Sharing feelings of misery and attributing them to impersonal structures builds collective political subjectivity
Evidence
Consciousness-raising is partly about the discovery and production of subjugated knowledges, but it is also about the immediate production of socialisation, of forms of subjectivity antithetical to the always/on-always lonely mode of contemporary capitalist individuality. … Consciousness-raising opens up the possibility of living, not merely theorising about, a collective perspective. It can give us the resources to behave, think and act differently at work (if it makes any sense to talk about being “at” work anymore), where capitalist realism has become second nature. The roots of any successful struggle will come from people sharing their feelings, especially their feelings of misery and desperation, and together attributing the sources of these feelings to impersonal structures, albeit impersonal structures mediated by particular figures to which we must attach populist loathing. — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1885
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to Fisher’s own earlier ‘capitalist realism’ thesis from the same corpus and family of work; also resonates with the reader’s notes on how repression/discipline colonize subjectivity. — connects to: Politicized collective identity requires shared grievances, adversarial attributions, and societal involvement — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 4390; Collective identity and shared grievances reinforce each other bidirectionally — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 4428; Pan-movements united members through mood rather than defined political goals — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 574 (+10 more)
Broader Connections
- Politicized collective identity requires shared grievances, adversarial attributions, and societal involvement
#expands(0.93) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 4390 - Consciousness-raising framed personal problems as political ones requiring collective action.
#exemplifies(0.90) — Theresa M. Senft, Camgirls, 61 - Shared misery and external threats drive stigmatized groups toward protective internal solidarity
#corroborates(0.85) - Attentional exploitation can be transformed into a basis for collective political identity
#expands(0.84) - Collective identity and shared grievances reinforce each other bidirectionally
#corroborates(0.82) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 4428 - Repressed unhappiness can be mobilized as political support for domination
#complicates(0.78) — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 337 - Collective frustration acts through ideology rather than directly causing aggression
#qualifies(0.74) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1573 - Ritual uncertainty-navigations can channel negativity into collective political sabotage
#exemplifies(0.73) — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 347 - Perceived illegitimacy and impermeability drive low-status ingroup solidarity
#qualifies(0.72) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 974 - Pan-movements united members through mood rather than defined political goals
#qualifies(0.71) — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 574