Non esiste la rivoluzione infelice. Il comunismo della destituzione

by Marcello Tarì

In a time of ongoing political, economic, and climate crisis, can we afford our collective unhappiness any longer? There is No Unhappy Revolution gives expression to the age of revolution unfolding before us. With equal parts sophistication and raw urgency, Marcello Tarì identifies the original moments as well as the powerful disruptive and creative content haunting our times like a specter.

One hundred years after the October Revolution, amidst our current civilizational crisis, is it still possible to think and build communism? Yes, Tarì responds, provided we radically rethink the tradition of revolutionary movements that have followed one century to another. Offering both a militant philosophy and a philosophy of militancy, he deftly confronts the different contemporary movements from the Argentinean insurrection of 2001 to Occupy Wall Street, the Spanish Indignados, the French movement against the labor law, and the Arab spring, resurrecting and renewing a lineage of revolutionary thought, from Walter Benjamin to Giorgio Agamben, that promises to make life livable.

Genres: Politics, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Theory

Paperback

First published May 11, 2017

About the author

Marcello Tarì is a “barefoot” researcher of contemporary struggles and movements. He is author of numerous essays and books in French and Italian, including Il ghiaccio era sottile: Per una storia dell’autonomia (Derive Approdi, 2012) and Non esiste la rivoluzione infelice: Il comunismo della destituzione (Derive Approdi, 2017); as well as Autonomie!: Italie, les années 1970 (La Fabrique, 2011) and Il n y a pas de révolution malheureuse: Le communisme de la destitution (Editions Divergences, 2019). Tarì has lived in the last few years between France and Italy. There is No Unhappy Revolution is his first book in English.

Reviews

[Jean Buehler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tarì gives one of the most complete efforts to portray communist truth that I've seen. I'm especially into the sections on metropolitanism, time, and love. And of course his thinking on the concept of the commune. Pleasant read despite the density and I underlined a lot. Definite recommend!!

[Kai · Rating 2 out of 5]

gave up about halfway through. mish mash of post-2000s messianic anarchism, aphoristic metaphysical statements iterated with the conclusion can be guessed at the start of each chapter--whatever the topic (the subject, territory, revolution, the metropolis, etc), the fact is that it must be destituted. little substance to back up what destitution actually adds or means, and could it "mean" anything given that language has to be destituted too? frustrating book, because Tari occasionally strikes me as delivering an insightful critique, but the creative parts are crushed into that horrendous insurrectionary anarchist language style (tiqqun/TIC, agamben, inhabit, whatever those ridiculous vitalists were called, etc etc etc) that reading it made me too annoyed to continue. pretty 'yikes' opening chapter on "the primitives" too, choosing of course the old Clastres text rather than any engagement whatsoever with actually existing anticolonial movements or texts. well, i admit defeat, the juice just wasn't worth the squeeze here, will try 19 & 20 to see if i can figure out more concretely what if anything 'destitution' offers if not simply negation.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I probably disagree with the fundamental thesis, and like most communisation-ish books poetics seems to be prioritised over concrete analysis, but there are a number of interesting questions and ideas proposed throughout the text, particularly in the later chapters. 3.5/5.

[javor · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved loved loved. presented both agamben and benjamin (+ schmitt etc.) in an actually presentable way which is very impressive. cool forest metaphor in that one chapter. felt much more concrete in terms of a positive project than e.g. tiqqun/invisible committee. still was pretty polemical (i.e. not much in terms of grounded formal critique) but sometimes that's okay :)

[Salvador Ramírez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este libro es un manifiesto-ensayo del autor en donde discute principalmente el concepto de "destitución" para alcanzar un proyecto de comunismo. La destitución es el momento de la revolución / inserrucción / revuelta que detiene, interrumpe y sustituye la continuidad del capitalismo y su gobierno. El objeto de la destitución, de acuerdo a Tari, no debe de ser crear un momento de constitución, pues implica regresar a lo que impide la revolución; una forma de . Tari es claramente es un pensador de izquierda, anticapitalista, antigobierno y antipolicía; así como anti explicaciones de corte materialista (de política económica). Celebra diversos alzamientos de carácter verticalistas y descentralizados, como los movimientos de ocupación de plazas o el movimiento zapatista. Por lo que, no congenia con las izquierdas que impulsa el centralismo, el verticalismo, el acelerasionismo, el modernismo o busca la toma o constitución de un nuevo tipo de gobierno. Por ello, se le puede catalogar de anti-marxista - aunque no deja de recuperar elementos del marxismo para la elaboración de sus ideas.

Su trabajo se basa fuertemente en Mario Tronti, Giorgio Agamben, Colectivo Situaciones, Michel Foucault y Walter Benjamin. Su estilo de escritura esta abierto al público en general y sin duda busca movilizar los afectos políticos. Tiene preguntas y pasajes brillantes, lo cual lo hacen entretenido. Sin embargo, a nivel teórico hay muchos conceptos que deja sin desarrollar o son muy débiles. Sin duda un material a leer por los interesados en la lucha política desde la izquierda, ya sea para critica (necesaria) o inspiración.

Una par de reseñas sobre este libro son las siguientes.

1) Marx & Philosophy Review of Books
https://marxandphilosophy.org.uk/revi...

2) New Books in Critical Theory
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4Rgi...

[graceofgod · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tarì is unmatched.

[Andre Blyth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not gonna pretend I understood everything here and I’ll probably need to reread it after diving into some of the references but this idea of destitution speaks to me

[Harry Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great piece of work to grasp the many loose threads of the theory of destitution

[Andrés Plascencia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesante