Jack London’s 1908 dystopia prefigured twentieth-century totalitarian capitalism

Evidence

The Iron Heel is the title of a novel by Jack London, published in 1908, in which a member of a socialist society which had achieved victory after centuries of struggle presents documents recalling the beginnings of the preceding, centuries-long domination of the Iron Heel, i.e. of capitalism prepared to use naked and total violence. The novel earned Jack London the accusation from his socialist friends of being defeatist and discouraging. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 3296

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the Frankfurt circle’s state-capitalism discussion and to Neumann’s Behemoth; also resonates with Weinstein’s utopian-vs-dystopian reading of the early twentieth century. — connects to: Jack London’s The Iron Heel prefigured totalitarian capitalism dystopia in 1908 — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 3296; Horkheimer theorized totalitarian monopoly capitalism as a racket phase of society — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1306; Imperialism’s global politics supplied the preconditions for totalitarian rule
• SEED: Angle: how a 1908 socialist novel about a centuries-long capitalist tyranny planted the seed for later theories of state capitalism and totalitarian modernity.

Broader Connections

• Jack London’s The Iron Heel prefigured totalitarian capitalism dystopia in 1908 #exemplifies (0.95) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 3296
• Horkheimer theorized totalitarian monopoly capitalism as a racket phase of society #corroborates (0.80) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1306
• Imperialism’s global politics supplied the preconditions for totalitarian rule #corroborates (0.72)