A new Marxist theory of the abstract and impersonal forms of power
in capitalism
Despite insoluble
contradictions, intense volatility and fierce resistance, the
crisis-ridden capitalism of the 21st century lingers on. To
understand capital's paradoxical expansion and entrenchment amidst
crisis and unrest, Mute Compulsion offers a novel theory of
the historically unique forms of abstract and impersonal power set in
motion by the subjection of social life to the profit imperative.
Building on a
critical reconstruction of Karl Marx's unfinished critique of
political economy and a wide range of contemporary Marxist theory,
philosopher Søren Mau sets out to explain how the logic of capital
tightens its stranglehold on the life of society by constantly
remoulding the material conditions of social reproduction.
In the course of
doing so, Mau intervenes in classical and contemporary debates about
the value form, crisis theory, biopolitics, social reproduction,
humanism, logistics, agriculture, metabolism, the body, competition,
technology and relative surplus populations.
