Realism Capitalism: 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 uses to describe "the broad notion that not only is capitalism the only viable political and economic system, but also that it is impossible to even imagine a coherent alternative to it."
This book investigates what Fisher describes as the broadest effect of neoliberal ideology on popular culture, occupation, education, and mental health in contemporary society. Capitalist realism is an unexpected success, and has since influenced various authors.
Video Capitalist Realism: Is there no alternative?
Definisi
Arguably and widely regarded as Mark Fisher's most productive idea, capitalist realism is the ideological framework for seeing capitalism and its impact on political, economic, and public thinking. The name itself is a play on Socialist Realism. Fisher wrote extensively on the subject both under his pseudonym "k-punk" and under his own name. He also often gives interviews on subjects that broaden the definition of concepts with political bloggers and other well-known thinkers.
According to Mark Fisher, the quotation "is easier to imagine ending the world than ending capitalism," linked to Fredric Jameson and Slavoj? I? Ek, covering the essence of capitalist realism. Capitalist realism is loosely defined as the dominant conception that capitalism is the only viable economic system and thus, there is no imaginable alternative. Fisher equates capitalist realism with a "spreading atmosphere" that affects areas of cultural production, political-economic activity, and general thinking.
Capitalist realism as I understand it can not be limited to the art or quasi-propaganda way in which the function of advertising. It is more like a pervasive atmosphere, conditioning not only cultural production but also work and education settings, and acts as a kind of invisible barrier that blocks thinking and action.
Capitalist realism propagates post-political ideas, in which the fall of the Soviet Union, solidifies capitalism as the only effective political-economic system and removes the question of the dissolution of capitalism from any political considerations. This has overthrown the arena of political discussion from one in which capitalism is one of many potential ways to operate an economy, where political considerations operate only within the bounds of the capitalist system. Similarly, within the framework of capitalist realism, the mainstream anti-capitalist movements shift away from the final targeting of capitalism and promote alternative systems for the purpose of mitigating its worst effects.
Capitalist realism does not suggest that capitalism is a perfect system, but instead it is the only system that can operate in a means compatible with human nature and economic law. By promoting the idea that the innate human desires are only compatible with capitalism, any other system which is not based on the accumulation of wealth and personal capital is seen as opposed to human nature and, by extension, impossible to implement.
Fisher argues that the bank bailout after the 2008 economic crisis is a tangible example of capitalist realism in action, the reason that bailout funds occur primarily because the idea of ​​letting the banking system fail is unimaginable both by politicians and the general public. Due to the bank's intrinsic value to the capitalist system, Fisher proposes, the influence of capitalist realism means that such failure is never regarded as an option. As a result, Fisher observes, neoliberal systems persist and subsequent capitalist realism is validated. Mark Fisher classifies the current state of capitalist realism in the neoliberal system in the following terms:
The only powerful agent that influences politicians and managers in education is business interests. It is too easy to ignore workers and, in part because of this, workers feel increasingly powerless and impotent. The combined attack on unions by neoliberal interest groups, along with the shift from Fordist to post-Fordist economic organizations - the step toward casualization, just-in-time production, globalization - has eroded the base of union power [and thus the labor force].
Fisher considers capitalist realism as emerging from the deliberate impulse of neo-liberal rights to change the general and left-handed attitude of the general population to capitalism and especially post-Fordist capitalism prevailing throughout the 1980s. The relative inability of left politics to come up with alternative economic models in response to the rise of neoliberal capitalism and the Reaganomic era simultaneously creates a vacuum that facilitates the birth of a system of capitalist realism. The collapse of the Soviet Union, which Fisher believes is the only real example of a working non-capitalist system, further solidifies the position of capitalist realism both politically and in the general population, and is hailed as the final victory of decisive capitalism. According to Fisher, in the post-Soviet era, uncontrolled capitalism is capable of turning history into a capitalist narrative in which neoliberalism is the product of the natural development of history and even manifests the peak of human development.
Despite the fact that the emergence of capitalist realism is related to the birth of neoliberalism, Fisher clearly states that capitalist realism and neoliberalism are separate entities that only reinforce each other. According to Fisher, capitalist realism has the potential to live beyond the death of neoliberal capitalism, although Fisher argues that the opposite will not be true. Capitalist realism is inherently anti-utopian, because it holds that regardless of shortcomings or externalities, capitalism is the only possible mode of operation. Neoliberalism instead glorifies capitalism by describing it as providing the necessary means to pursue and achieve near-utopian social economic conditions. In this way, capitalist realism pacifies the opposition to an overly positive projection of neoliberalism while neoliberalism fights despair and disappointment at the center of capitalist realism with its utopian claims.
Maps Capitalist Realism: Is there no alternative?
Effects
According to Fisher, capitalist realism has captured public thought that the idea of ​​anti-capitalism no longer acts as an antithesis against capitalism. Instead, it is used as a means to strengthen capitalism. This is done through media such as WALL-E which aims to provide a safe way to consume anti-capitalism without actually challenging the system. The lack of a coherent alternative, as presented through the lens of capitalist realism, led many anti-capitalist movements not to target the end of capitalism, but instead to reduce its worst impact, often through individual consumption-based activities such as the Red Product.
With regard to the public view of capitalism, Fisher coined the term 'reflexive impotence' which describes a phenomenon in which people recognize the defective nature of capitalism, but believe there is no means to influence change. According to Fisher, this slowness leads to self-fulfilling prophecies and negative harm to their mental health.
Fisher identifies the widespread popular desires for public domains operating outside the country and free of unwanted "additional capital". However, he claims that it is the state itself which has been able to defend the public arena against the capitalist impulse for mass privatization. Popular neoliberal thinking supports the destruction of public spaces for the privatization of public institutions such as education and health under the assumption that markets most determine public needs. In this case, Fisher also raises the idea of ​​'business ontology', which is a capitalist ideology in which goals and objectives are understood exclusively in business terms. He further postulates that in the case of uniformly business-oriented social conditions there is no place for the public and the only chance of survival is to extinguish the business framework in public services, adding that "if a business can not run as a business, why should public service ? "Thus the topic often written by Fisher is the future of the public sphere in the face of neoliberal business ontology and what may seem like the absence of a state-run centralized industry.
Realism
The 'realism' aspect of capitalist realism and its inspiration - socialist realism - is based on the difference between Jacques Lacan between Real and 'reality', such as the realism of Capitalism, which is an understanding based on a world ideology that rejects lying facts. beyond their interpretation. Mark Fisher argues that the appeal to Real suppressed by capitalist realism may begin to deconstruct the appeal of ideology. Fisher points to areas such as climate change, mental health, and bureaucracy that can be highlighted to show weaknesses and loopholes in capitalist realism.
Behind Fisher's work, the use of capitalist realism as a theoretical framework has been taken by other critical theorists in both the academic world and the political blogosphere.
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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