Jodi Dean: Democracy and Other Neoliberal Fantasies: Communicative Capitalism and Left Politics (2009)
Filed under book | Tags: · capitalism, communicative capitalism, democracy, left, neoliberalism, politics
“Democracy and Other Neoliberal Fantasies is an impassioned call for the realization of a progressive left politics in the United States. Through an assessment of the ideologies underlying contemporary political culture, Jodi Dean takes the left to task for its capitulations to conservatives and its failure to take responsibility for the extensive neoliberalization implemented during the Clinton presidency. She argues that the left’s ability to develop and defend a collective vision of equality and solidarity has been undermined by the ascendance of “communicative capitalism,” a constellation of consumerism, the privileging of the self over group interests, and the embrace of the language of victimization. As Dean explains, communicative capitalism is enabled and exacerbated by the Web and other networked communications media, which reduce political energies to the registration of opinion and the transmission of feelings. The result is a psychotic politics where certainty displaces credibility and the circulation of intense feeling trumps the exchange of reason.
Dean’s critique ranges from her argument that the term democracy has become a meaningless cipher invoked by the left and right alike to an analysis of the fantasy of free trade underlying neoliberalism, and from an examination of new theories of sovereignty advanced by politicians and left academics to a look at the changing meanings of “evil” in the speeches of U.S. presidents since the mid-twentieth century. She emphasizes the futility of a politics enacted by individuals determined not to offend anyone, and she examines questions of truth, knowledge, and power in relation to 9/11 conspiracy theories. Dean insists that any reestablishment of a vital and purposeful left politics will require shedding the mantle of victimization, confronting the marriage of neoliberalism and democracy, and mobilizing different terms to represent political strategies and goals.”
Publisher Duke University Press, 2009
ISBN 0822345056, 9780822345053
217 pages
PDF (updated on 2020-5-31)
Comment (0)Gene Sharp: From Dictatorship to Democracy: A Conceptual Framework for Liberation (1993/2011) [28 languages]
Filed under book | Tags: · democracy, politics, protest, revolution, social movements
From Dictatorship to Democracy is a serious introduction to the use of nonviolent action to topple dictatorships. Originally published in 1993 in Thailand for distribution among Burmese dissidents, this booklet has since been translated into many languages and spread worldwide.
Publisher Albert Einstein Institution, Boston, MA
ISBN 1880813092, 9781880813096 (English, 4th edition)
From Dictatorship to Democracy 2.0 (analysis by International Relations and Security Network, February 2012)
a short description of the history of this book (PDF, English)
author’s wikipedia page
publisher
google books
PDF (Afan Oromo, 2011)
PDF (Amharic, 2007)
PDF (Arabic, 2004)
PDF (Azeri, 2004)
PDF (Belarusian, 2005)
PDF (Burmese, 1994)
PDF (Chin/Burmese, 2001)
PDF (Simplified Mandarin/Chinese, 2004)
PDF (Traditional Mandarin/Chinese, 2004)
PDF (English, 1993/2010), audio book
PDF (Farsi, 2004)
PDF (French, 1993/2009)
PDF (German, 1993/2008)
PDF (Indonesian, 1997)
PDF (Italian, 2011)
PDF (Jing Paw/Burmese, 2001)
PDF (Karen/Burmese, 2001)
PDF (Khmer/Cambodian, 2005)
PDF (Kyrgyz, 2004)
PDF (Mon/Burmese, 2001)
PDF (Pashto, 2008)
PDF (Russian, 2005)
PDF (Serbian, 1999)
PDF (Spanish, 2003)
PDF (Tibetan, 2006)
PDF (Tigrigna, 2006)
PDF (Ukrainian, 2004)
PDF (Vietnamese, 2005)
Deterritorial Support Group: Ten Growth Markets for Crisis: A Trend Forecast (2011)
Filed under pamphlet | Tags: · autonomy, community, debt, democracy, financial crisis, money, politics, utopia
“In a time of political flux, how do we escape a political discourse which is just a reaction to a series of attacks on our class? How do we place ourselves in a position which is not defensive, but launches a positive vision of social organisation? Where will the challenges and potentials of the coming months and years lie? In Britain mainstream political innovation slumps in the doldrums. Hamstrung by financial and political contingencies, Parliamentary politics offers little in the way of social critique and finds little resonance in the public. But in the field of radical politics? Whilst dissent flourishes, it lingers in the negative, unable to be converted into innovation, by doctrinal discipline or an inability to harness creative thought and speculative conversation. The field lies open for those who wish to write a new story. We have put together a few possibilities to spot these growth markets for crisis; a trend forecast for social struggle.
Let’s outline some key social trends, some growing ideological markets and some possible future scenarios as the class-war continues to warm up. These aren’t predictions, as such – they are attempts to open up our understanding of our current situation as ideologies come crashing down around us. We need to write new stories about how we got here, who we are, and how we’re going to cope with what is to come. Let’s turn tendencies into trends; turn trends into Tendencies.” (from introduction)
Published by Deterritorial Support Group, London, in December 2011
12 pages
article about DSG (Dan Hancox, Guardian)
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