Capitalist realism subordinates people to a reality that is infinitely plastic rather than solid.
Evidence
‘Being realistic’ may once have meant coming to terms with of a reality experienced as solid and immovable. Capitalist realism, however, entails subordinating oneself to a reality that is infinitely plastic, capable of reconfiguring itself at any moment. We are confronted with what Jameson, in his essay ‘The Antimonies Of The Postmodern’, calls ‘a purely fungible present in which space and psyches alike can be processed and remade at will’. The ‘reality’ here is akin to the multiplicity of options available on a digital document, where no decision is final, revisions are always possible, and any previous moment can be recalled at any time. — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism, 108
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to Jameson’s ‘purely fungible present’ and the digital-document metaphor of endless revision — resonates with the postmodern flexibility critiques in Fisher’s own later work on reflexivity and the auditing subject. — connects to: Capitalist realism makes alternatives to capitalism unthinkable — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism: Is There No…, 8; 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the horizon of what is politically possible — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 410; Capitalist realism defines politically possible options, which diverge from physical realities (+4 more)
Related
- Capitalist realism restricts the horizon of what is politically possible (similarity 0.85)
- Capitalist realism is the belief that capitalism is the only viable game in town (similarity 0.83)
- Capitalist realism is a pervasive atmosphere that constrains thinking itself, not just culture (similarity 0.83)
- Capitalism is an infinitely plastic system that dismantles all transcendent codes (similarity 0.82)
- Capitalist realism defines political possibility against physical possibility (similarity 0.82)
- Realism is naturalized ideology, and today’s realistic was yesterday’s impossible (similarity 0.81)
- Capitalist realism makes a coherent alternative to capitalism unimaginable. (similarity 0.81)
- Capitalist realism makes alternatives to capitalism unthinkable (similarity 0.81)
- Reality constitutes itself by repressing an unrepresentable Real (similarity 0.80)
- Capitalist realism defines politically possible options, which diverge from physical realities (similarity 0.80)
- Capitalist realism reflects social decomposition, not just individual persuasion. (similarity 0.79)
- Capitalist realism’s own totality makes small alternative experiments disproportionately powerful. (similarity 0.79)
- Capitalism’s supposed pragmatism masks credulous fantasies of its own exceptional survival (similarity 0.79)
- Capitalist realism requires materialist explanation, not individual psychology (similarity 0.79)
- Capitalist realism falls only to internal inconsistency, not moral critique (similarity 0.79)
Broader Connections
- Capitalist realism makes alternatives to capitalism unthinkable
#expands(0.90) — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism, 8 - Capitalist realism restricts the horizon of what is politically possible
#expands(0.90) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 410 - Capitalist realism defines politically possible options, which diverge from physical realities
#expands(0.85) - Capitalist realism defines political possibility against physical possibility
#expands(0.85) - Neoclassical agent theory collapsed when selves became infinitely plastic.
#exemplifies(0.85) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 327 - Capitalist subjection now appears natural rather than politically constructed
#complicates(0.80) - Neoliberal capitalism exploits the psyche rather than the body as its central productive force
#expands(0.80) — Byung-Chul Han, Psychopolitics, 63