Capitalist realism defines political possibility against physical possibility

Evidence

It is easy to see what capitalist “realism” means when you consider Blair’s habitual response to appeals from the environmental lobby. Measures to rein in eco-catastrophe may well be desirable — even necessary — but they, Blair tells us with a heavy heart bursting his sleeve, are “politically impossible”. Here, then, is capitalist “realism”: the reduction to the realm of the “impossible” of any steps that will prevent the destitution of the human environment. For that is what “realism” amounts to: not a representation of the real, but a determination of what is politically possible. But what is politically possible is at odds with what is physically possible, so in a sense, it is the servomechanism-agents of Kapital, not their opponents, who “demand the impossible” now. Their fantasy of a sustainable Kapitalism carrying on, forever, without burning out the planet, is perfectly delirial. — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1401

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: The inversion that it is capital’s agents, not its critics, who ‘demand the impossible’ — collapsing political possibility into physical impossibility — is dense and paradigm-shifting.
• SHARE: The precise mechanism — ‘realism’ as a determination of the politically possible, set against the physically possible — is worth sending to anyone doing climate or political theory.
• XREF: connects to: Capitalist realism subordinates people to a reality that is infinitely plastic rather than solid. — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism: Is There No…, 108; Capitalist realism restricts the horizon of what is politically possible — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 410; Capitalist realism defines politically possible options, which diverge from physical realities (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Capitalist realism restricts the horizon of what is politically possible #expands (0.95) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 410
• Capitalist realism defines politically possible options, which diverge from physical realities #expands (0.92)
• Capitalist realism makes alternatives to capitalism unthinkable #expands (0.85) — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism, 8