Accelerationism: Capitalism as Critique & Other Essays

by James Ellis, Murdock Parson (Editor)

Pushing back against political readings of accelerationism as a Left or Right program, James Ellis, in “Accelerationism: Capitalism as Critique” & Other Essays, expands on accelerationism as, fundamentally, a philosophy of time and desire. In the follow-up essays, Ellis seeks to expand upon the cybernegative aspects of feedback loops which are, in discussions of accelerationism, all too often sidelined in favor of obsessive growth. This volume provides a unique and theoretically rigorous lens through which to view accelerationism as a modern transcendental project.

Genres: Philosophy

178 pages, Paperback

Published July 24, 2020

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

James Ellis (under the pseudonym 'Meta-Nomad')

Reviews

[Morgan Blackledge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marxist/Laconian philosopher Slavoj Žižek made HELLA waves in 2016 when he suggested that electing Hillary Clinton would only prolong neoliberal mediocrity, and further suggested that American progressives vote for TRUMP in order to accelerate the collapse of capitalism.

Although Žižek does not identify as such.

This stance is now commonly referred to as:

ACCELERATIONISM

ACCELERATIONISM argues that the ACCELERATION of (not the RESISTANCE to) CAPITALISM and TECHNOLOGY WILL lead to radical POST-CAPITALIST social transformation.

If this sounds like THELMA and LOUIESE driving off the cliff.

A great way to end a movie.

But not a great way to stay alive.

You’re not alone.

ACCELERATIONISM has LOTS of skeptics.

But ACCELERATIONISM is not as cracked as it sounds.

And it’s not a monolith.

There are lots of interesting variants.

James Ellis explores ACCELERATIONISM, and its various permutations, and their implications, and more in the OUTSTANDING text.

It’s part DEPRESSING, part COMPELLING, part CONFUSING.

And 100% WORTH READING.

Ellis positions ACCELERATIONISM (ACC) as a critical tool to understand and interrogate capitalism. Ellis suggests that by accelerating the processes of capitalism, we can expose its contradictions and potential for transformation.

Ellis provides a brief historical overview of ACC, tracing its roots from early philosophical ideas to contemporary debates. Ellis is self consciously enamored with Kants Critique of Pure Reason. And refers to Kant over and over through out the text. Ellis also refers to Deleuze and Guattari a bunch. As does ALMOST EVERYONE these days.

And rightly so.

Ellis discusses how ACC evolved and been interpreted by different thinkers over time.

Ellis pays significant attention to the relationship between capitalism and technology. And again. Rightly so. Ellis argues that technological advancements are both driven by and drive capitalist dynamics, creating a feedback loop that intensifies economic and social changes.

I think this argument is actually quite compelling.

This idea is.

As technology advances.

So does Capitalism.

And by a certain logic.

So does the end of capitalism.

LEFT/RIGHT-ACCELERATIONISM

Ellis distinguishes between right (R/ACC)and left (L/ACC) accelerationism. R/ACC advocates for the unrestrained advancement of capitalism and tech. While L/ACC seeks to harness the same forces for progressive/emancipatory ends.

If you’re a Ray Kurzweil singularity stoking transhuman tech bro fanboy. You maybe (just maybe) fall into this R/ACC bucket.

If you’re secretly hoping that (1) Biden wins, (2) gets declared gravely disable shortly there after (3) Kamala Harris assumes the presidency and nominates Buttigieg has her VP, and then CHAT GPT 5.0 solves global warming and work.

And we finally get that BIPOC/RAINBOW LUXURY SOCIALIST UTOPIA we’ve been dreaming about. Then maybe (just maybe) you are a citizen of that L/ACC village/community.

Ellis identifies a third stream Refered to as Z accelerationism (Z/ACC) which is a more radical, speculative, and futuristic.

Z/ACC advocates for an even more intense acceleration of capitalist and tech processes than traditional accelerationism.

Z/ACC embraces the idea that pushing capitalist and tech to the MAX will catalyze the EVOLUTION REVOLUTION.

Z/ACC is focused on speculative and extreme future scenarios. Z-ACC envisions a world where technological singularity, AI, and advanced cybernetics fundamentally alter what it means to be human and how society operates.

Z/ACC moves beyond human-centered thinking, incorporating elements of POST/TRANS HUMANISM. Z-ACC explores the potential for humans to evolve into entirely new forms of existence, merging with machines and AI.

Not sure who falls into the Z/ACC category.

Maybe incell dudes who can’t wait to have sex robots?

Don’t hate.

I don’t know.

I’m just sayin’.

It’s REFRESHINGLY difficult to locate Ellis within the traditional spectrum of American politics (L/R).

Ellis asserts that traditional politics are inadequate to address the increasingly rapid technological and economic change. Ellis argues that new forms of political thought are needed.

Again.

Ellis cites Deleuze and Guattari (D&G) as significant influence on his ACCELERATIONIST thinking.

D&G introduced the terms Deterritorialization and Reterritorialization to refer to the ways traditional social, cultural, and economic structures are broken down, and reconstituted within capitalism.

Schizoanalysis refers to D&G’s alternative to psychoanalysis, which focuses on (a) the ways in which capitalist society affects human desire and social relations, and (b) how desire is produced and manipulated by capitalism.

D&G advocate a type of adaptive schizotypic (non literal, nonlinear, uninhibited) psychological response to the absolutely schizzo (amorphous, a-political, relentless) nature of capitalism.

D&G posit the rhizome is a model of knowledge and societal structures that is non-hierarchical and interconnected, as opposed to the traditional tree-like structure of knowledge that is linear and hierarchical. This concept emphasizes the fluid FUNGIFORM decentralized nature of societal change under capitalism.

Ellis refers to D&G explicitly and implicitly throughout this text.

I have to say.

I loved this book.

And I’m KIND OF TERRIFIED by it.

It kind of had me convinced from the JUMP.

And I’m a little guarded about that.

Ironically.

My gut response to ACCELERATIONISM is to slow the fuck down and try to think it through.

Regardless.

I’m grateful for the firmware upgrade.

Great book 5/5 stars ⭐️

[D · Rating 4 out of 5]

James Ellis entiende el aceleracionismo como muy pocxs autorxs. Su abordaje filosófico, tomando a Kant, Lyotard y Deleuze y Guattari es brillante. Su postulación sobre el Z/Acc, también. Tengo mis dudas, en cambio, sobre su "apoliticidad": es rápido para criticar el "aceleracionismo de izquierda" pero no tiene las mismas críticas para el R/Acc; creo que él mismo lo sabe. Tampoco me es clara la diferencia concreta entre el U/acc y el Z/acc. De todos modos, el ensayo que da nombre al libro es de lectura obligatoria en materia de aceleracionismo.