INVENTING THE FUTURE motionl and visceral elements come to replace and syne (ther than complement and enbance) mote abarat analy, The conlemporry land: scape of tocial mei, fr example istered with the biter flout fom an endless tent of outage and anger. Given the individual. of current social medi platonms~ premised on the maintenance ofan online identity = itis pechaps no suprise to se online ‘pois’ tnd towards the sl presentation of moral purity. Weare more concerned to appear ight than to ‘hin aboutthe condition of politcal change Yet there daily outrages ps at "mpd asthey emerge, and we ae soon onto the nex italic ersde. In other places, poblic demonstrations of empathy with those sulerng replace more finely tuned ana resting in hasty or misplaced action ~ or none stall While polities alway ha tlationship to emotion and senstion (to hope orange, fer or outage), when taken a the primary mode of politics, these impute can lead to deeply peree sss Jn a famous example, 1085 Live Aid raised Inge amounts of money fr famine rele though 3 combiotion of heatobing-tuguing imagery and.emotionaly manipulative celerityled events. The sense of emergency demanded urgent action, athe ‘expense ofthought. Yt the money suse actually extended the evil wat ‘ausng the famine, by allowing rebel militias to use the foo! ad to suppet ‘heoseves! While viewer at home ft comforted they were doing some thing ater thas nothing spasionate analysis revealed that they had in fact contributed othe problem, These unintended outeomes become even ‘more pervasive ashe tages of ection grow layer and move abstract. pli tics without pasion leads to col-hested,bureaueBGPsechnocracy, then Passion beret of analysis rsks becoming a ibiinlly riven surrogate for effective action, Politics comes to be about feelings of penonal empower. rent, masking an abence ofan, . Perhaps mest depressing, even when movers have some successes, they at inthe conte of overwhelming loses. Residents crs the UK, for cxample, have sucesly mobile in patculj avesto stop the close of local hospital. Yt these real success ste overwhelmed by lager plans 0 futand print the National Health Sen, Silay, recent ang aching ‘movements have been abe to op tet diling in varios elie ~ but sgoemments neverthelés continu to search for shale gat rexooces and Provide suppor for companies todo so” Inthe United Statesrrious move ‘mento stop evitons inthe wake ofthe housing crs have made el guns in tems of Keeping people in their homes? Yet the perpetators ofthe subprime morgage debacle continue to reap the prof, waver of forecl- ‘ures contig to neep acto the county, and ents continue to surge actos, ‘the urban werd. Small suceses use, no doubt fr inling a sense of Ihope—neverthels wither inthe face of reraiening loses. en the most ‘optimise atvit les inthe feof trae tha continue tal. In oer es, welhntentioned project ie Rolling ube strive to eae the spell ‘of neoliberal common sense? The otensbly ical aim of exowdsouing money to pay the debi ofthe underprivileged means buying nto astem of ‘ontary chant and restbution as well as accepting the legitimacy ofthe debt in the fiat place, Inthe respect, the inate bs ane among slang ‘group of projects that ct simply as ess responses to the faltering of state ‘ences, Thee are survival mechanisms, nota desirable vision forthe fate ‘What can we conclude from al ofthis? The recent eyle of sugges has wo be dented as one of overarching fale, despite» multe af sll seal aucenes and moments of lgescalemabilation, The question that ny analysis ofthe left today must grpplo wit simply: What has gone ‘wrong? Ii undeniblethat heightened epresion by tte andthe ncrezed one of corporations have played s signfcant role in weakening the power ofthe Left Silt emains debatable whether the epesion faced by woo rs the prea ofthe masses and the power of expt is any geste than it was in the late nineteenth century Workers then were sil srgging for Toi rghts, fen against tates more than willing to wie lethal violence gina them.” But wheres that petiod saw mass mabiltion, genera ‘tikes, militant labour and rial womens organisation ll achieving rel and lasting successes, today s defined by thee absence The recent weakness ofthe let cannot simply be chalked upto inerened state and capitalist ‘epreson: an honest reckoning rns accept tha problem alo within the eA. One ey problem isa widespread and uncial aceptance of what we call olepoltia thinking DEFINING FOLK POLITICS ‘What is fk polities? Falk plits names a constellation of des and inti ‘ons within the contemporary Te that informs the commonsense ways of ‘orgnising acting and thinking plies It iat of ategie sumptions that 40 INVENTING THE FUTURE beaten to debitatethe le ending unable to seae up, ret lating chang or expand beyond patil ints. Lafist movements unde the say fk polities are ot ony unite to be succes they az in ft incapable of masfocming capitalism The ter elf nw upon two ents ‘of IR. Fin it evokes critiques of lk paychology which argu that our intuitive conception ofthe wold are bth horzly constructed and ofen mistaken." Second it refer to ek asthe loco of the salle, the authentic, the tatina andthe natal Both of thse dimension ate implied in the ide of ol plties. ‘Asa fis approximation, we ean therefore deine fk polis a collec tveand historically eonruetedpoiial common sae that has become cat of jon wth the actual mechansmsiofpower. As our poli, economic, social and technological wold changes, ites and sates which were revs capble of tanfoming collective power intoreranciatony xine have now become drained of her efectvenes. A the commen ens of toy’ ef flk politics often operate intuitive, unital ad uncon ‘ei. Yet common sense it lo historical and mutable. ti woth real ing that toda’ faba forms of exgaistion aid tactics, ft fom beng nat snlorpregive, hae irtead been developed ovetine in sponse tospecic politcal problems. Feions, occupations, sks, vanguard partis, anit ‘poups, tae union all are out of particular historical condos Yet the fet that eran way of organising and acting were once weil doesnot ‘guarantee ther continued relevance. Many ofthe tactics an orgiational structures that dominate the contemporary Ie arenes tothe experi ‘ec of tate communism, alisonay de unions, andthe collage of socal democratic antes, Yet the ideas hat made sens inthe mak those ‘moments no longer present ect tol fr pli ranfrmation. Our word has moved on, becoming more comple, tf soninec and global than ever before Agsinatthe abstraction and inhamanty of capital, fk pois ams to wing pltics down tothe “human sale’ by emphasing temporal, pata snd conceal immediacy. Ait ea fl polis is te guidttion thatimmeiey i aay et nd often of utenti, ith coral bing deep suspicion of sbitaction and mediation n tems 6Pemnporal ‘medic, contemporary fl poles hpialy remains reac (responding to actions nite by corporations ad goverment ther than nating (OUR POLITICAL COMMON SENSE 1 action) ignores longterm sateie goals in four of tactics (mobilising round singles potes or emphasing poce!" peer practices that sre often inherently etng (ich a occupations and temporary auton ‘mous zones; chooses the faniliaes of he past over the unkuowns of the future (for instance, the repeated dreams of a return to ‘gpd? Keyhesian capitalism) and express tel ta predleton forthe vluntrst and spontaneous oer the insttonl (a inthe rmanticton of tng and mucin.” Testers of spatial immedicy, folk pois privileges the local asthe site of suentcty (sin the L00sies det orca eunences) abil chooser the small over the age (sin the-eneraton of smallacale commutes ot local businesses! favours projets that are anscalible beyond small ‘community (for instance, general asembies and diet democrae)” and ‘fen rejects the project of hegemony, valuing withdzvalo ext athe than Duilding a broad eounterhegemony Likewite, folk polities pels tht ation be taken by participants themselves ints emphasis on det action, for example ~ and ses decison making a vomething to be carted out by eich individual rather tha by ay sepeseatative. The problems ofsele and ‘etersonare ether ignored or smoothed over in fll pital thinking "iol interns of conceptual immediacy, there i preference for the cxenday over the stuetual,valorising penonal experience over stemstic “Thinking fr Teeng over thinking emphasing individual safering, othe sensations of enthasaam and anger eperenced dung polit actions fr the particular over the univer, esng the ater as intl totalitarian, and forthe ethical over the poliical ain ethics consumersn, or morale ing etiqus of greedy bankers Organisations and commute tet be transparent rejecting in advance any conceptal mediation, oreven modest amounts of complet. The clas images of universal emancipation and ‘lobal change have been tanformed int protstion ofthe salleing of the paticular and the authenticity ofthe Taal A ares ny proces of consrctng «univer pole ejected fom the out ‘Undentood in these way, we can detect aces of folk pols in onan ‘ons and movement like Occupy, Span’ 15M, student occupations, left commana insurrections like Tigqun andthe Invisible Commit, mst fous of horizontal, the Zapata, and contemporary anarchist ing polite, as well as 2 varity of other trends like politcal lca, the I | 12 INVENTING THE FUTURE. slow food movement and ethical consumerism, among many olen But no single positon embodies al ofthese dpstons, which lads ut to a fist ‘qualifcaon: as an uncial an-oten wneonsciou common sense, fk politics comes tobe instantiated to varying degresin concrete politcal post ions Thats toy fle polis doesnot name an explicit poston, but ony an implicit tendency. The ideas that characterise this tndency ae widely

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