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And: Phenomenology of the End (Semiotext
Franco "Bifo" Berardi's newest book analyzes the contemporary changes taking place in our aesthetic and emotional sensibility -- changes the author claims are the result of semio-capitalism's capturing of the inner resources of the subjective process: our experience of time, our sensibility, the way we relate to each other, and our ability to imagine a future. Precarization and fractalization of labor have provoked a deep mutation in the psychosphere, and this can be seen in the rise of psychopathologies such as post-traumatic stress disorder, autism, panic, and attention deficit disorder. Sketching out an aesthetic genealogy of capitalist globalization, Berardi shows how we have arrived at a point of such complexity in the semiotic flows of capital that we can no longer process its excessive currents of information. A swarm effect now rules: it has become impossible to say "no." Social behavior is trapped in inescapable patterns of interaction coded by techno-linguistic machines, smartphones, screens of every size, and all of these sensory and emotional devices end up destroying our organism's sensibility by submitting it to the stress of competition and acceleration.
Arguing for disentanglement rather than resistance, Berardi concludes by evoking the myth of La Malinche, the daughter of a noble Aztec family. It is a tale of a translator and traitor who betrayed her own people, yet what the myth portends is the rebirth of the world from the collapse of the old.
Arguing for disentanglement rather than resistance, Berardi concludes by evoking the myth of La Malinche, the daughter of a noble Aztec family. It is a tale of a translator and traitor who betrayed her own people, yet what the myth portends is the rebirth of the world from the collapse of the old.
352 pages, Paperback
First published November 13, 2015
45 people are currently reading
1181 people want to read
About the author
Franco "Bifo" Berardi
128 books457 followersFranco "Bifo" Berardi (born 2 November 1948 in Bologna, Italy) is an Italian Marxist theorist and activist in the autonomist tradition, whose work mainly focuses on the role of the media and information technology within post-industrial capitalism. Berardi has written over two dozen published books, as well as a more extensive number of essays and speeches.
Unlike orthodox Marxists, Berardi's autonomist theories draw on psychoanalysis, schizoanalysis and communication theory to show how subjectivity and desire are bound up with the functioning of the capitalism system, rather than portraying events such as the financial crisis of 2008 merely as an example of the inherently contradictory logic of capitalist accumulation. Thus, he argues against privileging labour in critique and says that "the solution to the economic difficulty of the situation cannot be solved with economic means: the solution is not economic." Human emotions and embodied communication becomes increasingly central to the production and consumption patterns that sustain capital flows in post-industrial society, and as such Berardi uses the concepts of "cognitariat" and "info labour" to analyze this psycho-social process. Among Berardi's other concerns are cultural representations and expectations about the future — from proto-Fascist Futurism to post-modern cyberpunk (1993). This represents a greater concern with ideas and cultural expectations than the determinist-materialist expression of a Marxism which is often confined to purely economic or systemic analysis.
(via Wikipedia)
Unlike orthodox Marxists, Berardi's autonomist theories draw on psychoanalysis, schizoanalysis and communication theory to show how subjectivity and desire are bound up with the functioning of the capitalism system, rather than portraying events such as the financial crisis of 2008 merely as an example of the inherently contradictory logic of capitalist accumulation. Thus, he argues against privileging labour in critique and says that "the solution to the economic difficulty of the situation cannot be solved with economic means: the solution is not economic." Human emotions and embodied communication becomes increasingly central to the production and consumption patterns that sustain capital flows in post-industrial society, and as such Berardi uses the concepts of "cognitariat" and "info labour" to analyze this psycho-social process. Among Berardi's other concerns are cultural representations and expectations about the future — from proto-Fascist Futurism to post-modern cyberpunk (1993). This represents a greater concern with ideas and cultural expectations than the determinist-materialist expression of a Marxism which is often confined to purely economic or systemic analysis.
(via Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
December 20, 2016
helped me understand why I'm so broken
April 14, 2024
Muy interesante! Es verdad que no deja de hacer una clásica reflexión acerca de cómo la aceleración del mundo actual nos está quemando vivos. Ahora bien, utiliza todo un corpus referente que me ha gustado mucho: sea Heidegger, sea Guattari, sea Lyotard, sea Bergson... Me ha gustado mucho cómo conjuga textos de todo tipo aunque no dispares. Genial!
March 13, 2020
1- “Bifo” necesita muchos abrazos. 2- El 50% de este libro sacude tanto como ilumina, y el otro 50% sobra
August 18, 2021
Fenomenología del fin trata sobre el problema del capitalismo financiero, es decir, el capitalismo que trabaja con símbolos. La distribución de los bienes y las formas de producción han generado mutaciones en la sensibilidad misma que devienen, o podrían hacerlo, en proyectos transhumanistas que hagan del humano algo totalmente distinto. En medio de la individualización y la precarización, el sistema económico ha sido capaz de aumentar el flujo de datos, de símbolos, generando una abstracción mayor del capital: este ya no depende de objetos que sean útiles, sino de símbolos, en la bolsa, los cuales determinan aumentos y disminuciones de riqueza, de la mano con la deuda la cual ata a los sujetos a las formas de explotación precarizadas. En tanto símbolos, y con una gran aceleración del flujo de información, el humano no es capaz de someter críticamente ningún contenido, de reflexionar al respecto, sino que todo es asumido como imagen: el cerebro humano no ha podido ir a la velocidad de la información. Esto deviene en varios problemas, como patologías de estrés o ansiedad, hasta la configuración de conexiones entre partes de una máquina de producción, en cambio de conjunciones y colectividades sociales y humanas (máquinas que toman decisiones por humanos o humanos que se engranan como máquinas). Bifo apela a un sensibilidad como cuestión estética, como ruptura de las estructuras sobre las cuales se dan los automatismo lingüísticos, para tratar de subvertir el marco técnico y económico en el cual se entienden las relaciones humanas. No pueden estar al mismo nivel las estructuras lógicas y las vivencias existenciales, aunque a eso apunte gran parte del desarrollo de IA's, en términos de neuroplasticidad. Y como no puede ser así, la experiencia existencial entre sujetos, el General Intellect, debe ser capaz de crear, en el campo estético, significados que le permitan entenderse de una forma que no esté atravesada por la estructura capitalista.
December 29, 2024
Considero que es la obra más importante de Berardi. En ella desarrolla la idea de la mutación antropológica y el paso de la comunicación conjuntiva a la conectiva y todos los efectos que estos produce en la sensibilidad y sensitividad.
Un imprescindible para analizar procesos comunicativos y sociales contemporáneos.
Un imprescindible para analizar procesos comunicativos y sociales contemporáneos.
February 8, 2022
Pandemi de gunluk yazmak iyi fikirmis
May 5, 2024
De lo mejorcito que he llegit
January 6, 2016
And: Phenomenology of the End has some provocative insights, but the style was wanting. The book seemed to be a series of essays and vignettes, as it was often repetitious, and there were sections that have appeared in his previous books. Most disconcerting was that the terms he creates are often not defined until later in the book. I guess there is some pleasure in saying "Oh, that's what he means" but it requires a second reading to make sense of the arguments.
That said, the main argument that we are moving from a conjunctive to a connective society is interesting, in which conjunction appears to be the creativity and meaning-making of play, and connection is the control asserted by the rules of the game.
He also introduces 'fractalization' as a term to describe the dematerialization of labor and the digital web that has become the rule of the game:
"Fractalization means the modular and recombinant fragmentation of the time of activity. The worker no longer exists as a person. He or she is only a interchangeable producer of micro-fragments of recombinant semiosis that enter into the continuous flux of the Net.
Capital no longer pays for a worker to be available to be exploited for a long period of time; it no longer pays a salary that covers the entire range of the economic needs of the person who works.
The worker, a machine endowed with a brain that can be used for fragments of time, is paid for his or her occasional, temporary services. Work time is fragmented and cellularized. … Depersonalized time has become the real agent of the process of valorization, and depersonalized time has no rights, and no needs. It can only be either available or unavailable" (p.205).
Another challenge was Bifo's assertion that Social Movements have been ineffective and will remain so, mainly because of the precarization of labor and because the rules of the digital network foreclose concrete action:
"Regardless of their dimension, social extension, and moral prestige, these movements have been totally ineffective. Not one devastating corporate project has been stopped, not one cut in social welfare has been prevented.
Why so?
I see two reasons for the impotence of social movements.
Firstly, movements are strong in the streets but unable to attack the economic interests of corporations because the precarization of labor has destroyed solidarity at the level of production, and solidarity is the only material force that can oppose the material force of corporate interests.
Secondly, the abstract feature of financial capitalism is unattainable through the concrete forms of social action" (p.296).
That said, the main argument that we are moving from a conjunctive to a connective society is interesting, in which conjunction appears to be the creativity and meaning-making of play, and connection is the control asserted by the rules of the game.
He also introduces 'fractalization' as a term to describe the dematerialization of labor and the digital web that has become the rule of the game:
"Fractalization means the modular and recombinant fragmentation of the time of activity. The worker no longer exists as a person. He or she is only a interchangeable producer of micro-fragments of recombinant semiosis that enter into the continuous flux of the Net.
Capital no longer pays for a worker to be available to be exploited for a long period of time; it no longer pays a salary that covers the entire range of the economic needs of the person who works.
The worker, a machine endowed with a brain that can be used for fragments of time, is paid for his or her occasional, temporary services. Work time is fragmented and cellularized. … Depersonalized time has become the real agent of the process of valorization, and depersonalized time has no rights, and no needs. It can only be either available or unavailable" (p.205).
Another challenge was Bifo's assertion that Social Movements have been ineffective and will remain so, mainly because of the precarization of labor and because the rules of the digital network foreclose concrete action:
"Regardless of their dimension, social extension, and moral prestige, these movements have been totally ineffective. Not one devastating corporate project has been stopped, not one cut in social welfare has been prevented.
Why so?
I see two reasons for the impotence of social movements.
Firstly, movements are strong in the streets but unable to attack the economic interests of corporations because the precarization of labor has destroyed solidarity at the level of production, and solidarity is the only material force that can oppose the material force of corporate interests.
Secondly, the abstract feature of financial capitalism is unattainable through the concrete forms of social action" (p.296).
September 11, 2017
Fascinating take on digital culture and experience in our current age. Worth reading by anyone who is interested in contemporary philosophy.
October 19, 2022
Muy top para aumentar tus ganas de morirte
June 13, 2025
A pretty crazy and dope amalgamation of theory that I think adequately captures the modern condition and explains so much of the pain that we feel today. Not the easiest read given that my understanding of Semiotics and its relation to phenomenology started out shaky at best, but pretty doable with some concentration.
The amount of ground that Berardi covers is impressive in its own right, from McLuhan's basic media theory to the current economics of the EU and the cultural repression it entails to vibration theory and all the way to the emergence of Italian fascism and transhumanism. Seems as if he adopts multiple lenses to study what he calls "semiocapitalism," the resulting form of power that comes from our transition from a conjunctive society to a connective one, largely precipated by an increasing "semioflow", or abstracted flow of information from the digital world.
Conjunctive in this context meaning additive, creative, ironic, and ambiguous.
Connective meaning contextual, dictated by existing patterns, etc.
He argues that many of the experiences that we receive are now connective. A scary thought: "we will no longer experience the world, but rather, … simply use… or access data about an object that is no longer the object of your own experience but purely a reference to a pre-packaged world" (311).
I particularly liked how he relates semioflows to the consolidation of power in the elite / wealthy, and found his study on how individual agency is reduced in this form of semiocapitalism to be pretty elucidating. So often now we feel like systems of governance, systems of interaction, etc. are too complex to understand let alone take part in, which is exactly what he argues is intentional.
Similarly, his use of time through a phenomenological lens was useful in differentiating the concept of experience from singularity. As in---despite increasing semioflows and subjugation of our internal worlds (the colonization of signs to streamline capital processes)---what we have that cannot be taken away from us is time, its limited nature and our imminent death.
Lastly, I would have liked him to elaborate more on how we can fight against this. The answers seem somewhat obvious, but I think put into a phenomenological lens and explicitly explained through that experience would make this book much more compelling. He does so slightly in his exploration of maps, contrasting it with Borges' poem lived world, which gave me hope and understanding of how these semioflows can be reclaimed. Similarly probably the most elucidating suggestion he has to reclaim our signs and signals has to do with poetry: which is itself a way to reclaim language from what it signifies. A sign can just be a sign. Art for art's sake. However, he ends with a somewhat somber note about the end of A World. I understand that we likely cannot go back, but that doesn't mean that we can't try to preserve or hold close what matters from this one.
um. yeah. This is sick. It's not particularly easy and often a bit rambly and all over the place, but it kind of comes with the territory of understanding the human condition lol. So much of what I've been thinking about these past few years has to do with phenomenology and this sort of language and experience being brought forth by the internet, but not having adequate theory or language to understand it. Really highlighted the importance of semiotics in a practical aspect. Not to say that I ever will understand any of this fully, but this book brought me a bit closer, and if you're interested in understanding what's at stake, I'd def recommend.
4.5/5
The amount of ground that Berardi covers is impressive in its own right, from McLuhan's basic media theory to the current economics of the EU and the cultural repression it entails to vibration theory and all the way to the emergence of Italian fascism and transhumanism. Seems as if he adopts multiple lenses to study what he calls "semiocapitalism," the resulting form of power that comes from our transition from a conjunctive society to a connective one, largely precipated by an increasing "semioflow", or abstracted flow of information from the digital world.
Conjunctive in this context meaning additive, creative, ironic, and ambiguous.
Connective meaning contextual, dictated by existing patterns, etc.
He argues that many of the experiences that we receive are now connective. A scary thought: "we will no longer experience the world, but rather, … simply use… or access data about an object that is no longer the object of your own experience but purely a reference to a pre-packaged world" (311).
I particularly liked how he relates semioflows to the consolidation of power in the elite / wealthy, and found his study on how individual agency is reduced in this form of semiocapitalism to be pretty elucidating. So often now we feel like systems of governance, systems of interaction, etc. are too complex to understand let alone take part in, which is exactly what he argues is intentional.
Similarly, his use of time through a phenomenological lens was useful in differentiating the concept of experience from singularity. As in---despite increasing semioflows and subjugation of our internal worlds (the colonization of signs to streamline capital processes)---what we have that cannot be taken away from us is time, its limited nature and our imminent death.
Lastly, I would have liked him to elaborate more on how we can fight against this. The answers seem somewhat obvious, but I think put into a phenomenological lens and explicitly explained through that experience would make this book much more compelling. He does so slightly in his exploration of maps, contrasting it with Borges' poem lived world, which gave me hope and understanding of how these semioflows can be reclaimed. Similarly probably the most elucidating suggestion he has to reclaim our signs and signals has to do with poetry: which is itself a way to reclaim language from what it signifies. A sign can just be a sign. Art for art's sake. However, he ends with a somewhat somber note about the end of A World. I understand that we likely cannot go back, but that doesn't mean that we can't try to preserve or hold close what matters from this one.
um. yeah. This is sick. It's not particularly easy and often a bit rambly and all over the place, but it kind of comes with the territory of understanding the human condition lol. So much of what I've been thinking about these past few years has to do with phenomenology and this sort of language and experience being brought forth by the internet, but not having adequate theory or language to understand it. Really highlighted the importance of semiotics in a practical aspect. Not to say that I ever will understand any of this fully, but this book brought me a bit closer, and if you're interested in understanding what's at stake, I'd def recommend.
4.5/5
January 4, 2023
I read this book over my winter break.
Franco “Bifo” Beradi is a very interesting Marxist. He is apart of a tradition of Italian Autonomous Marxists. If you go into Beradi’s work expecting a “orthodox” Marxist analysis, you will come out very confused.
There is no talk of “class struggle” or German Idealists concepts such as ‘Aufhebung’.
Yet, Bifo does breath new life into Marxist concepts such as “The General Intellect”, and traces the genealogy of the new class brought by financial semio-capitalism: the cognatariat (cognitive workers).
Now, the oppression of cognitive workers is not headed by the Bourgeoisie, but rather Hyper-rationalizing machine runaway. Financial capitalism is a ever-expanding abstract machine which converts all value into monetary value. This is especially true of information, data, and language. Financial capitalism creates the conditions for the acceleration of information creating a smog of information density.
Cyberspace becomes a thick cloud. Our limited perception of cybertime (pulling from Bergson) simply cannot keep up with a wealth of impoverished images.
What is to be done?
Bifo opts for Negotiation over Abolition, Sensuality over Abstraction, Conjunction over Connectivity.
The general intellect of cognitive workers must create there own rhythms (ritorrellos), must find a line of escape from Financial Capitalism.
Although I loved his analysis, Bifo’s line of escape is far from clear, and is often too critical of the transformative projects of revolution. In my opinion, his focus on cognitive workers often seems to ignore that industrial labor is still a factor in both western countries and exploited countries (such as Africa). It is true that Financial Capitalism is powerful in converting labor and language into abstract value. However, this can only be possible if there is a steady flow of imported good, and exported slave labor to keep the machine running. I believe that Bifo often gives too much credit to Financial Abstraction, while not giving enough credit to traditional modes of organizing.
With that being said, Bifo makes his argument well, and he is a joy to read. I very much admire his use of Felix Guatarri and Henri Bergson as well.
Franco “Bifo” Beradi is a very interesting Marxist. He is apart of a tradition of Italian Autonomous Marxists. If you go into Beradi’s work expecting a “orthodox” Marxist analysis, you will come out very confused.
There is no talk of “class struggle” or German Idealists concepts such as ‘Aufhebung’.
Yet, Bifo does breath new life into Marxist concepts such as “The General Intellect”, and traces the genealogy of the new class brought by financial semio-capitalism: the cognatariat (cognitive workers).
Now, the oppression of cognitive workers is not headed by the Bourgeoisie, but rather Hyper-rationalizing machine runaway. Financial capitalism is a ever-expanding abstract machine which converts all value into monetary value. This is especially true of information, data, and language. Financial capitalism creates the conditions for the acceleration of information creating a smog of information density.
Cyberspace becomes a thick cloud. Our limited perception of cybertime (pulling from Bergson) simply cannot keep up with a wealth of impoverished images.
What is to be done?
Bifo opts for Negotiation over Abolition, Sensuality over Abstraction, Conjunction over Connectivity.
The general intellect of cognitive workers must create there own rhythms (ritorrellos), must find a line of escape from Financial Capitalism.
Although I loved his analysis, Bifo’s line of escape is far from clear, and is often too critical of the transformative projects of revolution. In my opinion, his focus on cognitive workers often seems to ignore that industrial labor is still a factor in both western countries and exploited countries (such as Africa). It is true that Financial Capitalism is powerful in converting labor and language into abstract value. However, this can only be possible if there is a steady flow of imported good, and exported slave labor to keep the machine running. I believe that Bifo often gives too much credit to Financial Abstraction, while not giving enough credit to traditional modes of organizing.
With that being said, Bifo makes his argument well, and he is a joy to read. I very much admire his use of Felix Guatarri and Henri Bergson as well.
April 14, 2021
Me hubiese gustado no habérmelo tenido que leer a tirones pero es que he tenido que empezar con el TFM y estaba un poco liado.
Me parece muy interesante como centra el autor el tema del libro en la transformación de la sensibilidad humana. La idea del “semiocapitalismo” también me parece muy oportuna en el sentido de describir un sistema que pervierte lo inmaterial (no solo bienes materiales) y que te satura de información, te produce enfermedades mentales, te afecta a la percepción y automatiza tu vida, etc.
(Me lo volveré a leer más de seguido algún día)
Me parece muy interesante como centra el autor el tema del libro en la transformación de la sensibilidad humana. La idea del “semiocapitalismo” también me parece muy oportuna en el sentido de describir un sistema que pervierte lo inmaterial (no solo bienes materiales) y que te satura de información, te produce enfermedades mentales, te afecta a la percepción y automatiza tu vida, etc.
(Me lo volveré a leer más de seguido algún día)
April 26, 2021
A book that pushes you to think. It has opened some ideas that will need further development. deserves a reread in a near future when the ideas have soaked for a bit.
October 5, 2021
Very interesting last part, first part is good but nothing really too special. Would be a 3.5/5 but unfortunately Goodreads isn't as good as I wish it would be.
April 5, 2023
Inte värt att läsa mer än 2 böcker av Bifo, efter det är det bara samma saker. Gav upp med att läsa efter ca s 145, men skummade resten och fanns lite intressanta saker om identitet mot slutet.
September 21, 2024
De los libros que más me han influido en el pensamiento actual en torno a la profusa digitalización de las sociedades. Imprescindible pensar en la sociedad actual
January 29, 2021
concatenate concatenate concatenate
January 24, 2020
I'd be lying if I said I understood everything this egghead was theorizing about, but his criticism of Absolute Capitalism is spot on, and the rest of it, no matter how foggy, is never less than entertaining and thought-provoking.
October 15, 2024
“Swarm mode”
October 31, 2023
Franco Berardi nos dice que nos encontramos en el fin de un mundo. En realidad, en transición de un mundo a otro. Lo que define el fin de un mundo es la eliminación de aquellos elementos que nos permiten dar sentido a nuestras experiencias en favor de otros.
A partir de aquí, Bifo hace un recorrido por la historia para intentar explicar cómo han evolucionado las relaciones humanas y por qué lo habrían hecho de esta manera. Introduce conceptos como el de conjunción y conectividad (ideas centrales del libro) como representantes del mundo que finaliza y el mundo que se impone. Son estas dos formas antagónicas y en tensión constante de la experiencia humana las que están detrás de trastornos como la depresión y la ansiedad en la sociedad actual.
Finalmente, utiliza la historia de Malinche a modo de propuesta de solución a este futuro humano que ya está aquí.
A partir de aquí, Bifo hace un recorrido por la historia para intentar explicar cómo han evolucionado las relaciones humanas y por qué lo habrían hecho de esta manera. Introduce conceptos como el de conjunción y conectividad (ideas centrales del libro) como representantes del mundo que finaliza y el mundo que se impone. Son estas dos formas antagónicas y en tensión constante de la experiencia humana las que están detrás de trastornos como la depresión y la ansiedad en la sociedad actual.
Finalmente, utiliza la historia de Malinche a modo de propuesta de solución a este futuro humano que ya está aquí.
October 7, 2020
Nell'altra recensione è stato detto tutto bene o male, ergo n0n necessariamente un libro da leggere (a meno che non si è proprio amiccissimissimi di bifo), però a me personalmente ha fatto fare un recap su un punto riguardo la situazione covid e cioè la questione del sentimento di colpevolezza che la malagestione ha comportato. Ed è proprio questo sentimento che va scardinato, perchè sta già diventando l'ennesimo peso che distanzia il soggetto dalla realtà fuori dalle 4 mura domestiche. Detto questo Indubbiamente è tanto ver0 quanto banale (dopo Foucault, ma anche prima di lui) che la vita contemporanea ha comportato una clausura di ciò che è esterno che va quasi in contraddizione con l'inclusività della contemporaneità, ma a mio parere non sarà mai scontato affrontare la dicotomia tra società e cultura, così come la definizione di ambedue, per quanto questo purtroppo possa portarci all'ennesimo Fusaro)
July 29, 2021
Más que aplicar un método rizomatico como afirma el autor, plantea una causalidad muy "boomer": el internet daña la sensibilidad al punto de ser causa directa de patología.
Vale la pena leer el libro, en cambio, de forma crítica y rizomatica. En otras palabras, prestar atención menos a la tesis del autor como a los pequeños conceptos que menciona, como al pasar: la execración, el regalo venenoso, el nomadismo cultural, la dolorosa disonancia,... sus problematizaciones, al fin, "marginales", que resultan a veces más vivificantes.
Bifo acierta en la pregunta final: ¿podremos traducir a un lenguaje humano la fuerte tendencia de abstracción/automatización del semiocapitalismo? Sin embargo, valdría más plantearlo como consigna: hemos de recuperar estético-políticamente nuestra potencia de concebir mundos.
Vale la pena leer el libro, en cambio, de forma crítica y rizomatica. En otras palabras, prestar atención menos a la tesis del autor como a los pequeños conceptos que menciona, como al pasar: la execración, el regalo venenoso, el nomadismo cultural, la dolorosa disonancia,... sus problematizaciones, al fin, "marginales", que resultan a veces más vivificantes.
Bifo acierta en la pregunta final: ¿podremos traducir a un lenguaje humano la fuerte tendencia de abstracción/automatización del semiocapitalismo? Sin embargo, valdría más plantearlo como consigna: hemos de recuperar estético-políticamente nuestra potencia de concebir mundos.
February 6, 2017
The butler did it.
I am suspicious of this book, because I have so much affinity with the general claims Berardi makes. He does not demonstrate the reasoning for many of the key claims, and I am not sure myself how one would, other than to write something like Marx' Capital for the current situation, if one could. Short of that, he asserts them, illustrates them, and uses them to analyze and interpret.
If he were more postmodern, like Lyotard for instance -- and his general claims about capital and technology are very much like Lyotard's --, he might have said that his claims were not really meant to be true, but to be strategic. Berardi's thinking is not as strategic or as cynical as Lyotard's.
The last short chapter, in fact, is tragic, and certainly romantic.
I am suspicious of this book, because I have so much affinity with the general claims Berardi makes. He does not demonstrate the reasoning for many of the key claims, and I am not sure myself how one would, other than to write something like Marx' Capital for the current situation, if one could. Short of that, he asserts them, illustrates them, and uses them to analyze and interpret.
If he were more postmodern, like Lyotard for instance -- and his general claims about capital and technology are very much like Lyotard's --, he might have said that his claims were not really meant to be true, but to be strategic. Berardi's thinking is not as strategic or as cynical as Lyotard's.
The last short chapter, in fact, is tragic, and certainly romantic.
November 29, 2022
Apocalittico, a tratti delirante in altre parti lucidissimo quadro della situazione dal 2020 a oggi. Un diario della pandemia sui generis, tra ironia e visione, scritto da un pensatore radicale che crede ancora che un mondo migliore sia possibile, magari sopra le macerie.
March 17, 2021
5/5 stelle alla prima delle “Sei meditazioni sulla soglia”
November 19, 2016
Bravo Bifo!
Read
June 10, 2018Appreciate his thoughts on "connection" and "conjunction" very much.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews