Vishal C

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Vishal is Currently Reading

Vishal C is currently reading

Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?

by Mark Fisher

bookshelves: personal-library, currently-reading

Reading for the 2nd time

read in May 2024

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Vishal C said: " Prophetic, readable, and relatively accessible work of critical theory concerning capitalism/neoliberalism. I can see why this is considered a very important contemporary work. It seeks to understand our current conditions and the root causes of thos Prophetic, readable, and relatively accessible work of critical theory concerning capitalism/neoliberalism. I can see why this is considered a very important contemporary work. It seeks to understand our current conditions and the root causes of those conditions. It is accessible in the sense that it is written in language that avoids much of the esoteric academic jargon some theory is written with (but it is no less erudite) and said theory is explored by analysis of pop culture (like the spectacle of Kurt Cobain, or contemporary movies) or literature (e.g. explanations of bureaucracy being tied to Kafka), but is not so accessible to someone who does not have at least a little bit of previous knowledge of some marxist theory and some postmodern theory, which heavily inform Fisher's work. I have dabbled in each so it definitely helped my understanding when Fisher was connecting his ideas to and building off of Lyotard or Baudrillard, for instance. He does give fine explanations of the concepts he introduces in order to build off of them, so that you could make sense of what he is saying even without any background knowledge, but it would not be as clear. For instance, I had to look up certain concepts like Lacan's "the big Other" to understand a certain chapter, because Fisher's explanation was not in depth enough for me to understand. I do not think this aspect of inaccessibility is a fault of the book, as any good theoretical work is prompting the reader to learn more and to seek to understand and challenge the ideas of the work, rather than accept it as objective truth. While short, it took me longer than expected to read because I was always looking stuff up and trying to digest these ideas.

Unfortunately, Fisher's assessments of our economic, social, and mental conditions are still relevant today, if not more so. However, there are some instances where his assessments are dated, like his observation of how students "today" (Fisher is writing in 2008/2009) are politically apathetic or disaffected compared to their counterparts during the 60s/70s era of Vietnam War era protests and campus activism— that is certainly not the case today, where students are clearly just as, if not more, politically engaged as the students of the Vietnam War era. Fisher is however spot on with his observations on the negative (economic/societal/cultural/mental) effects of the marketization of public services (like education, which he talks about throughout), and the attitude of political helplessness as a result of inaction on existential issues like climate change, the lack of any kind of systemic change in the face of systems that fail and cause harm to masses of people, the growing divide between rich and poor & the disintegration of upward mobility, etc. I could go on... also consider how the right to protest is constantly undermined by the use of militarized police to suppress protest and crush dissent— that is certain to fuel a sense that the status quo, the interests of corporations and capital, is unalterable.

I have only recently begun to explore critical theory more deeply, so my understanding of it all is likely at an elementary level, but I am understanding more & more each time I read. I have a lot of questions (as well as insights) about this work, I made notes on practically every page, and I will certainly continue to seek answers to my questions and better understand the concepts here. I am definitely interested in reading more of Mark Fisher's work, and was saddened to hear about his suicide. ...more "

May 08, 2024 02:33PM · see review