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The Third Unconscious
A wide-ranging exploration of the present, and the future, of the Unconcious
The Unconscious knows no time, it has no before-and-after, it does not have a history of its own. Yet, it does not always remain the same. Different political and economic conditions transform the way in which the Unconscious emerges within the "psychosphere" of society. In the early 20th century, Freud characterized the Unconscious as the dark side of the well-order framework of Progress and Reason. At the end of the past century, Deleuze and Guattari described it as a the magmatic force ceaselessly bringing to the fore new possibilities of imagination. Today, at a time of viral pandemics and in the midst of the catastrophic collapse of capitalism, the Unconscious has begun to emerge in yet another form. In this book, Franco 'Bifo' Berardi vividly portraits the form in which the Unconscious will make itself manifest for decades to come, and the challenges that it will pose to our possibilities of political action, poetic imagination, and therapy.
The Unconscious knows no time, it has no before-and-after, it does not have a history of its own. Yet, it does not always remain the same. Different political and economic conditions transform the way in which the Unconscious emerges within the "psychosphere" of society. In the early 20th century, Freud characterized the Unconscious as the dark side of the well-order framework of Progress and Reason. At the end of the past century, Deleuze and Guattari described it as a the magmatic force ceaselessly bringing to the fore new possibilities of imagination. Today, at a time of viral pandemics and in the midst of the catastrophic collapse of capitalism, the Unconscious has begun to emerge in yet another form. In this book, Franco 'Bifo' Berardi vividly portraits the form in which the Unconscious will make itself manifest for decades to come, and the challenges that it will pose to our possibilities of political action, poetic imagination, and therapy.
188 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2022
About the author
Franco "Bifo" Berardi
137 books497 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 - 19 of 19 reviews
February 18, 2022
The human experiment has failed. We stand at the horizon of extinction. The world-form can no longer contain its increasingly schizophrenic content. The earth demands itself back from the world. Death has returned to the philosophical scene. It's time to bring philosophy back from the platonic neverland; ask it to let go of its nostalgia of teleology. It's time to subject it to the ravages of Time again. Conjoin Eros and Logos again. Let poetry coalesce itself with chaos and lead a carnivalesque explosion in our collective unconscious. Let the visceral become an epistemic virtue. Let the joy of connection generate knowledge again.
February 24, 2022
Me gustó 👍, aunque como es italiano escribe como un petardo exagerado, aún así podría ser peor, podría ser un economista de mierda.
May 29, 2022
As ususal, Franco Berardi is the sharpest and perhaps the only clear-eyed philosopher of our times. Acknowledging the possibility of (human) extiniction, of collapse as well as mental collapse as factors in our present trouble.
The most interesting passages are those that are not specific about "the virus".
Since the book was written between 2020 and 2021, the passages concerning his toughts on covid became astonishingly quickly outdated. To be more precise, they are heart-wrenchingly naive, in the kindest sense, and endearingly hopeful (passages where Berardi imagines that things can't go back to "normal" after the pandemic, etc). How I wish you were right, Franco! However, he is of course clear-eyed enough to acknowledge that these were only hypotheses.
Also touching are the little info-snacks of biographical details about Berardis life; and a bit troubling, passages where he contemplates his own suicide.
Franco Berardi, I still hope to meet you someone on this planet.
Please stay a litte while.
The most interesting passages are those that are not specific about "the virus".
Since the book was written between 2020 and 2021, the passages concerning his toughts on covid became astonishingly quickly outdated. To be more precise, they are heart-wrenchingly naive, in the kindest sense, and endearingly hopeful (passages where Berardi imagines that things can't go back to "normal" after the pandemic, etc). How I wish you were right, Franco! However, he is of course clear-eyed enough to acknowledge that these were only hypotheses.
Also touching are the little info-snacks of biographical details about Berardis life; and a bit troubling, passages where he contemplates his own suicide.
Franco Berardi, I still hope to meet you someone on this planet.
Please stay a litte while.
February 26, 2023
A brutally forthright and wise, therefore also ultimately uplifting reflection on our state of being in the "third age" of modern subjectivity, with Bifo's endless curiosity on full display alongside his restless quest to see a path forward that is grounded in a radically inclusive socialism. Also reassuring to see that not all aging white male philosophers of the Left have gone Full Žižek, but are still able (even excited!) to embrace the world as it develops, and to reflect on their position from a moral and ethical perspective.
May 31, 2024
Berardi escreve este ensaio no meio da pandemia de Covid-19 na Itália, um dos países mais afetados, depois da China, nos primeiros meses de 2020.
Nesse contexto, o filósofo vislumbra o colapso do capitalismo a partir do colapso dos corpos e das mentes e de uma lógica produtivista forçada a desacelerar e inclusive a parar completamente pelos efeitos do virus.
Na tese do italiano, o capitalismo foi colocado em xeque não pela vontade política e revolucionária doutros momentos históricos, mas pelo efeito de um corpúsculo não humano: o virus.
A consequência desta parada brusca deveria ser o abandono definitivo das lógicas neoliberais de crescimento, vontade e desejos hiperestimulados, em benefício de conceitos como frugalidade, amizade e prazer.
Lido em 2024, o diagnóstico de expressado por Berardi mostra-se errado nas consequências, mas acertado nas causas: num contexto de calamidade climática, efeito já indiscutível da crise do clima anunciada há décadas, e que nestes loucos anos 20 mostra a sua cara com efeitos devastadores um pouco por todo o mundo, confirma-se o fracasso de um modelo que só nos oferece aceleração infinita, mas não se consegue vislumbrar a mudança de rota proposta no livro. Bem pelo contrário, o autoritarismo e a crença ilusória na tecnologia como solução milagrosa a todos os males, parece continuar campando na psicoesfera definida por Berardi.
O livro, em último termo, nos defronta com o desafio civilizacional contemporâneo, que passa pela necessidade de conexão física e de encontrar fontes de felicidade num contexto que nos demanda a consciência da nossa fragilidade e a certeza do perigo de extinção enquanto espécie com a crise do clima como sintoma mais evidente do colapso civilizatório.
Pareceu-me especialmente interessante a parte final em que reflexiona sobre a velhice e a morte, entendida como um devir que dá real sentido à vida.
No entanto, alguns conceitos interessantes, como a automatização linguística, mereceríam, do meu ponto de vista, mais aprofundamento. Igualmente, as referências poderiam ser mais diversificadas, de modo a tornar as reflexões mais abrangentes, pois elas ficam muito dependentes de meia dúzia de teóricos do hemisfério norte, na contramão do que o próprio Berardi critica.
Nesse contexto, o filósofo vislumbra o colapso do capitalismo a partir do colapso dos corpos e das mentes e de uma lógica produtivista forçada a desacelerar e inclusive a parar completamente pelos efeitos do virus.
Na tese do italiano, o capitalismo foi colocado em xeque não pela vontade política e revolucionária doutros momentos históricos, mas pelo efeito de um corpúsculo não humano: o virus.
A consequência desta parada brusca deveria ser o abandono definitivo das lógicas neoliberais de crescimento, vontade e desejos hiperestimulados, em benefício de conceitos como frugalidade, amizade e prazer.
Lido em 2024, o diagnóstico de expressado por Berardi mostra-se errado nas consequências, mas acertado nas causas: num contexto de calamidade climática, efeito já indiscutível da crise do clima anunciada há décadas, e que nestes loucos anos 20 mostra a sua cara com efeitos devastadores um pouco por todo o mundo, confirma-se o fracasso de um modelo que só nos oferece aceleração infinita, mas não se consegue vislumbrar a mudança de rota proposta no livro. Bem pelo contrário, o autoritarismo e a crença ilusória na tecnologia como solução milagrosa a todos os males, parece continuar campando na psicoesfera definida por Berardi.
O livro, em último termo, nos defronta com o desafio civilizacional contemporâneo, que passa pela necessidade de conexão física e de encontrar fontes de felicidade num contexto que nos demanda a consciência da nossa fragilidade e a certeza do perigo de extinção enquanto espécie com a crise do clima como sintoma mais evidente do colapso civilizatório.
Pareceu-me especialmente interessante a parte final em que reflexiona sobre a velhice e a morte, entendida como um devir que dá real sentido à vida.
No entanto, alguns conceitos interessantes, como a automatização linguística, mereceríam, do meu ponto de vista, mais aprofundamento. Igualmente, as referências poderiam ser mais diversificadas, de modo a tornar as reflexões mais abrangentes, pois elas ficam muito dependentes de meia dúzia de teóricos do hemisfério norte, na contramão do que o próprio Berardi critica.
October 10, 2025
Libro escrito durante a pandemia que reflexiona sobre o inconsciente colectivo na actualidade, o cambio climático e o colpaso inminente. Gústanme as explicacións psicoanalíticas, mais a análise política lémbrame moito a eses outros tantos ensaios escritos en pandemia que hoxe en día quedan algo obsoletos e trasnoitados.
Read
February 14, 2022"The game is over. Human life on the planet is a failed experiment."
December 18, 2022
The central premise of the book: The internal logic of capitalism(Expansion and Acceleration) is failing and exhausting all of its(mental and physical) resources, and the pandemic is catalysing its slow and certain collapse. Draws upon interesting sources such as deleuze, and donna haraway which was unexpected, as well as a few literary works. Personally this was too messy and unorganised for me, I preferred his previous work which was structured around case studies and subsequent cultural theorising. In the poem-prose continuum it probably sits closer to poetry in its chaotic, crittery lines of flight that connect everywhere. Warrants a future read, after I finally read some deleuze/guattari maybe.
June 7, 2024
“ ‘Our house is on fire' is the slogan uttered by the activists of Extinction Rebellion. However, in a speech at the London Climate Strike on 20 September 2019, the Wretched of the Earth coalition replied:
Our house has been on fire for over 500 years. And it did not set itself on fire. We did not get here by a sequence of small missteps and mistakes. We were thrust here by powerful forces that drove the unequal distribution of resources and the rigged structure of our societies.
The economic system that dominates us was brought about by colonial projects whose sole purpose is the pursuit of domination and profit. For centuries, racism, sexism and classism have been necessary for this system to be upheld, and have shaped the conditions we find ourselves in. 4 This implies that a greener economy in the countries of Europe will achieve very little if they continue to hinder countries in the Global South from doing the same through crippling debt, unfair trade deals and the export of their own deadly extractive industries.
The hyperdeveloped countries have been producing the conditions of the impending climate crisis, so they cannot escape their responsibility - they cannot refuse to pay a fair share in dealing with it. It is impossible to separate climate justice from a worldwide program of redistribution of wealth and resources. When we speak of the prospect of extinction, we are not speaking just of climate change and devastation of the physical environment of the planet; we are speaking also of the legacy of five centuries of colonialism and the exploitation of the nervous resources of human beings. We are speaking of social inequality, massive displacement of people trapped by war and misery, the rejection and marginalisation of migrants, and the inhuman detention of millions of migrants in concentration camps that surround the developed countries, in the Mediterranean Basin, at the Mexican border, and in many other places in the world.”
***
“The more the digital machine is powerful and fast, the less humans can rationally decipher and politically govern their environment, and the more impotent they feel.
In Die Antiquiertheit des Menschen, Günther Anders writes about the humiliation that is implicit in the confrontation of men with their own automatic creatures, and he announces that in this kind of humiliation there are the seeds of the Übermensch returning in all his fury.
Nazism, according to Anders, is not to be remembered as a bad memory of the past but has to be considered as a nightmare ready for the future. In his appalling prediction, future Nazism will be the effect of the humiliation of humans overwhelmed by the enormity of their own products that are ruled by forces of economic automatism and subtracted from conscious control.”
***
“Great Britain, United States, Israel, then continental Europe have launched the race to reach herd immunity. These countries have the money to pay the extortionate demands of Big Pharma.
India and South Africa, both countries ravaged by the contagion, have requested the suspension of intellectual property rights for the vaccines; the World Health Organization has joined in that demand.
No way. Property rules are much more important than the lives of millions. By the by, I would say that the CEO and the shareholders of Pfizer or Johnson & Johnson have little or nothing to do with the intellectual process that led to the vaccines' creation of the chemical formula of the vaccine. They know nothing about viruses, chemistry, or bioengineering. They only know how to plunder and accumulate.”
Our house has been on fire for over 500 years. And it did not set itself on fire. We did not get here by a sequence of small missteps and mistakes. We were thrust here by powerful forces that drove the unequal distribution of resources and the rigged structure of our societies.
The economic system that dominates us was brought about by colonial projects whose sole purpose is the pursuit of domination and profit. For centuries, racism, sexism and classism have been necessary for this system to be upheld, and have shaped the conditions we find ourselves in. 4 This implies that a greener economy in the countries of Europe will achieve very little if they continue to hinder countries in the Global South from doing the same through crippling debt, unfair trade deals and the export of their own deadly extractive industries.
The hyperdeveloped countries have been producing the conditions of the impending climate crisis, so they cannot escape their responsibility - they cannot refuse to pay a fair share in dealing with it. It is impossible to separate climate justice from a worldwide program of redistribution of wealth and resources. When we speak of the prospect of extinction, we are not speaking just of climate change and devastation of the physical environment of the planet; we are speaking also of the legacy of five centuries of colonialism and the exploitation of the nervous resources of human beings. We are speaking of social inequality, massive displacement of people trapped by war and misery, the rejection and marginalisation of migrants, and the inhuman detention of millions of migrants in concentration camps that surround the developed countries, in the Mediterranean Basin, at the Mexican border, and in many other places in the world.”
***
“The more the digital machine is powerful and fast, the less humans can rationally decipher and politically govern their environment, and the more impotent they feel.
In Die Antiquiertheit des Menschen, Günther Anders writes about the humiliation that is implicit in the confrontation of men with their own automatic creatures, and he announces that in this kind of humiliation there are the seeds of the Übermensch returning in all his fury.
Nazism, according to Anders, is not to be remembered as a bad memory of the past but has to be considered as a nightmare ready for the future. In his appalling prediction, future Nazism will be the effect of the humiliation of humans overwhelmed by the enormity of their own products that are ruled by forces of economic automatism and subtracted from conscious control.”
***
“Great Britain, United States, Israel, then continental Europe have launched the race to reach herd immunity. These countries have the money to pay the extortionate demands of Big Pharma.
India and South Africa, both countries ravaged by the contagion, have requested the suspension of intellectual property rights for the vaccines; the World Health Organization has joined in that demand.
No way. Property rules are much more important than the lives of millions. By the by, I would say that the CEO and the shareholders of Pfizer or Johnson & Johnson have little or nothing to do with the intellectual process that led to the vaccines' creation of the chemical formula of the vaccine. They know nothing about viruses, chemistry, or bioengineering. They only know how to plunder and accumulate.”
May 4, 2024
Bifo si è sentito ispirato dalle sue influenze Deleuziane e ha volute provare a parlare di psicoanalisi, dicendo cose nuove. Apprezzato lo sforzo, molto meno il risultato.
La prima parte è dedicata all'era del covid e, non certo per colpa sua, è assolutamente impressionante quanto sia invecchiata male ogni considerazioni (NON ce la faremo).
La secondo parte, in un linguaggio esasperatamente post strutturalista, è il fulcro del libro e anche la parte peggiore. Un mappazone/supercazzola con termini psicoanalitici usati impropriamente e un paragrafo dove l'uso dell'aggettivo "autistico" è usato con le migliori intenzioni ma ai limiti dell'insulto verso 2 categorie umane (specialisti della psiche e pazienti).
La terza parte, più prettamente politica, è molto interessanti.
In generale qualche spunto di riflessione qua è là lo si può trovare e ci sono alcune considerazioni molto lucide, ma considerazioni inattuali sul covid e una conoscenza della psicoanalisi eccessivamente ideologica rende questo libro un punto basso nell'eccellente ventaglio che Bifo offre.
La prima parte è dedicata all'era del covid e, non certo per colpa sua, è assolutamente impressionante quanto sia invecchiata male ogni considerazioni (NON ce la faremo).
La secondo parte, in un linguaggio esasperatamente post strutturalista, è il fulcro del libro e anche la parte peggiore. Un mappazone/supercazzola con termini psicoanalitici usati impropriamente e un paragrafo dove l'uso dell'aggettivo "autistico" è usato con le migliori intenzioni ma ai limiti dell'insulto verso 2 categorie umane (specialisti della psiche e pazienti).
La terza parte, più prettamente politica, è molto interessanti.
In generale qualche spunto di riflessione qua è là lo si può trovare e ci sono alcune considerazioni molto lucide, ma considerazioni inattuali sul covid e una conoscenza della psicoanalisi eccessivamente ideologica rende questo libro un punto basso nell'eccellente ventaglio che Bifo offre.
February 7, 2026
proliferation and contagion and decomposition are gaining power as life forces; political will is impotent in the face of technocapitalist automation and nature. this is the third unconscious, which replaced the psychosis of hyperexpressivity in the globalized, deregulated internet era, which replaced freud's neurosis via repression.
the useful will reign again over the abstract, expansion is over. democracy is dead and boring and not worth fighting for, capitalism was the root of suffering always, not fasicsm
sisyphus was happy?
stuff about nothingness (nothingness is a nonexisting thing)
instead of revolution, a splitting off from the decaying body, and genesis from there
bifo has very very strong attachment to normal kissing and normal sex, NO sexting
"feminine atheism makes the world enjoyable, joyful, and true" i forgot how that was related but I wrote it down
the useful will reign again over the abstract, expansion is over. democracy is dead and boring and not worth fighting for, capitalism was the root of suffering always, not fasicsm
sisyphus was happy?
stuff about nothingness (nothingness is a nonexisting thing)
instead of revolution, a splitting off from the decaying body, and genesis from there
bifo has very very strong attachment to normal kissing and normal sex, NO sexting
"feminine atheism makes the world enjoyable, joyful, and true" i forgot how that was related but I wrote it down
July 12, 2022
A very readable book that a blew through rather quickly. However, Berardi's new book was written during the height of the Covid lockdown and definitely speaks to the anxieties of that moment for everyone in a state of self-isolation. But it is so tied to that moment in time that it already feels like it dated itself a bit even though it is a new book. Regardless there are still many insightful moments throughout. It is a relatively brief book to read so if one is a fan of Berardi's works this will still be an enjoyable read.
January 10, 2025
Diagnosis of our collective psycho-sphere after the pandemic: autistic, afraid of otherness, anxious, and depressed from that isolation. A litany of morose proclamations that feel even more dire given the four-year vantage from publication: how much worse things have gotten. I suggest that if you read (which fundamentally you should; wake-up calls are never pleasant), you punctuate it with hours of levity and activities that can mellow the bite of a world nearing its end.
September 30, 2022
"Not political revolution, but schismogenesis – a separation of a part of society from the decaying body of capitalism. Creation and proliferation of autonomous communities, food self-sufficiency, self-defence against police, against the racists and against the state. / This is a strategy for survival and for reinvention, a strategy for healing the psycho-sphere and the social mind." (p.142).
April 6, 2024
Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), this work has aged quite poorly since it was published. I think for it's time it was very understandable how he came to his conclusions. However, I truly have a hard time seeing how anyone could arrive at many of the same conclusions today.
September 30, 2026
Turns out I am almost completely intolerant of critical theory written within an early pandemic period. They always talk about how little was written at the time about the Spanish Flu and reading “The Third Unconsciousness” this triggered a vibe that I did NOT enjoy.
December 29, 2024
Bifo es bacán pero creo que el psicoanálisis no es lo suyo. Está bien, en todo caso, la alusión al Anti-Edipo de D&G.
June 20, 2026
I see the vision, sometimes. It's not looking good. Very weak response though, very careful.
July 14, 2022
Opúsculo secundario, aunque pertinente.
De esta misma tendencia es más recomendable Campagna (Tecnica y Magia), amigo suyo además. Este ensayo guarda puntos de conexión con Byung Chul Han, siendo este último más penetrante (pese a que es muy divulgador, a veces en exceso).
Sobre estos asuntos es mucho más interesante y profundo Zizek.
He detectado,además, cierto maniqueísmo ramplón (buenos versus malos) y falta de comprensión del psicoanálisis. Saul Newman y su "De Bakunin a Lacan" es más interesante, dentro de un nuevo anarquismo.
De esta misma tendencia es más recomendable Campagna (Tecnica y Magia), amigo suyo además. Este ensayo guarda puntos de conexión con Byung Chul Han, siendo este último más penetrante (pese a que es muy divulgador, a veces en exceso).
Sobre estos asuntos es mucho más interesante y profundo Zizek.
He detectado,además, cierto maniqueísmo ramplón (buenos versus malos) y falta de comprensión del psicoanálisis. Saul Newman y su "De Bakunin a Lacan" es más interesante, dentro de un nuevo anarquismo.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews