Mute Compulsion. A Theory of the Economic Power of Capital

by Søren Mau

[From Author's Summary]
Despite a decade of crisis and social unrest, capitalism is in many ways stronger than ever before. Never before have such a large share of the global population and such large parts of life been so tightly woven into the social logic that Karl Marx identified as the ‘all-dominating economic power in bourgeois society’: capital. Capital is not a certain category of things, but rather a process in which things are used in a certain way, namely as a means of making money, i.e., purchasing and selling with the aim of accumulating wealth in its abstract, monetary form. In other words, capital is the valorisation of value.
This thesis is an attempt to contribute to the explanation of how capital maintains its position as the ruling principle of the organisation of the reproduction of society. Earlier attempts to answer this question has tended to rely on the (often implicit) assumption that power essentially comes in two fundamental forms: violence and ideology. From such a perspective, the power of capital is explained with reference to either the guaranteeing of property rights by means of (the threat of) state violence or the ideological legitimisation of capitalist relations of production or—in most cases—a combination of these two. The fundamental claim of this thesis is that this violence-ideology couplet overlooks a form of power that is crucial for the reproduction of capitalism, but cannot be reduced to neither violence nor ideology, namely what Marx refers to in Capital as ‘the mute compulsion of economic relations’, or what I will also refer to as economic power. In contrast to violence and ideology, economic power addresses the subjugated part in a relationship of domination indirectly through its social and material surroundings and conditions. Violence addresses the body by inflicting pain and injury, and ideology addresses the ways in which we understand ourselves and our surroundings. In contrast, economic power forces people to do certain things by reorganising the social and material conditions of their existence.
In pre-capitalist societies, exploitation of workers was anchored in personal relationships of dependence, upheld by (the threat of) direct, physical coercion. The unique thing about capitalism is that the exploited class is tied to the exploiting class through an abstract, anonymous and impersonal form of power. This thesis is an attempt to construct a systematic theory of this mute compulsion. The foundations for such a theory can be found scattered out all over Marx’s writings. Marx himself, however, never explicitly worked it out, and, as I demonstrate in this thesis, his successors and interpreters have not succeeded in formulating a satisfactory theory of the mute compulsion of capital either, though several Marxist studies from the last couple of decades have succeeded in uncovering many important aspects of its workings. The thesis therefore proceeds from a critical reading of Marx’s writings in order to excavate essential insights and combine them with other insights drawn from relevant scholarly literature, Marxist as well as nonMarxist.

Genres: Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Nonfiction, Theory, Academic, Class

ebook

First published January 31, 2023

Reviews

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

why'd they call it mute compulsion when its loud af

[Stanley Wilshire · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best counter to three central and tedious tendencies within social theory I’ve come across: the accusation that Marx is ‘economistic’ , squabbles between Marxists over which strand of marxology has ‘cracked’ the true Marx, and the tendency for exegesis to demonstrate its profundity in arduous prose.


Rather than being motivated by an antagonistic attitude to certain strands of Marxist thought he approaches the canon with the aim of clarifying and refining the toolkit it offers to understand the social power of capital. The book therefore provides illuminating coverage of debates and offers a number of highly constructive interventions in them.

He offers the reader a clear foundation to mobile Marxist concepts in social analysis while also offering a generous reference point to dive deeper into existing literature. The conclusion is compellingly humble about theory; Mau insists the toolkit in the book is necessarily abstract and can only become strategically useful through concrete analysis, likely in combination with other strands of theory. I sincerely hope this is widely read as a means of renewing and clarifying the place of Marxism within social thought.

[Ish Tominey-Nevado · Rating 5 out of 5]

i was initially put off because Mau seemed to work at a high level of abstraction. I thought it would be way beyond me, but I actually got loads out of it! Mau sees economic power as rooted in capital's ability to shape and control the conditions of social reproduction, which I think is a really useful starting point for thinking through social domination in SR. I'm sure I'll be coming back to this book again! the section on gender's logical relation to capital in chapter seven was a surprise - sharp & pretty insightful, and helped me clarify my own position on Endnotes #3's take on it.

the more concrete analysis provided near the end of the book on agriculture & logistics hammered home to me how wide-ranging the contributions Mau has made here are (and reminded me I need to read Fossil Capital).

a banger of a book!!

[sim s · Rating 3 out of 5]

A strange book in that it fails to deliver on the promise of a fully grounded study of what power really means and neither is it a thorough symptomatic read of power with Marx, although this is taken up initially. The main thesis is a restatement of Brenner and Wood's old heuristic, so.. is this book really needed? I think it got popular because it takes the vagrant position of offering a panoramic presentation of value-form theory. That's what I'll laud it for, systematizing the lit viewed through a handful of concrete spheres. v, v fluid read too. Also laud for taking centrist positions throughout, there'll be no more Posteonite retouching class struggle after this.

It suffers in sticking too close to what is hip on endnotes and ultraleft circles. On ecoMarxist stuff Mau leaves everything to Malm. There's also a couple light concession to the production of nature thesis and spots where concrete relational domination, as opposed to abstract domination, really shines through. We're not taken deeper inwards in any of these spheres, though. On identity politics he does well against the dogmatists but we shouldn't need to be guided by the hands through this. Mau also makes a misstep here. He is wrong to say there are no visible reasons for capital to inhere social divisions, whereas Fraser for instance at least tries to locate subproletarization and racialization in externalization drives of capital's. The biggest flaw in sticking to his milieu is by far on "logistics". Why is this an object? It's not clear at all why we can't read classical Marxists on innate dynamics around fixed capital to explain this stuff. There's plenty of Harvey references otherwise. The logistics argument can also be read against the mute compulsion thesis, easily. Maybe the highlighted Jasper Bernes quote gives it away - communization is implied.

This aside it's gonna be really good to popularize this stuff in reader markets where abstract domination resonates more than naked class struggle stuff. Gotta get Marxism back in there. Also internally to that field, getting some common-sense positions, getting repressive functions and class relations back inside this kind of theory.

[Kai · Rating 3 out of 5]

the benefit of this book is, i guess, that Mau is both well read and a compelling and clear writer, so he is able to do some synthetic work that offers a lot to new readers of marx. I am more or less in agreement with the argument for understanding "economic power" as a particular characteristic of capitalism (and marx's analysis of it) which ought to be at the center of our analyses. less generously, i couldn't shake that the book reads as an "analytic" philosophical basis, a constant search for logic and consistency. in any case, many of his positions on the value of an analysis of capitalism at the abstract and/or synchronic level, even if I at times disagreed with them, are somewhat defensible. why didn't i like it then? the book's understanding and defense of a strict nature/society divide wasn't even as philosophically robust as Malm (on whom the nature portions rely heavily). it was a slipshod argument, which i was going to let pass, until the disastrous chapter on "Capital and Difference," where that nature/society division gets quickly shuffled into "a classical sex/gender distinction." the move made me think that the author really hasn't done the thinking on this question very deeply, and made me re-evaluate the other parts of the book which i had otherwise liked.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book on a topic I've been thinking a lot about over the past year. Mau walks a tightrope incredibly well between ensuring that abstract concepts are explained with the depth and detail they require, whilst also making the writing as accessible for the reader as possible. Whilst this is certainly not an "easy read", it is definitely one most people could get their head around with a decent bit of effort.

In describing and analysing "mute compulsion" Mau approaches a wide range of topics relating to Marx's theory and its afterlives: real subsumption, the tendency of the rate of profit to fall, and social reproduction, to name just a few. He does very well to explain debates within these abstracted theories and their concrete relations, as well as carve out his own position in relation to each, and how such a position informs his conception of mute compulsion. Even if you disagree with Mau in some parts (such as I arguably do in his assertion that real subsumption only can occur in production), you are set with a number of references and arguments that facilitate you further developing your own argument.

Unlike a lot of abstract Marxist theory, I did not come out of reading this feeling dissatisfied with how its contents can relate to our current conjuncture. In fact, Mau's abstract theorising is clearly related to and based upon concrete analysis - even if the relationship of class struggle to mute compulsion could have been greatly deliberated upon within the text.

Overall, the highlights for me were definitely the sections on real subsumption of agriculture, surplus populations, and logistics. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who's thinking about reading it.

[The Coat · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm a little confused how this book is getting such rave reviews. There are a few good points made, most of which are in Capital Volume 1, and a lot of lazy philosophizing (relying on common sense to ground, for instance, his re-instantiation of a natural/social divide... Not that I'm saying you can't argue for a nature/society divide, or that humans are different from other animals - I disagree but I am open to interesting argumentation. Mau gives none, which is sad considering he's a philosopher and so he should be taking the opportunity to dive into the ontology of being human if he cares about it so much.. Instead we get a sad dry merleau ponty-ism, insisting without alacrity on the uniqueness of our precious tools....). The book skates over so many ideas and authors which is sometimes impressive but more often just yields a shallow analysis.

Many things are strange about this book and make me doubt the author's intellectual rigor and curiosity. A few random samples:

1. Why does he vaguely criticize postone without contending with postone's notion of abstract domination which is, arguably, richer and more conceptually grounded than Mau's mute compulsion (not that I don't take umbrage with postone)

2. Why is he so insistent on reifying the concept of power, such that he can make a taxonomy of it? What justifies this move? It's unclear

3. Why so dismissive of gender and race as immanent to a logical structure of capitalism, while giving little robust argumentation, and acknowledging capital immanently requires hierarchical difference ?

4. Why so insistent on distinguishing "violence" from "mute compulsion"? Does the difference really hold water? What's so different between punching someone and depriving them of food? Isn't economic/mute compulsion violent ?

5. Is this all about re-centering comfortable Danish citizens as paradigmatic victims of capital? (I say half joking... And half Danish)

[Jim Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Jim Cook’s review). Probably the best introduction to Marxist theory I’ve read. Very clear discussion of the different perspectives from classical Marxism to Western Marxism, to value-form Marxism.

I generally agreed with his tripartite division of power in society (violence/ideology/mute compulsion of the economy).

The book also clearly explains some basic, but sometimes obscure, Marxian concepts like “subsumption.”

Verso did a good job editing and presenting the book, as Mau’s PhD dissertation, (available free online), on which the book is based, had many distracting typo’s.

Mau’s book will likely have considerable, and well-deserved, influence on contemporary discussions by Marxist scholars. For that reason alone, it is a book that needs to be read. It is also very well written.

[Ky · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s been a minute since I’ve engaged with Marxist theory, but I was cuddling my tattered political science degree the other night as I slept and it made me want to get back on my engagement with political economic critique. So here we are! Strap in, divas (I mean, comrades).

Mute Compulsion refers to the ability of economic power to enforce participation in capitalism by having control over the processes of societal life (social reproduction). You or I are impacted by this mute compulsion as members of a capitalist society, whether or not we try to rid ourselves of consumerist tendencies. There is no opportunity for us to opt out, and the cogs will turn on account of them always turning (as they will turn forever more). Therein lies the domination of capital on the lives of the individual. Mau takes a theory first determined to be a real “duh” point by Marx in Capital Vol. 1 and develops it into an impressive philosophical work that situates historical materialism into the present. Economic Power continues to establish itself as the primary driving force of our lives, and therefore it is. Therefore….it…..is….

This is a difficult read and is VERY abstract. Although Mau writes with depth and clarity in some respects, a level of familiarity with Marxist critiques and defence would do a reader good before hurtling themselves into this work. If you, like myself, skipped your Foucault readings before seminar, you may need to rely on some quick googling before getting into the meat of the arguments. There is a considerable amount of exposition on rivalling readings of Marx’s work, to which Mau loves to posit, “…and here’s the problem with that,” so come in with an open mind, and maybe some willingness to further your readings as you shuffle along.

I found Mau’s discussion on the non-existence of the so-called set of “natural needs” in humans to be shocking, to say the least. His analysis of human differentiation from animals postulated that human beings’ continuous behaviour to endanger, harm, or even kill ourselves directly contradicts the supposed need for survival that our species is so well known for. This was not to say that our biological needs do not exist — try giving up water for three days and see what thoughts you bring back on metabolic totality — but that “human nature” does not exist, at least not in the way humanists depend on. I’ll admit I was a little blown away by the chapter (The Human Corporeal Organisation) and have yet to fully come to terms with my own stance on what I would call a radical approach to the ultimate question. I started seeing Freud’s floating head bouncing about the corners of my cavernous skull, sputtering, “Ah, the death drive. The death drive.” Admittedly, a part of me holds firm to humans having deep ties to the natural world, in a way that invites our return to it. Mau got on my nerves a bit with his quipy take that, “Living all of your life staring into a smartphone in a megacity and eating prepared fast food without ever knowing where it comes from and how it is produced does not mean that some holy bond between you and nature has been broken; it just means that your individual metabolism is mediated by a complex system of infrastructures, data, machines, financial flows, and planetary supply chains.” I mean, sure. But have you ever beheld the sunset from a peak you reached on a contemplative and silent hike? Have you ever fed a bird from your open palm? Have you ever swam naked in a cool silty river?

The chapter titled, “Capitalism and Difference” which explored different forms of subjugation under capitalism applied to sex, gender, and race was incredibly well done. I’ve long found myself drawn to Marxist feminism, as its theoretical framework provides in-depth consideration of how women’s oppression in class-society is further reproduced by presuppositions on the “condition of womanhood.” Mau explores the common thread that women are made to be dependent on proletarian men in class-societies as many of us require financial support when pregnant, but turns this argument on its head by exploring the ideas that women can care for non-working mothers, and that community can be further developed than just in the nuclear household. It reframed the initial argument of women to be subjugated under capitalism as a reason of our biology into a uniquely historical phenomenon. Rightly so, Mau points out that to define women as a “category of humans with the capacity to bear children” erases the many infertile (whether due to age or other factors) cis women and trans women who are oppressed under capitalism and still suffer from sexism. It is limiting to have womanhood reduced to a working uterus.

The chapters discussing the subsumption of nature through agricultural production were also well done. It is quite significant in the exploration of capitalist suppression to discuss how farming is in itself unattractive to capitalists, so the advent of the agribusiness model was necessary to form some control over the farmers who owned their means of production, but not the inputs (feed, seed, etc) that allowed them to produce. This is a topic that means a lot to me, and is one I’m eager to explore, so if anyone has further literature on this subject please recommend!!

Overall, these were some of my bare bones thoughts on this book. I thought it was pretty insightful and refuelled a love of political economic theory within a younger, more radical Kyla. Definitely too abstract for my tastes (I like more tangible examples), but I guess I need to go back to grad school.

[Jimmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book is written like what we would call in math "follow your nose proofs". every claim is argued from first principles with clear logical steps written in plain english.

honestly i don't think this gives a groundbreaking new understanding of capital beyond what you'd already know from reading marx's Capital itself plus some value-form stuff. but it serves as a fantastic intro to marxist political-economic theory at a high level of abstraction, maybe right after reading heinrich's intro to Capital.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

puh, was soll ich sagen. einfach ein sehr gutes buch, wenn man sich gern auf einer abstrakten ebene mit marxistischer theorie beschäftigt. ich hatte eine sehr gute zeit beim lesen, auch, wenn ich länger gebraucht habe als sonst bei fachliteratur. es ist einfach sehr dicht geschrieben. könnte es wahrscheinlich noch ein zweites mal lesen, ohne dabei gelangweilt zu sein. toll!

[Campbell Rider]

some of the chapters definitely have a dissertationy literature review feel about them but overall i got a lot out of this. recommend! chapters on 'metabolic domination' and 'the capitalist reconfiguration of nature' were particularly good

[Joshua · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mau does a really excellent job explaining so many different facets of Marxological debates in a clear way. He is a very effective communicator. I really enjoyed this book.

[Timor · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best parts of this book are chapters 8-9, which very effectively critique value form theory by arguing that the capitalist class's domination of the proletariat is a precondition for capital's domination of everyone.
Much of the book reads like a highly well-conceived literature review. Chapter 7 is a brilliant text on capitalism and difference (gender, race) and, in my opinion, an excellent piece for political education. It discusses the main strands of the current debate comprehensively and fairly and ultimately takes what is, in my view, a correct position in relation to them.
Chapters 1-2 include a compelling and nuanced critique of Foucault (and poststructuralist approaches to power more generally) and more mainstream, non-marxist approaches to or silences on power. 3-5 seem self-evident, but it was interesting to see someone spell out the conditions that emerge from the physical reality of humans as "tool-using animals" that need to engage in a constant exchange of matter with the non-human world around them to reproduce themselves.
There are few "original" arguments in chapters 10-13, but as someone who is not very well-read in the literature on logistical power and capitalism and nature, I still found these chapters engaging and enlightening.

There aren't many "arguments", and instead, there's a lot of summary and repetition, but once you find an argument, it's usually a good one!

[Marte Ekker Kristiansen]

Leste hele dritten på en pdf-fil fra mobilen… ekstremsport

[TNVR · Rating 4 out of 5]

really good on everything except the most important thing (communism)

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Os capitulos de ontoloxia e de xenero atragantaronseme moito e non me gustaron nada, pero o libro en xeral é unha viaxe guapisima e clarificadora

[Ali Jones Alkazemi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Faenihelvetejeghadde50siderigjenmenmistetbokenunderveisireisen!!!!!!! Den var uansett helt vill frem til jeg mistet den

[Daniel Thériault · Rating 5 out of 5]

Raises some interesting questions for labour organizers. Namely, on how to wage worker struggle against capital’s more diffuse forms of economic power and whether that is even the correct strategy. Is it better as an organizer to just reify the violence/ideology couplet and exclusively focus on vertical forms of domination for the sake of simplicity/expediency? Or do we sacrifice something integral to revolutionary struggle by not focusing on the totality of capital’s power?

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sort of torn on this one. On the one hand, Mau is a very clear writer who moves between a wide range of scholarly literatures with impressive, if uneven (that “capitalism and difference” chapter… 🥴), lucidity and depth. On the other hand, it’s never entirely clear that his core intervention—that capitalism’s power can’t be totally encompassed by categories of “violence” and “ideology,” and necessarily includes a dimension of “economic power” which operates directly on the conditions of social reproduction rather than functioning through interpersonal relations—can bear the weight of a book-length project. I mean, how many people who read this book will be unaware that market dependence and the myriad forms of precarity it engenders are a major source, and not just an effect, of capitalist power? And to what extent is it even useful to separate out the power to threaten/impose total immiseration from a notion of “violence”? In general, Mau doesn’t seem to have much reflexivity about the overlaps in the categories of power that he analyzes, which, even at the high levels of abstraction on which the book (defensibly) operates, are so profound as to call into question the utility of such categorization in the first place. Wasn’t a fan of how firmly he foregrounds a nature/society divide either—there are more, and better, critiques of that maneuver than he lets on.

Still, Mau generally does a great job of taking the time to compose his arguments from their first principles, and in doing so walks you through some really sharp + accessible lit reviews—I especially liked the value-form theory one in chapter 9. All in all, quite effective (and well above-average) as an intro to Marxist thought, but less effective as a standalone contribution to that canon itself.

[David Escobar :) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una absoluta joya de libro. No solo es un aterrizaje genial de infinidad de conceptos del marxismo clásico en la coyuntura actual con las abstracciones pertinentes, sino que también es un estudio excelente de la piedra angular de la dominación del Capital: el poder económico del mismo, más allá de la violencia y de la ideología, y sus mecanismos reproductivos. Pero sin duda, el punto más fuerte de la obra es su derroche bibliográfico: es un pozo de referencias y un punto de entrada a una barbaridad de autores que han escrito sobre los debates que se plantean. Si eres comunista y no te has leído Compulsión muda, léelo.

[Gabi Coto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reconozco que la mejor lectura del año en cuanto a teoría social.
El autor es perfectamente autoconsciente del grado de abstracción en el que está trabajando y una lectura honesta desde la militancia comunista creo que debe respetarlo.
Esto no quiere decir que sea inútil, de hecho creo que responde a una necesidad científica dentro del marxismo contemporáneo. Pero para quienes estamos embarrades en el campo político este ensayo no es el más urgente o de aplicación inmediata, más bien presenta las condiciones de posibilidad de integrar dentro del paradigma marxista los análisis empíricos (de formaciones sociales concretas) e impulsar su desarrollo, sin embargo la conexión entre estos niveles abstracto y concreto aún queda como una tarea pendiente una vez estudiado este libro.

En lo personal me quedo con una sensación de grata satisfacción y seguridad sobre tener un conocimiento más preciso sobre la teoría marxista desde la reproducción social y el énfasis político de la crítica a la economía política. Pero también mantengo cierta inquietud por realmente profundizar en las fuentes primarias de su estudio, por ver las posibles limitaciones o consecuencias políticas de estas tesis que pueda no estar desentrañando.

Recuerden no darle un duro a los usureros de verso ediciones (quisieron privar el acceso bajo barrera de pago) y pillenlo gratis o como quieran en la versión de ediciones extáticas

[Mer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ha sido muy bonito caminar junto al autor en la construcción de su teoría y la traducción que he leído de Ediciones Extáticas me ha resultado sumamente cuidada.

Varios elementos a resaltar:

• Trata casi todos los temas que a una marxista actual le inquietan.
• Hay un hilo conductor que se mantiene durante toda la obra por lo que no te da la sensación de estar leyendo sobre diversas temáticas. Es decir, trata al capitalismo y las expresiones de su ofensiva desde la totalidad.
• Se permite algunas licencias poéticas desde la abstracción, eso también me gusta.
• Aterriza aquello que menciona en situaciones paradigmáticas

Es largo pero no duro de leer.

[Mikael Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maus bok är en av de bästa jag läst på ämnet marxologi men urskiljer sig genom sin förmåga att göra kritiken av den politiska ekonomin så politisk relevant. Han tar sig elegant an debatter om makt, feminism, logistik och kriser mm. och demonstrerar den marxka analysens relevans men också dess begränsning. Den hamnar utan problem in på min lista över måsten när det kommer till politisk filosofi.

Jag har också skrivit ett längre inlägg om boken på min blogg minervas-uggla.fritext.org/posts/1_mute_compul...

[Ben Wyndham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting and relevant analysis on the subtle mechanisms that capitalism/capital uses to gain and maintain power for the goal of profit.

The threads exploring 1) how we do not “opt in” to capitalism and yet must participate to survive and 2) how even the capitalists are subject to the power of capital were especially enlightening.

Overall, a great book that I would recommend to anyone interested in Marxist philosophy or the effects of capitalism on our social and economic life.

[Peter Graarup Westergaard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imponerende analyse af især arbejdsmarkedet

[Roxy The Bolshevik Girl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mau makes an interesting contribution. The metabolic conception of humanity is very useful. The later chapters are weakened by his horizontalism.

[loitering outside 711 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good book

[Inés Calamidad · Rating 5 out of 5]

...

[Lærke Børsting]

Spændende, særligt de første 150 sider. Men også tørt og svært tilgængeligt. Ærlig talt, skimmede jeg lidt den sidste halvdel.