3h runtime; Narrated by Russel Brand
English language
Published Feb. 18, 2021 by Repeater Books.
Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative? is a 2009 book by British theorist Mark Fisher, published by Zero Books. It explores Fisher's concept of "capitalist realism," which he takes to describe "the widespread sense that not only is capitalism the only viable political and economic system, but also that it is now impossible even to imagine a coherent alternative to it."The book investigates what Fisher describes as the widespread effects of neoliberal ideology on popular culture, work, education, and mental health in contemporary society. Capitalist Realism was an unexpected success and has influenced a range of writers.The subtitle refers to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's pro-market slogan "There is no alternative".
This is the second book of Mark Fisher's that I've read (the other being "The Weird and the Eerie") where I have the feeling of the words washing over me, but just no idea of what's going on. I'll probably give it a re-read at some point, especially as it's so short, just to see what all the fuss is about, but I'm afraid this read pretty much made no impression.
This book ties together a lot of strands of modern thought into a coherent narrative about the corrosive effects of capitalism. I'm sure I missed a lot the first time through, so it's on my list for a re-read.
A scathing indictment of capitalism, by (successfully) putting the blame for several contemporary social ilks on it.
My only criticism is that while it makes a strong case both for capitalist realism existing as an ideology and it being a problem, the book does not make the case for any alternatives. It does contain some actionable suggestions for how to fight capitalism. But it falls short of providing a systemic alternative. As such, while it successfully argues that capitalist realism is a problem, it doesn't fully prove that it's wrong.
Nevertheless, a good read and well argued.
Classic due to his ability to distill the modern essence of the inanities of capitalism
Like Adam Curtis's Hypernormalisation, this book is a heady attempt at parsing the continuum of what Fisher calls "the Real" and "the big Other." He invokes Marx, Baudrillard, Lacan, "Office Space," Nirvana, and "Children of Men" with equal deference, utilizing pop culture and theory to explain the puzzling, if no less certain, links between neoconservativism and neoliberalism, and posits a leftist anti-capitalist project based on critical analysis of capitalist realism's offerings and shortcomings, as much as its obfuscatory sleight of hand aims at perpetuating a sense that it is, itself, unalterable and unable to be opposed.
No society survives effects of its material existence on social, economic, political, cultural and personal lives. K-Punk knows like nobody else how to describe the burden of the consumerist society on its every member, from the moment of their waking up to the second of their going to sleep. The ubiquitous presence of market demands, propaganda of individualist existence, and economic hardship which, for most people, leaves no space and time for analysis and introspection, is conveyed in his usual, rare eloquence, and even rarer emotional intelligence.
