Control societies operate through indefinite postponement rather than final judgment

Evidence

Deleuze is right to argue that Kafka is the prophet of distributed, cybernetic power that is typical of Control societies. In The Trial, Kafka importantly distinguishes between two types of acquittal available to the accused. Definite acquittal is no longer possible, if it ever was (‘we have only legendary accounts of ancient cases [which] provide instances of acquittal’). The two remaining options, then, are (1) ‘Ostensible acquittal’, in which the accused is to all and intents and purposes acquitted, but may later, at some unspecified time, face the charges in full, or (2) ‘Indefinite postponement’, in which the accused engages in (what they hope is an infinitely) protracted process of legal wrangling, so that the dreaded ultimate judgment is unlikely to be forthcoming. — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism, 48

Categorization

• DEFINE: Explains Deleuze’s ‘control society’ via Kafka’s two forms of acquittal — ostensible acquittal versus indefinite postponement.
• STORYSTEM: The distinction between a definite acquittal that is ‘no longer possible’ and deferral-as-survival could structure a story about an organization, marriage, or life where resolution is structurally forbidden and only procrastination offers a kind of safety.
• XREF: connects to: Control societies govern by indefinite postponement and internalized policing — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism: Is There No…, 48; State injustice becomes manageable by delaying accountability until wrongdoers die — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 1755