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In, Against, and Beyond Capitalism: The San Francisco Lectures
An accessible venture into the thinking of John Holloway and his unique take on left radical theory
In, Against, and Beyond Capitalism is based on three recent lectures delivered by John Holloway at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. The lectures focus on what anticapitalist revolution can mean today—after the historic failure of the idea that the conquest of state power was the key to radical change. The first lecture focuses on the meaning of “We,” the second on the understanding of capital as a system of social cohesion that systematically frustrates our creative force, and the third on the proposal that we are the crisis of this system of cohesion. In addition, it includes an introductory preface by Andrej Grubacic, the Q&A after each lecture, and a bibliographic essay by the author.
In, Against, and Beyond Capitalism is based on three recent lectures delivered by John Holloway at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. The lectures focus on what anticapitalist revolution can mean today—after the historic failure of the idea that the conquest of state power was the key to radical change. The first lecture focuses on the meaning of “We,” the second on the understanding of capital as a system of social cohesion that systematically frustrates our creative force, and the third on the proposal that we are the crisis of this system of cohesion. In addition, it includes an introductory preface by Andrej Grubacic, the Q&A after each lecture, and a bibliographic essay by the author.
112 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2016
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About the author
John Holloway
26 books82 followersLibrarian Note:
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Sociologist, philosopher and lawyer by profession. Holloway is closely associated with Open or Autonomous Marxism and anti-globalisation movements such as the Zapatistas.
His 2002 book, Change the World Without Taking Power, has been the subject of much debate and brought him to a wider audience.
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Sociologist, philosopher and lawyer by profession. Holloway is closely associated with Open or Autonomous Marxism and anti-globalisation movements such as the Zapatistas.
His 2002 book, Change the World Without Taking Power, has been the subject of much debate and brought him to a wider audience.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
December 25, 2019
Je to knižka skôr pre marxistov*ky než pre anarchistov*ky, pretože to, že revolúcia nebude úspešná ak zostane zachovaný štát, tvrdia poslední*é menovaní*é už nejakú dobu :)
Inak veľmi inšpiratívny koncept trhlín ako akýchsi priestorov či časových úsekov ktoré idú proti kapitálu/kapitalizmu a ich logike. V mojom okolí sem patria Ocásky, FNB, Limity, Klinika, FC Prohra,...
Inak veľmi inšpiratívny koncept trhlín ako akýchsi priestorov či časových úsekov ktoré idú proti kapitálu/kapitalizmu a ich logike. V mojom okolí sem patria Ocásky, FNB, Limity, Klinika, FC Prohra,...
December 8, 2017
John Holloway is the sort of Marxist you turn to if you are inclined to agree that revolutionary strategies based on the seizure of governmental power in a single country haven’t worked out well for ambitions to change the world. He offers an alternative vision: a piece-by-piece revolt that aims to deprive capitalism of the power to reproduce itself in the interstices of our lives, whether it be at work, in our neighbourhoods, family live, and what goes on inside our skulls.
His thoughts on these issues have been set out in longer books, with Change the World Without taking Power and Crack Capitalism being among his most popular titles. This small volume, featuring lectures given to students over three evenings in 2013 in San Francisco is a decent summary of the line has been arguing for across the decades.
Holloway proclaims the revolutionary subject taking on the challenge of changing the world is nothing other than ‘we’ – an essence that exists prior to capitalism and which is fated to rage against the indignity of seeing itself reduced to the status of a commodity in the great pile of commodities that constitutes capitalist wealth.
His revolutionary action is the digna rabia – dignified rage – of the Mexican Zapatistas. This Mayan people, from their homelands in the Mexican south-east – was able to see capitalism arrive on their doorstep back in the mid-1990s as a consequence of the NAFTA deal. Their leaders were gifted with the remarkable foresight which allowed them to see it would push the open for capitalism, red in tooth and claw, into the lives of their people, with all that entailed in the way of corrupt government, transnational business operations, and the commodification of daily existence. The outrage to their dignity across all these issues formed the basis of the ongoing Zapatista Revolution.
Holloway sees the significance of this movement in its refusal to take power in the common understanding of the term – to establish an institutionalised system of power that simply mirrors the power of the thing against which it is opposed. Instead the Zapatista endure by their refusal to give up their way of cultivating land, educating children, and organising their communal lives. He argues that this is an approach that is available to us all, even if we don’t have the backdrop of the Monte Azules to inspire our resistance.
He offers up a simple, romantic sort of message which is worth thinking about, but then imposes on it a series of jarring refusals of courses of action which, in the context of highly-developed, urbanised countries, we are entitled to think are consistent with the spirit of Zapatista. If the refusal of commodification is so central to this perspective, then more could be said about the social-democratic tradition and its efforts to bring human communities into existence in the ugly, poisonous sprawls of the early industrial cities. The creation of free health services, social housing and social security systems – the crowing achievements of European social democracy – all figure in the scheme of things as efforts to limit and push back at the role of the market in shaping all aspects of human welfare.
It is not enough to condemn these efforts for their ultimate fate in being infiltrated by capitalism and transformed into the social market welfare states that are under construction today. The surest thing to predict is that capitalism will push back at whatever forms of resistance to its rule are throw up by ‘we’, and unless the revolution has more potential to push back and disable further encroachments, it will flounder and fail.
Holloway’s response, that we deal with this by continuing to build gardens and weave blankets, has more of the Gandhi about it than the Marx. His capitalism is ultimately nothing more than a phantasm that can be banished by an act of collective will, mobilised by outrage to the damage done to its dignity. If only it were so.
His thoughts on these issues have been set out in longer books, with Change the World Without taking Power and Crack Capitalism being among his most popular titles. This small volume, featuring lectures given to students over three evenings in 2013 in San Francisco is a decent summary of the line has been arguing for across the decades.
Holloway proclaims the revolutionary subject taking on the challenge of changing the world is nothing other than ‘we’ – an essence that exists prior to capitalism and which is fated to rage against the indignity of seeing itself reduced to the status of a commodity in the great pile of commodities that constitutes capitalist wealth.
His revolutionary action is the digna rabia – dignified rage – of the Mexican Zapatistas. This Mayan people, from their homelands in the Mexican south-east – was able to see capitalism arrive on their doorstep back in the mid-1990s as a consequence of the NAFTA deal. Their leaders were gifted with the remarkable foresight which allowed them to see it would push the open for capitalism, red in tooth and claw, into the lives of their people, with all that entailed in the way of corrupt government, transnational business operations, and the commodification of daily existence. The outrage to their dignity across all these issues formed the basis of the ongoing Zapatista Revolution.
Holloway sees the significance of this movement in its refusal to take power in the common understanding of the term – to establish an institutionalised system of power that simply mirrors the power of the thing against which it is opposed. Instead the Zapatista endure by their refusal to give up their way of cultivating land, educating children, and organising their communal lives. He argues that this is an approach that is available to us all, even if we don’t have the backdrop of the Monte Azules to inspire our resistance.
He offers up a simple, romantic sort of message which is worth thinking about, but then imposes on it a series of jarring refusals of courses of action which, in the context of highly-developed, urbanised countries, we are entitled to think are consistent with the spirit of Zapatista. If the refusal of commodification is so central to this perspective, then more could be said about the social-democratic tradition and its efforts to bring human communities into existence in the ugly, poisonous sprawls of the early industrial cities. The creation of free health services, social housing and social security systems – the crowing achievements of European social democracy – all figure in the scheme of things as efforts to limit and push back at the role of the market in shaping all aspects of human welfare.
It is not enough to condemn these efforts for their ultimate fate in being infiltrated by capitalism and transformed into the social market welfare states that are under construction today. The surest thing to predict is that capitalism will push back at whatever forms of resistance to its rule are throw up by ‘we’, and unless the revolution has more potential to push back and disable further encroachments, it will flounder and fail.
Holloway’s response, that we deal with this by continuing to build gardens and weave blankets, has more of the Gandhi about it than the Marx. His capitalism is ultimately nothing more than a phantasm that can be banished by an act of collective will, mobilised by outrage to the damage done to its dignity. If only it were so.
September 21, 2022
John Holloway bir Marksist. Ama oldukça farklı bir pencereden bakan bir Marksist. Okuduğum bir önceki kitabı "Öfke Günleri" Leeds Üniversitesi'nde verdiği bir dizi derse dayanıyordu. Bu kitap ise San Francisco'da verdiği bir dizi dersin (aslında üç gün süren oturumun) ses kaydından türetilmiş anladığım kadarıyla. Öfke Günleri'ne göre daha doyurucu, daha derine inen bir metin. Çok ilgimi çeken fikirleri bünyesinde barındırıyor ve bir tartışma ortamı yaratıyor. Büyük bir ilgiyle okudum. Lâkin kendisinin de kitabın sonunda dolaylı yollardan ifade ettiği üzere "alternatif" konusunda tatmin edici olmayı bırakın bir fikri bile yok. Evet, Öfke Günleri'nde vurguladığı gibi para çağımızın vebası; bu kitapta vurguladığı gibi sermaye bizi robotlara dönüştürmeye çalışan bir tahakküm aracı. Bunu yıkmak için devlete sığınılması Holloway için bir tahakküm aracının yerini başka bir tahakküm aracının alması demek. Bu bağlamda devlete de karşı. Sovyetler Birliği ve Çin devrimlerinin başarısızlığını örnek vererek bu iddiasını destekliyor. Tamam. Parayı kaldırdık, sermayeyi yıktık, devleti de saf dışı bıraktık. Bunları neden yapmamız gerektiğine dair gerekçeler kitapta ikna edici biçimde ortaya konulmuş. Buna da tamam. İyi güzel de nüfusu 8 milyara dayanan dünyayı, nüfusu milyonlarca olan ülkeleri yani dünyadaki yaşamı nasıl idame ettireceğimiz, yıktıklarımızın yerine nasıl bir alternatif oluşturacağımız hususunda tatmin edici açıklamalar getirilemediği sürece hastalığın teşhisinin bir anlamı yok ki. Kitapta (ve Öfke Günleri'nde) buna dair Zapatista örneği verilip duruluyor. Bu bir alternatif model olmaktan çok uzak. Yani hastalığın tedavisi hastalığı yok saymak değil. Ha sahi Kapitalizmi tedavi edelim demiyor, kesip atalım diyor. Bu yönden ifadem pek doğru olmadı ama anlayın işte. İçinde yaşadığımız dünya artık birçok nedenle kendi hâlinde yürüyüp gidecek bir dünya değil. Kesip attığınız şeyin yerine başka bir şey koymanız gerekiyor. Holloway, yanlış anlamadıysam, bu düzeni bir yıkalım da sonra kervan yolda düzülür mantığı ile tartışa tartışa doğruyu buluruz mantığında ki bunu da ima etmiş zaten kitabın sonunda. Kapitalizmin ve onun son modeli olan Neoliberalizmin hayatlarımızda yarattığı sorunlardan, bu düzenin sakıncalarından haberi olmayan, bunların farkında olmayan insan azdır herhalde. Dolayısıyla hâlâ sadece bunları anlatıyor olmak, ama alternatife dair dişe dokunur bir şeyler yazamamak benim için büyük bir problem ve böyle kitapları yazdıkları ve tartıştıkları ne kadar değerli olursa olsun boşa düşüren bir eksiklik. Aksi olsaydı zaten bunca yıl onca fiyaskoyu önümüze getiren Neoliberalizmin yoluna devam etmesi de mümkün olmazdı.
January 2, 2025
Another eye-opener.
February 27, 2022
Ak máš málo času, tak ti stačí prečítať si iba poslednú prednášku z Prahy, je tam všetko podstatné stručne zhrnuté.
October 15, 2023
autor nechtěl být abstraktní, ale vlastně pro mě furt hodně byl
September 28, 2016
This is a fairly digestible read for any lefty friends on here, which possibly describes most of my friends. It's a verbatim record of three lectures given in San Francisco by the Marxist sociologist John Holloway.
He talks a lot about unity of the left and how we need to stop separating people in to different branches of disenfranchised and oppressed peoples and start thinking as a "we" not a "they" when discussing people of struggle.
He talks about acts of selflessness, from the small to the huge each create a tiny crack in capitalism and the more we create the more we undermine it.
He says honestly that he doesn't have the answers, and if anyone does claim to have all the answers it moves them in to an area of monologue where we need a politics of dialogue - some have ideas, so do some others - sit and talk and implement them.
The overriding message is that we need to stop viewing the crises of capitalism as something done to us, but rather embrace those crises and become them. Sack bankers, elect different politicians but they will still be another version of the capitalist that went before, before the whole philosophy of capital is one of exploitation and oppression. His message is summed up in the words "we are the crisis of capitalism".
He talks a lot about unity of the left and how we need to stop separating people in to different branches of disenfranchised and oppressed peoples and start thinking as a "we" not a "they" when discussing people of struggle.
He talks about acts of selflessness, from the small to the huge each create a tiny crack in capitalism and the more we create the more we undermine it.
He says honestly that he doesn't have the answers, and if anyone does claim to have all the answers it moves them in to an area of monologue where we need a politics of dialogue - some have ideas, so do some others - sit and talk and implement them.
The overriding message is that we need to stop viewing the crises of capitalism as something done to us, but rather embrace those crises and become them. Sack bankers, elect different politicians but they will still be another version of the capitalist that went before, before the whole philosophy of capital is one of exploitation and oppression. His message is summed up in the words "we are the crisis of capitalism".
July 14, 2020
An interesting, conversational introduction to the ideas Holloway expands on more fully in CRACK CAPITALISM. I'm still not entirely sold on the idea that we'll all make small personal revolutions and end capitalism that way. It smacks too much of the "lifestyle anarchism" that Bookchin railed against. But recognition that we're all in struggle against the artifice of capital - that we "misfit", to use his delightfully clunky verb - is inspiring.
August 8, 2020
These lectures cover the crisis of the system and how to mobilize by expanding these different cracks within capitalism and realizing our own self-determination. Good summary for new radicals. I wish Holloway could expand more alternative commodifications and on the authorities of these different anti-capitalist programs, how we can use authority to adjust and reclaim power.
June 8, 2023
Za mna osobne dost zbytocna kniha. Myslela som si, ze ponukne uceleny pohlad na problematiku, no cele mi to prislo ako taky “pep talk” k ludom, ktory su uz v teme doma, neprinasa ziadne riesenia. Mozno som, ako neznalec temy, siahla len po zlej knihe.
June 24, 2017
beautiful and inspiring
June 16, 2024
One of the essential elements of Holloway's thought is a reading of Marx's Capital. How else to critically understand contemporary reality, right? But Holloway stresses that it is important to read Capital not just as a cold analysis of capitalism. In the process of reading it is necessary to involve oneself in the centre of the action and so experience the emotions. In this way, we will feel anger as one of the underlying emotions during the reading, similar to the anger we often feel in our everyday personal lives, but also when we watch social events. This anger, according to Holloway, can connect us to other people, whether we are "activist" or not. The question is how to use this anger and where to direct it.
Reading Capital is a common entry point into the analysis of capitalist society for a variety of Marxist approaches. The goal of the analysis is usually also the same - the overcoming of capitalism. Where Marxisms differ from each other is in the trajectory that is supposed to lead from the start to the finish. Holloway is representative of "Open Marxism" which, among other things, gives new meaning to some classical Marxist categories. For example, he refuses to speak of the "working class" as a revolutionary subject in the third person. Instead, he uses the broader category of "we," which may sound abstract, but Holloway knows why he does it. This "we" is also an important starting point for his account of how to overcome capitalist society. And it is at this point that the "story" of this book begins. A book full of "cracks" that allow us to form new relationships not only with other people, but also with "plants and other forms of life".
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Jedným zo zásadných prvkov Hollowayovho myslenia je čítanie Marxovho Kapitálu. Ako inak kriticky porozumieť súčasnej realite, však? Holloway však zdôrazňuje, že dôležité je čítať Kapitál nie len ako chladnú analýzu kapitalizmu. V procese čítania je potrebné zapojiť seba do centra diania a tak prežívať emócie. Takto budeme pri čítaní ako jednu z nosných emócií pociťovať hnev, podobný tomu, ktorý často cítime v každodennom osobnom živote, ale tiež vtedy, keď sledujeme spoločenské dianie. Tento hnev nás podľa Hollowaya dokáže spojiť s inými ľuďmi, bez ohľadu na to, či sa "aktivisticky" angažujeme alebo nie. Otázkou je ako tento hnev využiť a kam ho nasmerovať.
Čítanie Kapitálu ako vstupu do analýzy kapitalistickej spoločnosti je spoločným prvkom rôznych marxistických prístupov. Cieľ analýzy je zvyčajne tiež rovnaký - prekonanie kapitalizmu. V čom sa marxizmy medzi sebou líšia je trajektória, ktorá má viesť od štartu k cieľu. Holloway je zástupcom "otvoreného marxizmu", ktorý, okrem iného, dáva niektorým klasickým marxistickým kategóriám nový význam. Napríklad o "pracujúcej triede" ako revolučnom subjekte odmieta hovoriť v tretej osobe. Namiesto toho používa širšiu kategóriu "my", ktorá síce znie abstraktne, ale Holloway vie, prečo to robí. Toto "my" je zároveň dôležitým východzím bodom pre jeho rozprávanie o tom ako prekonať kapitalistickú spoločnosť. A práve v tomto bode začína "príbeh" tejto knihy. Knihy plnej "trhlín", ktoré nám umožňujú vytvárať nové vzťahy nielen k druhým ľuďom, ale aj k "rastlinám a ďalším formám života".
Reading Capital is a common entry point into the analysis of capitalist society for a variety of Marxist approaches. The goal of the analysis is usually also the same - the overcoming of capitalism. Where Marxisms differ from each other is in the trajectory that is supposed to lead from the start to the finish. Holloway is representative of "Open Marxism" which, among other things, gives new meaning to some classical Marxist categories. For example, he refuses to speak of the "working class" as a revolutionary subject in the third person. Instead, he uses the broader category of "we," which may sound abstract, but Holloway knows why he does it. This "we" is also an important starting point for his account of how to overcome capitalist society. And it is at this point that the "story" of this book begins. A book full of "cracks" that allow us to form new relationships not only with other people, but also with "plants and other forms of life".
-------------------------
Jedným zo zásadných prvkov Hollowayovho myslenia je čítanie Marxovho Kapitálu. Ako inak kriticky porozumieť súčasnej realite, však? Holloway však zdôrazňuje, že dôležité je čítať Kapitál nie len ako chladnú analýzu kapitalizmu. V procese čítania je potrebné zapojiť seba do centra diania a tak prežívať emócie. Takto budeme pri čítaní ako jednu z nosných emócií pociťovať hnev, podobný tomu, ktorý často cítime v každodennom osobnom živote, ale tiež vtedy, keď sledujeme spoločenské dianie. Tento hnev nás podľa Hollowaya dokáže spojiť s inými ľuďmi, bez ohľadu na to, či sa "aktivisticky" angažujeme alebo nie. Otázkou je ako tento hnev využiť a kam ho nasmerovať.
Čítanie Kapitálu ako vstupu do analýzy kapitalistickej spoločnosti je spoločným prvkom rôznych marxistických prístupov. Cieľ analýzy je zvyčajne tiež rovnaký - prekonanie kapitalizmu. V čom sa marxizmy medzi sebou líšia je trajektória, ktorá má viesť od štartu k cieľu. Holloway je zástupcom "otvoreného marxizmu", ktorý, okrem iného, dáva niektorým klasickým marxistickým kategóriám nový význam. Napríklad o "pracujúcej triede" ako revolučnom subjekte odmieta hovoriť v tretej osobe. Namiesto toho používa širšiu kategóriu "my", ktorá síce znie abstraktne, ale Holloway vie, prečo to robí. Toto "my" je zároveň dôležitým východzím bodom pre jeho rozprávanie o tom ako prekonať kapitalistickú spoločnosť. A práve v tomto bode začína "príbeh" tejto knihy. Knihy plnej "trhlín", ktoré nám umožňujú vytvárať nové vzťahy nielen k druhým ľuďom, ale aj k "rastlinám a ďalším formám života".
August 30, 2016
Standard-issue rah rah for the like-minded. Nothing new to see here; move along now.
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June 19, 2017Three lectures delivered by Zapatista-inspired heterodox marxist theorist John Holloway in San Francisco in 2013. A concise, accessible overview of the ideas he developed in the two full-length books he published earlier in this century, with some key points further developed. I'm not sure I agree with all of the tactical and strategic conclusions he draws (and I don't feel like taking the time to work it all out in writing now), but I continue to find his framework for thinking about the social world and our struggles (including, prominently, everyday struggles, not just explicit militancy) to be important, powerful, and very useful for my own work.
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