Capitalist realism makes a coherent alternative to capitalism unimaginable.
Evidence
Watching Children of Men, we are inevitably reminded of the phrase attributed to Fredric Jameson and Slavoj Žižek, that it is easier to imagine the end of the world than it is to imagine the end of capitalism. That slogan captures precisely what I mean by ‘capitalist realism’: 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 world that it projects seems more like an extrapolation or exacerbation of ours than an alternative to it. … Neoliberals, the capitalist realists par excellence, have celebrated the destruction of public space but, contrary to their official hopes, there is no withering away of the state in Children of Men, only a stripping back of the state to its core military and police functions (I say ‘official’ hopes since neoliberalism surreptitiously relied on the state even while it has ideologically excoriated it. This was made spectacularly clear during the banking crisis of 2008, when, at the invitation of neoliberal ideologues, the state rushed in to shore up the banking system.) — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism, 8
Categorization
- DEFINE: This is Fisher’s core definition of ‘capitalist realism’ plus the Jameson/Žižek slogan the chapter title draws on.
- XREF: Connects to my reading on the War on Terror and manufactured crises (Base Nation, The New Crusades) — the reversible emergency state recurs across subjects. — connects to: Capitalist realism makes alternatives to capitalism unthinkable — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism: Is There No…, 8; Occupy’s defeat exemplified the capitalist realism claim that alternatives to the market are unimaginable. — W. David Marx, Blank Space: A Cultural History of the…, 221; Capitalist realism restricts the horizon of what is politically possible — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 410 (+2 more)
Related
- Capitalist realism makes alternatives to capitalism unthinkable (similarity 0.93)
- Capitalist realism defines political possibility against physical possibility (similarity 0.89)
- Capitalism remains imaginable even in imagined apocalypse. (similarity 0.87)
- Occupy’s defeat exemplified the capitalist realism claim that alternatives to the market are unimaginable. (similarity 0.84)
- Capitalist realism defines politically possible options, which diverge from physical realities (similarity 0.82)
- Capitalist realism restricts the horizon of what is politically possible (similarity 0.82)
- Capitalist realism is the belief that capitalism is the only viable game in town (similarity 0.82)
- Capitalist realism is a pervasive atmosphere that constrains thinking itself, not just culture (similarity 0.81)
- Capitalist realism subordinates people to a reality that is infinitely plastic rather than solid. (similarity 0.81)
- Capitalist realism’s own totality makes small alternative experiments disproportionately powerful. (similarity 0.80)
- Mistrust of hierarchy and organization fuels capitalist realism’s freeze on systemic change (similarity 0.80)
- Realism is naturalized ideology, and today’s realistic was yesterday’s impossible (similarity 0.80)
- Capitalism’s supposed pragmatism masks credulous fantasies of its own exceptional survival (similarity 0.79)
- Capitalist realism’s depoliticising hegemony invited populist fervour to replace it (similarity 0.79)
- Capitalist realism reflects social decomposition, not just individual persuasion. (similarity 0.79)
Broader Connections
- Capitalist realism makes alternatives to capitalism unthinkable
#corroborates(1.00) — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism, 8 - Occupy’s defeat exemplified the capitalist realism claim that alternatives to the market are unimaginable.
#exemplifies(0.95) — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 221 - Capitalist realism restricts the horizon of what is politically possible
#expands(0.85) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 410