Communists Like Us - Antonio Negri

7/28/2019 Communists Like Us - Antonio Negri

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COMMUNSTSLIKEUs

NEWPACESOF LIBERTY,NEWINESOFALLIANCEFELIXGUArFAR&oMNEGP

WTHA"POSTSCRIPT, 1990"BYToni NEGRI

qq0 (!qg)Tr ansl at ed byMchael Ryan


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Communists Li ke Us

Main t e x t o r i g i na l l y publ i shed i n Frenchi n 1985 as Nouvel l esespacesde l i ber t .Thi s i s the o r i gi na l publ i ca t i on of t he"Postscr i pt , 1990" byToni Negri .Speci al t hanks t o J ar ed Becker ,J imFl emng, J e f f F o r t ,Mchael Har dt , Syl vr e Lot r i nger ,Mchael Ryan, andTomYemm

Transl at i on copyr i ght990 Semotext(e)Semotext(e)522Phi l osophy Hal lCol umb aUni vers i tyNewYork, NY10027USA

Pr i nt ed i n t he Uni t ed States of Ameri ca


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The pr oj ect : t o rescue "communi smf romt s owndi sr eput e. Once i nvoked as t hel i ber at i on of work t hrough mnki nd' s col -l ect i ve cr eat i on, communi smhas i nst eads t i f l e d humni t y. Wwho see i n commu-ni smhe l i berat i on of bot h col l ect i ve and i n-di vi dual possi bi l i t i es must reverse t hat r egi -ment at i on of t hought and des i r e whi ch t e r -mnat es t he i ndi vi dual .

Bankrupt : t he col l ect i vi st regi meshave f a i l e d t o real i ze soci al i st or communi sti deal s . Capi tal i smtoo has pl ayed f ast andl oose w thpromsesof l i bert y, equal i t y, prog-ress and enl i ght enment . Forget capi t al i smandsoci al i sm I nst ead wehave i n pl ace one vastmchi ne, extendi ng over t he pl anet an en-sl avement of al l mnki nd. Every aspect ofhuman l i f e -work, chi l dhood, l ove, l i f e ,t hought , f ant asy, ar t - s depri ved of di g-n i t y i n thi s workhouse. Everyone f eel s onl yt he threat of soci al demse: uneml oyment ,wel f ar e.


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Work i t s e l f def aul t s on i t s promseofdevelopi ng t he r e l at i ons between human tyand t he mat er i al envi ronment ; noweveryoneworks f ur i ous l y, t o evade evi ct i on, yet on yhast eni ng t hei r ownexpul si on f romt he me-chani cal process t hat workhas become.I ndeed work i t s e l f -as organ zedby capi t al i s m or s oci al i s m-has becomet he i nt e r s e ct i on of i r r at i onal soci al reproduc-t i on and ampl i f i e d soci al const ra i nt s . F e t t e r s-r rati onal soci al const rai nt s-ar e t hus att he foundati on of a l l s ubj e ct i ve consci ous-ness formed i n t he work process . Andestab-l i s hi ng t hi s col l ect i ve s ubj e ct i vi t y of r es t r i c-t i on and s ur v ei l l anc e i s t he f i r s t i mperat i veof t he capi t al i s t work appar at us. Sel f - s ur vei l -l ance and doubt prevent any i nt i mat i ons ofescape, and preempt any que s t i oni ng of t hepol i t i cal , l egal ormoral l e gi t i mac y of t he sys-t em Noonecanwthdrawf romt hi s c api t al -i s t l egal i t y of bl i ndness andabsurd goal s .Each i nst ance of work, eachsequence,i s "overdetermned" by t he i mperat i ves ofc api t al i s t r epr oduct i on; every ac t i on hel ps t os o l i d i f y t he hi erar chi es of val ue and author-i t y . Andyet-why i s i t t hat t he di scus-

CouvuNsTsI KE Us 9s i on of communi sm s taboo? Thi s di s c our s ei s defamed and ban shedby t he verypeoplei t pr et ends t o l i ber at e f rom hei r chai ns. Coul di t be due t o t he seduct i ve, " pr o gr e s s i vi s t " ra-t i onal i t y of capi t al i s mand i t s or gani zat i on ofwork?'

Af t er a l l , c api t al i s t workarrangementshave succeededi n appr opr i at i ng t he di s c our s eof communi sm-an anal ys i s of l abor andi t s l i be r at or y power-andreduced i t t o t ech-ni quesof mani pul at i on: "Arbei t Macht Fr ei . "Event he s oci al i s t var i et i es trumpet recoveryand r e c ons t r uc t i on as though t hese were i n-st r ument al goal s at t ai nabl e t hrough t echni calmeans. The " et hi c " of soci al r e vol ut i on hasbecome i ns t e ad an ghtmareof l i ber at i on be-t r ayed, and t he vi s i on of t he future i s f r e i ght e dwtha t e r r i b l e i n e r t i a . . .

Not so l ongago, t he c r i t i que of capi -t a l i s mwas di r e c t e d at i t s dest ru ct i ve, pene-t r at i ng mar ket . Todaywesubmt t o i t s t rau-mat i zat i on of our soul s, pas s i ve l y assumngt hat rei nvest ment st rategi es ar e t he l east op-pr e s s i ve formof pl ann ng-and s oci al i s mor capi t al i s mbecomes amoot poi nt .So noweverythi ng must be rei n-vent ed: t he purpose of work as wel l as t he


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modal i t i es of soci al l i f e , r i ghts as wel l asf r eedoms. Ww l l once agai n begi n to de-f i ne communi smas t he col l ect i ve str uggl ef or t he l i berat i on of work, t hat i s , at once, anend to t he current si tuati on!

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Emty-headed economsts domnateal l over t he gl obe-and yet t he pl anet i sdevast ated, perhaps i nexor abl y. Wmust af-f i r m f i r s t of al l that there i s mre t han onepat h: t he path of capi tali st i meri umand/ orsoci al i st/col l ecti vi st work form whose per-si stence and v ita l i ty depend to a l ar ge parton our own i ncapaci t y t o r edef i ne work as apr oj ect andaprocess of l i berati on. Ww l ldef i ne communi smas t he assort ment of so-ci al pr act i ces l eadi ng t o t he t r ansformat i onof consci ousness and real i ty on every l evel :pol i ti cal and soci al , hi stori cal and everyday,consci ous andunconsci ous. Recogni zi ng t hatdi scour se i s act i on, wew l l forge anewdi s-course i n such a f ashi on as t o i ni t i at e t hedestr uct i on of t he ol d way. But our commu-ni smw l l not f or al l t hat be a spectre haunt-i ng t he ol d Europe. . . We rather envi sage an

CovmuNsrsu Us 11i magi nat i ve, creati ve pr ocess at once si ngu-l ar and col l ecti ve, sweepi ng t he worl dwthagreat waveof r efusal andof hope. Communi sms not hi ng other than a c a l l t o l i f e : t obreak t he enci r cl ement of t he capi tali st andsoci al i st or gani zat i on of work, whi ch t odayl eads not onl y t o a cont i nui ng sur pl us of re-pr essi on and expl oi t ati on, but to t he exti nc-t ion of t heworl dandhumni tywth i t .

Expl oi t at i on has advanced, on t hebasi s of nucl ear accumul ati on, t o becom athreat of execut i on; t he cycl es of war andt hedanger of destr ucti on are wel l known. Nowweare not det erm ni sts-but t oday i t i s notonl ydeterm ni sts whor ecogni ze that t he endi s , i f not near, cert ai nl y cl ose by, especi al l yi f weabandon power t o t he capi tal i st andsoci al i st j ugger nauts of l abor . Prevent i ngca-tastrophe w l l requi r e a col l ect i ve mbi l i za-t ion f or f reedom

Conti nui ng. . .Wydoes everyday l i f e t rembl e w t hf ear and l oat hi ng? Thi s f ear i s not t he stateof nature as descri bed byHobbes-hat ol d

excuse of t he war of al l agai nst a l l , i ndi vi d-ual w l l s fragmnted i n a thi rst f or power.Rather what wehave now i s a transcenden-


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t a l , yet actual l y manmade f ear whi ch seepsi nt o every mnd wth i mmobi l i zi ng, cata-str ophi c dread. I ndeed hope i t s e l f has f l edthi s hopel ess, hapl ess, grey worl d. Beyondmal ai se, l i f e si nks i nto sadness, boredomandmnotony, wth no chance t o break out oft he mrass of absur di t y. Commn cati on-speech, conver sat i on, banter , even conspi r-acy has al l beentaken i n by t he "di scour se"of mass medi a. I nt er per sonal rel ati ons l i ke-wse have spoi l ed, and ar e now char act er -i zed by i ndi f f er ence, di si ngenuous di sgust andsel f -hatred- n a word we re a l l suf f er i ngfrombad f a i t h.

Amzi ngl y, t he f abr i c of humanf eel -i ngs has i tse l f come unr avel ed, si nce i t nol onger succeeds i n connecti ng t he t hr eads ofdesi r e andhope. Asa r esul t , t hi s pseudo-warhas passedover t he worl d f or 30year s wth-out i t s key f eatur es be ng not i ced; t he Col dWar escapes unrecognzed as t he t rue cul -p r i t .

Duri ng t hat whol e t i me, humancon-sci ousness has beengrounddowni nto some-th i ng mremnageabl e evencompl i ci t . Ast he i ndi vi dual si nks i nt o i sol ated despai r , a l lt he bui l t up val ues i n t he worl d col l apse

COMMUNSTSI KE Us 13aroundhi mFear breeds i motenceandpa-ral ysi s of every sort . On y thi s col l ect i ve stu-pef acti on pr event s onrushi ng despai r f romreachi ng i t s l ogi cal concl usi on i n col l ect i vesui ci de; apparentl y ther e' s not enough pas-s i on l e f t f or such a cr i sp t r ansf ormat i on. Butt he r eal t r agedy i s t hat expl oi tati on masquer-ades as f ear : i ndi vi dual ext ensi ons-of de-sir es and hoped- f or t he f uture-havebeensi ml y pr ohi bi t ed, but under ametaphysi cal ,rather than pol i t i cal gui se.

Andyet . Andyet a l l t he deve opmntsi n t he sci ences andi n t he pr oduct i ve capaci -t i e s of l abor poi nt t o the exi stence of anal -ternati ve. Extermnati onor commn sms t hechoi ce-but thi s commn smmst bemrethan j ust t he shar i ng of wea th (who wantsa l l thi s shi t?) -t mst i naugurat e a whol enewway of worki ng t ogether .Rea commni smonsi st s i n creat i ngthe condi t i ons f or human r enewal : acti vi t i esi n whi ch peopl e candeve op theme ves asthey produce, organi zat i ons i n whi ch t he i n-di vi dual i s val uabl e r ather than f unct i onal .Accoml i shi ng thi s r equi r es amvement-t o change t he char acter of work i t s e l f . Andr edef i ni ng work as creat i ve act i vi ty canon y


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happen as i ndi vi dual s emerge froms t i f l e d ,emot i onal l y bl ocked rhythm of const r ai nt .I t w l l t ake more t han t he w l l t o change, i nthe cur r ent si tuati on; t o resi st neut ral i zat i oni t sel f demands desi r e.

Par adoxi cal as i t seem, work can bel i berated because i t i s essent i al l y t he onehumanmode of exi st ence which i s si mul t a-neousl y col l ecti ve, rat i onal and i nt erdepend-ent . I t gener at es sol i dar i ty. Capi t al i smandsoc i a l i smhave onl y succeeded i n subj ugat-i ngwork t o a soci al mechani smwhich i s l o-gocent r i c or paranoi d, aut hor i t ar i an and po-tent i al l y dest r uct i ve. Bymeans of progres-s i ve st r uggl es, workers i n t he advanced i n-dustr i al count r i es have succeeded i n l ower-i ng t he t hr eshol d of di rect anddangerous ex-pl oi tat i on; but th is has been countered bychanges i n t he char acter of t hat domnati on.Modemexpl oi t at i on accent uat es t he di spar-i t y between r i c h and poor count r i es-nowi t i s unf ree workers i n underdeveloped na-t i ons who bear t he brunt of expl oi t at i onthrough vi ol ence and t he threat of hunger.The rel at i ve improvement i n t he s i tuat i on oft he "Met ropol i t anProl et ari at " i s bal ancedbyextermnati on i n t he Thi rd and Fourth

COMMUNSTSw Us 15Worl ds. As cont radi cti ons bui l t i nto workhave proceeded t o t hei r l i m t , i t i s not anacci dent t hat t he l i berat i on of work cannowbe accompl i shedbyworkers i n t he most ad-vanced sectors of sci ence and t echnol ogy.What i s at stake i s t he fundamental ab i l i t y ofcommuni t i es- , raci al and soci al groups, i ndeedmnor i t i es of every kind t o conquer and es-tabl i sh autonomous modes of expressi on-not j ust l i f estyl es, but t he work process i t -s e l f .

There i s nothi ng i nevi t abl e aboutwork-no dest i ny l eads work i nto evergreater r epr essi ons. I n fact, t he potent i al f orl i berat i on i nherent i nwork i tse l f i s more vi s -i b l e t han ever . Howcan Capi t al cont i nue t opr esent i t s work pr ocess as natur al and un-changeabl e, when f or t echni cal reasons i t i schanging every day? Thi s unexamned gapi n t he l ogi c of work i s t he opening throughwhichnewmovements of soci al transforma-t i o n w l l charge pel l mel l .

Tradi t i onal l y, t he r ef usal t o work, asan i nst ance of st r uggl e and as spontaneousacti on, has aimed at those structures whichare obstac l es t o t he real l i berat i on of work.Fromnowon, t hat st r uggl e i nvol ves appro-


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pr i at i ng anewcapi tal , t hat of acol l ec t i ve i n-te l l i gence gained i n f reedom t he experi enceand knowedge t hat comes f rombreakingdownt he onedimensi onal exper i ence of pres-ent day capi t al i sm Thi s i nvol ves a l l proj ect sof awakenng and bui l di ng towards l i bera-ti on; i n short, anythi ng that hel ps r ec l ai mmastery over work t i me, t he essent i al component of l i f e t i me. Al l t he current catch-words of capi tal i st producti on i nvoke th i ssame strategy : t he r evol ut i onar y di f f us i on ofi nf ormat i on t echnol ogi es among a newcol -l ec t i ve subj ecti vit y. Thi s i s t he newter rai nof st ruggl e, and i t i s not ut opi an t o bel i evet hat consci ousness i t s e l f i s t he "swngvoter"deci di ng i f capi tal i st or non- capi t al i s t roadsare taken. Once, knowedgeand power werestockpi l ed l i k e somany canon or mssi l es;nowt he empoweri ng of a col l ec t i ve con-sci ousness, part of the turmoi l of theworkplace threatens to uni t e smal l arms i n t oamass revol t .

Fromthi s perspect i ve, commun sm st he est abl i shment of a communal l i f e sty le i nwhi ch i ndi vi dual i t y i s recogn zed and t rul yl i berated, not mere y opposed t o t he col l ec -ti ve. That ' s t he most i mportant l esson: t h a t

CoMMuNsIs LamUs 17

the const ructi on of heal t hy commun ti es be-gi ns andends wthunquepersonal i t i es, t hatthe col l ec t i ve pot ent i al 2 i s real i zed on ywhent he si ngul ar i s free. Thi s i nsi ght i s funda-mental t o t he l i berat i on of work. Work asexpl oi tat i on has completed i t s deve opmentof t he gener al , t he mass, t he producti on l i ne;what' snowpossi bl e i s t o t ap i nt o t he poten-t i a l of i ndi vi dual creati ve energi es, pr evi ousl ysuppressed. Nothing l ess thanageneti c break-t hrough, thi s rhi zome* of autonomy i n t heworkplace can establ i sh i t sel f as a produc-t i ve enhancement-and a seri ous chal l enget o t he deadwe ght of bur eaucr ati c c api t a l i smwth i t s "over-coded" and de- i ndi vi dual i zedi ndi vi dual .

Makeno mstake about i t : commu-n sm s not abl i nd, r educt i oni st col l ec t i vi smdependent on r epressi on. I t i s t he si ngul arexpressi on f or t he combi ned producti vi t y ofi ndi v i dual s and groups ( " col l ec t i vi t i es" ) emphat i cal l y not r educi bl e t o each other . I f i t i snot a conti nuous reaf f i rmat i on of si ngul ari ty,then i t i s nothi ng-and so i t i s not para-doxi cal t o def i ne commun smas t he processof si ngul ari zat i on. Communi smcannot bereduced i n anywaywhatsoever t o an i deo-


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18 FEUxGUA1TAR &ON NEGRl ogi cal bel i ef system a si mpl e l egal contract,or even to an abstract egal i tar i ani sm I t i spar t of a conti nuous process whi ch runsthroughout hi stor y, entai l i ng a quest i oni ngof t he col l ect i ve goal s of work i t s e l f .

Gimpses of these newal l i ances ar eal r eady avai l abl e. They began t o formandseek eachother out at t he t i meof t he sponta-nei st and creati ve phase, whi ch of coursedevel oped par al l el t o t he bi g break-up andreal i gnment i n capi tal i st soci ety to whi chwehave been w tness over t he past three dec-ades. To better l ocate and appr eci ate thei ri mpor t ance, onecandi sti ngui sh:*"molar antagoni sm": str uggl es i nt he workpl ace over expl oi tati on, cr i ti ci smsof t he or gani zat i on of work, of i t s form f romt he perspecti ve of l i berati on;

" "molecul ar prol i f erat i on" of thesei sol ated i nstances of str uggl e i n t o t he out si deworl d, i n whi ch si ngul ar str uggl es i r r evers i -bl y transformt he r el ati ons betweeni ndi vi du-al s and col l ect i vi t i es on t he one hand, mate-r i a l nat ur e and l i ngui st i c si gns (meani ngs)ont he other .

Thus t he maturi ng soci al transf orma-ti ons, whi ch i n turn af f ect pr oduct i ve wor k

CovusnsTsna Us 19arrangements, ar e i nduced, piecemeal , byeach and every mol ar antagoni sm anystr uggl e agai nst capi tal i st and/or soci al i stpower f ormati ons contr i butes to over al l trans-f ormati on. Soci al , pol i t i cal andworkpl acead-vances condi t i on each other . But, and t hi s i sour poi nt, t he r evol uti onar y t r ansf or mat i onoccurs i n t he creati on of a newsubj ecti veconsci ousness born of t he col l ect i ve workexperi ence-th is moment i s pri mary, al lstakes are wonor l ost her e, i n t he col l ect i vecreati on of subj ecti vi ty by i ndi vi dual s. Wneed t o save t he gl or i ous dreamof commu-ni smfromJ acobi n' mysti f i cati ons andSt a- l i n i s ti ghtmares al i ke; l e t ' s gi ve i t back th ispower of art i cul ati on: an al l i ance, betweenthe l i berat i on of work and t he l i berat i on ofsubj ecti vi ty.

Si ngul ari ty, autonomy, and f reedomare the three banners whi ch uni te i n sol i dar -i ty every str uggl e agai nst t he capi tal i st and!or soci al i st orders. Fromnowon, th is al l i -ance i nvent s newform of freedom i n t heemanci pati on of work and i n t he work ofemanci pat i on.


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20 FEUx GUATrAR&TMNEGRI2THEREVOLUTIONBEGANN' 68

I . SOCIALIZEDPRODUCTIONI t i s not necessary t o s i t readi ng i n acaf t o real i ze t hat t he cycl e of revol ut i on

reopened i n 1968, and i ndeed achi eved i t shi gh watermrkof i ntensi ty. What wasonl yan i ndi cat i on i n 1917, andwh chsubsequentwars of nat i onal l i berat i on fai l ed t o achevei n any l ast i ng way, was brought t o l i ght byt he events of 1968 as t he immdi ate possi -bi l i t y of col l ect i ve consci ousness andacti on.

Yes, commni sm s poss i bl e. I t i strue, morenowthan ever, t hat i t haunts t heol d worl d. 1968 reveal ed t he f r agi l i t y of t hesoci al contracts i nstal l ed success i vel y t o con-t ai n t he revol ut i onary movemnts of t he be-gi nni ngof t he cent ury, thosewh chfo l owedt he bi g c r i s i s of 1929 and t he movemntswh chaccomani edand fol l owed t he secondgreat i mperi al i st war. Howeverone vi ews t heevents of 1968, i t i s undeni abl e t hat they re-veal ed t he fai l ure of thi s soci al comromse

CoMvu4smnu Us 21t o el i m nate or supersede t he ant agoni st i ccont radi cti ons of t he capi tal i st s yst ems .Ww l l nowexamne t he three se-r i es of mat er i al t r ansf ormat i ons wh ch con-cern t he qual i ty, t he di mens i ons , and t he formof capi tal i st "pr oduci ng", and by doi ng so,hi ghl i ght those newobj ect i ve start i ng poi nt sfromwh chany effort t o change soci et y w l lhave t o begi n.The qual i ty of produci ng. The strug-gl e between t he working cl ass es and thoseof t he capi tal i st and/ or soci al i s t bosses hadresul t ed i n a systemof producti on t hat wasmore concent r ated and "mass i f i ed. " The impos s i bi l i t y of rat i onal l y overcomng cri ses,wh ch revealed t he soci al pol ar i zat i on' ofpower, l ed t o t he efforts at mnagi ng t hest rongl y cent ral i zed, pl annedeconomes, bothcapi tal i st and soci al i s t . I n thi s newenvi ron-mnt, t he cl assi cal l awof val ue no l ongeroperatedas an express i on of t he rel at i on be-tween concrete real l abor and amounts ofmoney needed t o secure an exi st ence. Thenewvers i on of t he l awi nst ead rel at ed hugemsses of "abstract" or undi f f erent i ated l a-bor t o t he ether eal i nformti on mchneswh chsuppl ant i ndust ri al producti on. Labor


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22FELIxGUATFAR &TomNEGR Co%I rVuMsTs Ln Us 23i s "deter r i to r i al i zed" -w t hout f oundati onor meani ng, i t neuro t i cal l y succumbs t o apr ocess whi ch depr i ves worki ng peopl e ofknowedge even as i t i s essent i al l y know-edgecreat i ng act i vi t y i n t he f i r s t pl ace. Mod-emworkwas creat i ng a gl obal , i nf ernal di s -ci pl i nary appar at us, i n whi ch t he constr ai nt swere i nvi si bl e: educat i onal and i nf ormati onconstr ai nt s whi ch pl aced t he worker at al lt i mes under t he sway of capi t al . Nol ongeran ei ght hour wage-sl ave, t he worker nowproduced and consumed conti nuousl y f orcapi t al . Capi t al i n t he process becamemoresoci al i zed, advanci ngsoci al cooperat i on, i n-t egrat i ng t he col l ect i ve forces of l abor evenas i t t urned soc i et y i nt o a gi ant factory, i nwhi ch t he pac i f i ed consumng cl asses wereorgani zed i nt o uni ons.Det er r i t onal i zed producti on si gni f i est hat work and l i f e ar e no l onger separat e;soci ety i s col l apsed i nt o t he l ogi c and proc-esses of capi tal i st devel opment . The conse-quences of t h i s assi m l at i onof soci ety t oworkar e profound: Al l t he guarant ees and re-sour ces of t he wel f are state-(wage sys-t ems, unempl oyment i nsurance, f aml yassi s-t ance, pensi ons etc. -were i ntensi f i ed, but

now hey became par t of t he pr oduct i on proc-ess i t s e l f , rather t hansoci al def enses agai nstcapi tal i st di sl ocat i ons. Soci al wel f are i n factbecame a soci al dream as t he producti onpr ocess remade soci ety i n i t s owni mage, t hathi gh degree of abstr acti on was t r ansfe r red tosoci al l i f e . Producti on nowconferred mmbershi p i n soci et y. As t he i ndependent var i -abl e, producti onstamps soc i et ywth i t s char-acteri st i c, l eavi ng no regi on unt ouched. Anequat i on i s est abl i shed, i n whi ch capi tal i stadvancement andexpl oi t at i on ar e seenas es-sent i al features of soci al machi nery- hatt hi s i s t hemeani ng of soci ety, andof coursei t has become t r u e. . .

The pol i t i cal consequences of thi st r ansf ormati on ar e equal l y profound. Ahi ghdegree of pol i t i cal mobi l i zat i on, evi dent i nt he demand f or pol i t i cal part i c i pat i on growi ng out of a cent ury of revol ut i on and cl assconsci ousness, has expanded but then di ssi -pated i nt o a soci al consci ousness . Al l t he ef-fo r ts of t he bosses, who ar e consci ous of thi snewsoci al i zat i on, consi st of mai nt ai ni ng i t-ei t her through democrati c or t ot al i t ar i anmeans-w t hi n t he f ramework of i nst i tu-t i ons andof rul es f or di vi di ng t he soci al prod-


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24 FELI X GUATTAR&oN NEGRI

uct, whi chpermt them o reproduce and t hust o rei nf orce t hei r commandi ng posi t i ons, i namanner t hat t r ansf orms economc i n t o po-l i t i c a l power.Before examni ng t he consequencesof th is t r ansf ormat i on of command, i t i s i m

port ant t o recogni ze another essent i al aspectof t he changi ngchar act er of pr oduct i on. Theemer gence of soc i al i zat i on as a cruc i al component of producti onhas nat ura l l y affectedt he producti on process i t s e l f . Soc i al i zat i on,t ypi c al l y vi ewed as a formal qual i t y, mutatesi n t o asubst ant i ve one: Onemay observe, f orexampl e, howt he soc i al i zat i on of rural peas-ant s accompani es t hei r l oss of i ndependence,or howservi ce sect or workers l ose soci alcohesi on as t hey ar e f unc t i onal l y absorbedi n t o r i gi d, mechani zedproducti on processes.

Upt o thi s poi nt , however, t he i ndus-t r i a l modes of producti on associ ated wt hc api t al i smand soc i al i smhadonl y takenpos-sessi on of soci al i nequal i t i es f romt he out-si de, so t o speak. The great conf l agrat i on of1968 demonst rated t hat t he new economctechni ques now i mpl i cated t he domai n ofsoci al reproduct i on. Bef ore t hen, t he worl dof producti onwas basedonexchange val ues

COMMUNSTSLn Us 25

(commodi ty pr oduct i on) and t he reproduc-t i on of useval ue ( u t i l i t y ) . Al l t hat i s over . I nth is regard, one coul d consi der the move-ments of t hat peri od as necessary pre l i mnar -i es . . .

Nowhe remai ni ngpri vat e sphere-f aml y, per sonal l i f e , f ree t i me, and perhapseven f ant asy and dreams-ever yt hi ng fromt hat poi nt onbecame subj ect ed t o t he semot-i cs of capi t al . Thi s t r ansf ormat i on took pl acer egar dl ess of pol i t i cal cl i mate: democr at i c,f asc i st , soc i al i st . Soc i al i zed producti on suc-ceeded i n i mposi ngi t s l aw i t s l ogi c , on ev-er y f acet of soci al l i f e on ear t h, vampi ri st i -c a l l y appropri at i ng f ree t i me, t he l i f e bl oodof humani ty.The event s of 1968 posed themel vesas an ant agoni sti c recogni t i on of th is t rans-formati onof t he soci al qual i t y of producti onand wor k procedures. I n a chaot i c but none-t hel ess convincing way, they reveal ed t hefundamental cont radi c t i on at t he baseof t heset r ansf ormat i ons, t hat of conf err i ng an i mmense producti ve capabi l i t y t o humani tywhi l e at t he same ti me i mposi nga newpro-l eta r i an dest i ny. Thi s dest i ny ori gi nat ed i npermanent expr opri at i on, i n t he det err i t ori -


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26 FELI X GUAUAR &ON NEGRI Cow , i umTs LIKE Us 27al i z at i on that al l ows nohomebase, no sol i -dari ty, no r ecour se, no guar ant ees, and ex-t ends not onl y throughout soci al l i f e but i n t ot he unconsci ous.

General i zed expl oi t at i on, at a l l l evel sof soci et y, had t he ef f ect of r edef i ni ng pro-ducti on as t he source of new "suppl emen-t a l " sour ces of unhappi ness, andcorrespond-i ngl y newform of po l i t i ca l , evenmcro-po-l i t i c a l conf l i ct . The newmodes of produc-t i o n- nt egr ati ve, to tal i z i ng, subt l y t o t a l i -ta r i an -ef f ect i vel y transf ormed the ol dmodes of economc sl aver y i n t o t hi nl y di s -gui sed cul t ur al and pol i t i cal subj ecti on. Astr uggl e ensued, which attempted t o reduceal l r esi stance agai nst t he supposed economcnecessi t y t o power l essness . But i t i s pr eci sel ythi s t r ansf er of " t otal i t ar i st " obj ecti ves t o t hemnute, molecular l evel s of everyday exi s-tence which gi ves r i s e i n t ur n t o new formof r esi stance on t hese most i mmedi ate l ev-el s, throwng i nt o r el i ef the ent i re probl emof i ndi vi dual and col l ect i ve i sol at i on.I n 1968, t hi s new" react i vi t y " ex-pressed i t se l f i n t he f ormof a tremendousshor tci r cui t . I t woul d be usel ess t o t r y t omysti fy t hese event s, as the sof t heads of re-

covery have t r i e d . I t woul dbeusel ess at thi spoi nt t o sti gmat i ze t he return of t he greatmonsoons of i r ra t iona l i t y. Andwhat woul dsuchr ef erences t o rat i onal i t y si gni f y anyway,i n aworl d i n whi ch f unct i onal i sm i s s t r i c t l ygeared toward Capi t al , whi ch i n i t se l f con-sti tutes amaximzati onof i r r a t i onal i t y? Thequest i on whi ch remai ns posed si nce 1968 i srather t hat of knowng how t o establ i sh acreat i ve and l i bera t i ng rel at i on betweenhap-pi ness and i nst r ument al r eason.From' 68 on, wehave al sowtnessedan i nver s i on of t he cyc l e of st r uggl es agai nstcol oni al i smandunderdevel opment, andsomeat t empt s at i nt er nal moderni zati on haveap-pear ed, on t he part of t hemoredynamc sec-tors of t he capi ta l i st and soci al i st bourgeoi -si es. But there i s a bi g di f f er ence betweent hese i deol ogi cal e f fo r ts-i p ser vi ce, basi -c a l l y-and t he real i t i es of expl oi t at i on andnewform of concr et e r esi stance.

1968 expr esses t he act ual reopeni ngof a c r i t i c a l consci ousness, i t se l f t he crysta l i -zat i on of obj ect i ve changes wthi n t he workf or ce and producti on gener al l y. Thi s recog-ni t i on appeared at f i r s t as r ebel l i on, and as anew openi ng i t s e l f made possi bl e by eco-


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28 FELI X GUATTARI&ON NEGRI

nomc growth, i t s i mpasse, c r i s i s , and t heconsequent ref l exes of rej ecti on. The essen-t i a l f orce of 1968 resi des i n t he fact that f ort he f i r s t ti me i n t he hi story of human revol tsagai nst expl oi t ati on, t he obj ect i ve was notsi mpl e emanci pati on, but a true l i berati on,extendi ng beyond the removal of obvi ous,i ndi vi dual chai ns. Themovements at t ai ned agl obal l evel ref l ected i n a heightened con-sci ousness of t he hi stori cal l i nkage of si ngu-l ar str uggl es. For t he f i r s t t i me at t hat l evelof i ntensi ty, t hemol ar macrocosm and t hemolecular mcrocosm-he gl obal and t hel ocal -began t o combi ne i n t he same sub-ver si ve whi r l w nd.

The event s of 1968 t husmarkthereo-peni ng of a revol uti onar y cycl e. Not by t herepet i t i on of ol d sl ogans, but throught he i n-t er venti on of newper spect i ves onacti on, andby a redef i ni t i on of communi smas enri ch-mnt, di versi f i cat i on of communi ty and con-sci ousness. Cert ai nl y t hemovement remainedi nsepar abl e f romt he devel opment of previ -ous soci al st r uggl es, and t he redepl oymntof theemployers' capaci t y f or resi stance andattack, but an i mportant hi stori cal qual i tati vel eap never t hel ess occur r ed. At t hat poi nt o f

CouNsmUKE Us 29i ndi vi dual r adi cal f ul f i l l ment, what was re-qui r ed t o gener al i ze revol ut i on among a si g-ni f i cant port i on of t he popul ati on? Nothi ngshort of a soci al cyc l ot ron: t he gener at i on ofan i mmense col l ec t i ve ener gy, t he accel era-t i o n of i deas and emot i ons. I n 1968, a revo-l u t i on worthy of t he most aut henti c aspi ra-t ions of humani tywas born.

I I . BEYONDPOLI TI CSAt t he ti me of t hese movements, t he

r ef usal by l i v i n g soci al l abor of t he organi -zat i on of pr ofi t - based capi tal i smand/ or so-c i al i smbegan t o spread i n t o t he pol i t i calarena. Froma mul t i pl i c i ty of si ngul ar con-f l i c t s agrand opposi t i on arose, di rec t l y con-f ront i ng t he pol i ti cal power r esponsi bl e f oradmni ster i ng soci al pr oduct i on. Tr adi t i onalpol i t i cs found i tsel f compl etely cut of f f romthi smass movement of col l ec t i ve consci ous-ness; i t sharedno groundwth t he transfor-mati on of subj ecti vi ty. Tr adi t i onal pol i t i cssucceeded i n gr aspi ng i t onl y f romt he out-si de, by att empt i ng t o s t a l l , r epr ess, and f i -nal l y to restr uc ture and recover on i t s own.But by thi s very msapprehensi on and de-


16/90

30 FELI x GuA1- rARI&TOMNEGRIt hai , i t merel y demonstrated i t s ownpower-l essness.

Pol i t i cs today i s nothi ng more thant he expressi on of t he domnati on of deadstructures over t he ent i r e range of l i v i n g pro-duct i on. Ashort t i me ago, at t he end of t hegreat revol ut i onary peri ods, hi s t or y wtnesseds i m l a r pol i t i cal restorat i ons, which had noother goal than to "cover" t he fundamentalabsenceof l egi t i macy on t he part of t he e l i t e swhoregainedpower. The pr i nces whogov-ern us seemt o have r et ur ned, i n t he mostabsurd of ways, on t he same perverse andempty st ages, i n t he same vi c i ous cycl eswhichappeared i n t he aftermathof t he GreatRevol uti on and t he Napol eoni c epoch. ( I t i ssuf f i c i ent here t o c i t e The Chart er house ofParma. )And Hegel ' s remark comes t o mnd:"Thi s temp e deci dedl y l acks rel i gi on, Ger-many l acks met aphysi cs, Europe humani ty,reformsmi magi nat i on. . . "On the other hand, t he c ol l ec t i vei mag nati on remai ns al i ve, but i t can nol onger concei ve of pol i t i cs out s i de of t heparadi gm andavenues of changewhichbe-gan t o appear i n1968.

CouNsmm Us 31Thi s i s t rue f i r s t of al l f or t he t r adi -

t i ona l l e f t . The hi s to r i cal communi st part i es ,pr i soners of ant i quat edparadi gm of produc-t i on, di d not even succeed i n i mag ni ng t herevol ut i onary force of t h e s oci al modeof pro-ducti onwhi chwas i n t he process of emerg-i ng. I ncapabl e of separat i ng themelves fromcent r al i s t or gani zat i ona l model s der i vi ng fromaparadi gmati c spl i t between t he avant -gardeand t he masses, they found themelves di s-or i ent ed and f r i ghtened i n t he f ace of t heunexpected sel f - organi z at i on of a soc i a lmovement .

Loyal t o t he one dimensi onal dest i nyof t he re fo rms t movement, theyexperi encedthe exp osi on of newdemands i n theworkp ace, and of newdes i r es i n t he soci o-cul t ural wor l d, as a catast r ophe whi ch l i t e r -a l l y l e f t them n aparanoid sta te. The sameappl i es t o a l esser degree t o soci al demo-cr at i c f or ces.

I n t he "ac tua l l y exi s t i ng s oci al i s t "count ri es, t he reac t i on was extremely brutal ,whi l e i n t he West, i t was more i ns i di ous,maneuverabl e, w l l i ng t o compromse.I n al l of t hese i nst ances, one f i ndst he same i nvar i ant s: -oci a l conserva t i sm


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32 FELI X GUATrAR&ToMNEGR1

combi ned w th a syst emati c cor porat i st ef -f o r t t o channel and co-opt str uggl es;-po-l i t i c a l r eacti on, combi ni nga recourse t o Statepower wthanappeal to tr adi ti onal structures,i n an attempt to r eestabl i sh t he l egi t i macy oft he ol d "el i tes"; -he squanderi ng of col -l ect i ve subj ecti vi ty, i n par ti cul ar through i n-tense use of the mass medi a, governmentalagenci es, and t he Wel fare State as awhol e.I nf act, t he l e f t par ti es have beendev-astated by t he ef f ects of t he movement of' 68 and, even more so, by t he col l ecti ve-si ngul ar movement s whi ch have emergedsi nce then as t he bearer s of soci al tr ansf or -mat i on. Thel ef t has att ached i tsel f evenmoret o the tr adi ti onal s t a t i s t structures; and i ndoi ng so i t has j ett i soned i t s own r el ati on-shi p of conf l i ct andcompromse, and thus i t sownbasi s of l egi t i macy. But these structureswere i r r evocabl y al t er ed by the counter -at -t acks of ' 68; f romthen on, the ol d pol i t i cscoul dno l onger hi de i t s cadaverous f ace. Theconsti tuti onal and i nsti tuti onal structures ofdevel oped count r i es east andwest f i n d themsel ves t o be doubl y undermned: f romt hei nsi de, by thei r sever e i nabi l i t y t o adapt ; andf romout si de, by t he newform of l abor pr o-

COMvI uN STh Ln Us 33

t e s t , r ef l ected i n t he i ncr ease of margi nal andpar t - t i me "non-guaranteed" worker s, ' as wel las other numerous mnor i t i es whor ej ect t hestatus quo. Thi s i mpasse has precl uded anypossi bi l i ty of r enewal .

Al l " pr ogr essi ve" capi tal i st perspec-ti ves, whi ch woul d have i nvol ved i ncreasedpopul ar par ti ci pati on, were systemat i cal l ybl ocked. Consti t uti onal structures, whetherthey be capi tal i st or soci al i st, democrat i c ortotal i tar i an, have cert ai nl y experi encedchange, but typi cal l y i n negat i ve t erms, al -ways cut of f f romsoci al movements whoseef f ects they endur e, and al ways by myst i fy-i ng t he actual oper at i on of t he syst emof po-l i t i c a l r epresentati on.

Atempti ng to respond t o t hi s decl i nei n t he i nsti tuti ons of popul ar pol i t i cal repre-sentat i on, power has resorted t o t echni quesof anti ci pati on and substi tuti on, opti ng f orsymbol i c si mul at i on, adaptati on andcontrol .At t he moment when t he whol e of soci et ywas f i nal l y absorbed i n to product i on, andt heenti r ety of worki ng and everyday l i f e wasexposed as fundamental l y pol i t i cal , that po-l i t i c a l char acter was r epr essed, deni ed andmani pul ated. What a gothi c sort of soci et y


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34 FEuxGUATrAR&omEGRI C0MMuT%nsTs Li i o Us 35

whi chcanmaintai nas i t s onl y i deal a vi s i onof castl es and courts compl etely removedf roma l l real l i f e , these smal l ar i stocrat i c urn-verses whi char e bl i nd t o t he newaspi rati onsf or freedom newt e r r i t o r i a l i t i e s str i vi ng f orautonomy! But how el se can one descr i bethese pol i t i cal ari stocraci es when, f romthei rfortresses, t hey att empt t o i mpose a s t r a t i f i -cat i on of soci ety, devoidof consi st ency, sub-st i tut i ng i nst ead a general arrogance, an i n-di f f erent cruel t y?D sease, corr upt i on, plagueandmd-ness spread w thi nthese cl osed uni ver ses j ustas they di d i n t he rul i ng houses of t he anci enrgi me. But t h e i r t i me i s r unni ng ou t : we a r ea t t he t h r e s h ol d between s u f f e r i n g and t hemoment when h i s t o r y' s pot e nt i a l w i l l r e a l i z ei t s e l f . Thep a r a l y s i s of p o l i t i c a l s t r u c t u r e s anda l l t he current governmental "di f f i cul t i es" ar eboth symptoms and spec i f i c t r a i t s of mori -bund power f ormat i ons; t hey are i ncapabl eof adj ust i ng t o t hemovements of soci et y.There i s nodoubt that these probl emswere i ni t i ated by t hemovements of the ' 60' s.I n fact, that was t he moment when t he surg-i ng t i de of soci al st ruggl es arr i ved at hi s -t or y' s cent er stage. Si nce that t i me, as we

shal l see, t he at t empt s t o regai n control oft he s i tuat i on have been numerous. But t heywere al l short - l i ved because t he pol i t i cal c r i -s i s was not , as t he r e ac t i ona r y r i ght assumed,t he r e s ul t of s i mp l e economc i mb a l a n c e s ,havi ng no t h i ng t o do w i t h p o l i t i c s , but r a t h e rdue t o t he i n a b i l i t y of i n s t i t u t i o n s t o t r a n s -formt h ems e l v e s . The r o o t s of t he c r i s i s ofp o l i t i c s were s oc i a l . The c u r r e n t s i l e n c e oft he p o l i t i c a l f orm of op po s i t i o n r e f l e c t acu-r i o u s neut r a l i z at i on: a c anc e l i ng- o u t e f f e c t e dby t he mut ual i n t e r f e r e n c e of d i f f e r e n t comp o n e n t s of s oc i a l pr o du c t i o n, each of whi chi s i t s e l f t horoughl y di s t u r be d and undergo-i n g t r ansf ormat i on. The so- c al l ed "deathofpol i t i cs , " of whi chone hears somuch, i s on l yt he expressi on of a new wor l d whi ch i semergi ng and whi ch empl oys newand d i f -f e r e n t modes of ma t e r i a l and c u l t u r a l s e l f -v a l o r i z a t i o n-e i t he r t h r o u g h e n t i r e l y e x t e r -na l means or p e r i p h e r a l l y t o t he domnantpower f o rma t i o n, but whi ch, i n any even t ,ar e a nt a goni s t i c t o i t . I t i s t h u s a wor l d i n t hep r o c e s s of change whi ch began i t s expansi oni n ' 68 andwhi ch, s i n c e t hen , t hrougha proc-es s of c o nt i n uo us mu t a t i o n, i n c l u d i n g a l l s o r t sof f a i l u r e s and s u c c e s s e s , has s t r u ggl e d t o


19/90

36 FELI xGUATrAR&omNEGmweave anewnetwork of al l i ances at t he heartof t he mul t i pl i ci t y of i sol at ed si ngul ar components compri si ng i t .Thi s i s t he newpol i t i cs : t he need t orecharact eri ze t he fundamental st ruggl es i nterm of a conti nuous conquest of (new are-nas of f reedom democracy, and of creat i v-i t y . And, whatever t he m l i t a n t s and the i n-t el l ectual s whohave "gi ven up on a l l that"my say, there i s nothi ng anachroni st i c orr etr ogr ade or anarchi st i n thi s way of con-cei vi ng t hi ngs ; i ndeed, i t at t empt s t o under-st and contemporary soci al t r ansf ormati ons-i nc l udi ng t hei r cont radi ct i ons-ont he bas i sof t he producti ve act i vi t i es , t he desi res, andt he real needs whi ch regul at e them Wat i sont he ot her hand ent i rel y i rrat i onal andmadi s t he power of t he State, as i t has evol vedsi nce t he 60s, i n t o a sort of l unar St al i ni s mwhi ch onl y mul t i pl i es ad nauseam t s r i gi d-i t y and i t s i nst i t ut i onal paral ysi s . The fero-c i ous w l l t o a "deathof pol i t i cs " i s nowheremore domnant than i n t he G aci al Pal acesof power.

Athough much of i t i s empty andmysti f i ed, t h i s type of power i s nonet hel esst er r i bl y eff ect i ve. Moreover, one shoul d no t

COMMUNTSTS Luc. s Us 37

underesti mate or overl ook t he great mass ofpai n and angui sh t hat l i e s conceal ed behindi t s cyn ci smand i t s t echnocrati c i ndi f f erence:t he i nsecur i t y of everyday l i f e , t he precar i -ousness of empl oyment, t he f r a g i l i t y of c i v i lri ght s, and, perhapsmost of a l l , t he i mpossi -bi l i t y of l ocat i ng meani ng i n i ndi vi dual andcol l ec t i ve l i f e , t he de fac to bann ng of communi tari an proj ects, of a l l "creat i ve becomi ngs" f romest abl i shi ng themelves on t hei rown t er ms. Thi s pai n, whi ch accompanest he l ack of human ty i n t he capi ta l i s t brandof subj ect i vi t y, canbe converted i n t o an i n f i -ni t e array of react i on formati ons and para-doxi cal symptom: i nhi bi t i ons, evasi ons ofa l l sorts, but sabotage as wel l , t he t r ans f or -mati onof r efusal i nt o hat red. Thi s to- and- f r omovement reaches i t s l i m t whent he f ear ofdest ructi on ar t i cul at es a consci ousness of t hemadness of power; then t he pai n i t s e l f be-comes t he vert i go of anni hi l at i on. Thi smn-st rous w l l t o death i n a l l i t s di f f erent formtoday const i t ut es t he true charact er of pol i -t i c s and t he t rue cause of humanmsery .


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38 FELI x GUATrAR&oN NEGR

I I I . THENEWUBJECTIVITI ESSi nce t he ' 60s, newcol l ec t i ve sub-

j ect i vi t i es havebeen af f i rmed i n t he dramasof soci al t ransf ormat i on. Whavenotedwhatthey owe t o modi f i cat i ons i n t he organi za-t i o n of work andt o devel opments i n soci al i -zati on; wehave t r i ed t o establ i sh t hat t he an-tagoni sm whi ch t hey contai n are no l ongerr ecuperabl e wthi n t he t radi t i onal hori zonofthe pol i t i cal . But i t remai ns t o be demon-strated t hat t he i nnovat i ons of t he ' 60s shoul dabove al l be understoodw t hi n t he uni verseof consci ousness es, of desi res, and of modesof behavi or . I t i s on thi s l evel t hat t he changesbecame def i ni t i vel y i rreversi bl e. These newmodes of consci ousness have l i t eral l y di s l o-cated t he ol d s cenar i os of cl ass st ruggl e byi nvadi ng t he i magi nary and cogni t i ve rootsof product i ve acti vi ty, transformng t he con-sci ousness t hat corresponds t o t hat act i vi tyi nto anact of t ransf ormat i ve i ndi vi dual w l l .Aong t he way thi s i ndi vi duati on of desi rehas t hus spread t o t he realmof col l ec t i vepracti ces, whi chnowconst i tute t he newpo-l i t i c a l terri tori es. The dramati c and t umul t u-

CoIrvIuNsTs Ln Us 39

ous af f i rmat i onof desi re puts our soci al " l i v -i ng" i nto questi onandmakes i t the bas i s of ahi gher subj ecti ve express i on of t he ensembl eof materi al and semot i c system of produc-t i on. I t s opposi t i on t o pri vate property i s aradi cal negat i on of al l form of bl i nd col l ec -t i v i smi n capi tal i st and/or soc i al i st undertak-i ngs, and i t s refusal of work on commandactual l y expresses the w l l of a hi gher l evelof soci al product i on.Al l seemng connect i ons between thi srefusal and the mass i f i cat i on of soci al sub-j ect i vi t y must be broken; t he rel at i on mustbe reduced t o aparadox, by vi r t ue of whi cht hepoverty of thi s massi f i cat i on i s conf rontedwth t he most si ngul ar processes of subj ec-t i ve w l l .Communismhas nothi ng t o dowtht he col l ect i vi s t barbari sm hat has come i ntoexi st ence. Communisms t he most i nt enseexperi ence of subj ecti vi ty, t he maximzati onof t he processes of si ngul ari zati on-ndi -vi duat i on whi ch represent t he capabi l i ty po-tent i al of our col l ec t i ve s tock. Nouni vers al -i t y of mancan be extracted f romt he nakedabst racti onof soci al val ue.

Communismno l onger has anythi ng


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40 FELIxGUATFAR &ToruNEGR

t o dow t h anyof t h i s . I t i s a matt er r at her ofmani f est i ng t he si ngul ar as mul t i pl i c i t y , mo-b i l i t y , spat i o- t emporal var iab i l i t y and crea-t i v i t y . That today i s t he onl y val ue on t hebasi s of whi ch one can r econst r uct work.Awork whi ch no l onger i s cryst al l i zed i n t heformof pr i vat e propert y, whi chdoes not con-si der t he i nst r ument s of producti on as endsi n t hemsel ves, but as means f or at t ai ni ng t hehappi ness of si ngul ari t y and i t s expansi on i nmachi ni c rhi zomes-abst r act and/ or con-crete. Aworkwhi chr efuses hi erarchi cal commndandwhi ch i n doi ng so poses t he prob-l emof power, c lar i f ies t he func t i ons of de-cept i on and expl o i t at i on i n soci et y, and re-f uses al l compromse, al l medi ati onbetweeni t s own exi st ence and producti v i t y. (Al l ofwhi ch i mpl i es r edef i ni ng t he concept of workas t he t r ansf ormat i ons and arrangements ofproducti on w thi n t he frame of immediatel i berat i on effor ts. ) Newmodal i t i es of c ol l ec -t i v e subj ec t i vi t y themel ves bri ng t oget hert hese qual i t i es andt hese desi r es whi chchangerel at i ve t o producti v i t y. Thenewproducti onof subj ec t i v i t y concei ves of power fromth ispoi nt on so le l y as an hori zon of t he col l ec -t i v e l i berat i on of si ngul ari t i es and as wor k

Covu1uNsTsi x Us 41or i ent ed toward t hat end-n ot her words,as sel f -val or i zat i on and sel f - produc t i on ofsi ngul ari t i es.The soci al st r uggl es whi ch expl odedi n ' 68 and i n t he years f o l l ow ng conferred atremendous power on t he comng-to-aware-ness of student s and young peopl e, t hewomen' s movement, t he envi ronmental andnat ur e f i r s t movements, t he demand f or cul -t ural, racial and sexual pl ura l i sm and al sot he at t empt s t o renovate t he t radi t i onal con-cepti ons of soci al st r uggl e, begi nni ng w tht hat of workers. Al l t oo o f t en t hese experi -ences have been descr i bed i n term of mar-gi nal i t y. Margi nal i t y was qui ckl y drawn t o-ward t he cent er, and t he mnor i t ar i an de-mands succeeded-w t h d i f f i cu l t y-n de-t achi ng themel ves f romt hose of t he l i fe lessmddl e ground. And yet each of them byf ol l ow ng i t s owncourse andby ar t i cul at i ngi t s owndi scour se, po tent i al l y r epr esent s t heneeds of t he l arge maj ori t y.

Potent i al l y , but i n away t hat i s notany t he l ess eff i caci ous: By t aki ng hol dofsoc i et y as a whol e, product i ve soci al i zat i onwanted t o conf er on i ndi vi dual s, communi -t i e s , and t hei r r eci pr ocal rel at i ons t he char -


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42 FELIXGUATFAm&ToMNEGRI

act er of uni versal i ty. But t he uni versal i ty wthwhi ch t hey were deckedout di dn' t sui t themi n t he l east! I nst ead of a wel l - f i t t i ng hat , i t i samask, a cow whi ch onl y di s f i gures t heexpr essi on of thei r needs, thei r i nt erests, andthei r desi res . I t i s not a paradox t o say t hatonl y t he marg i nal i t i es ar e capabl e of uni ver-s a l i t y , or, i f youpr efer , of movements whi chcreate uni versal i ty . "Uni versal " pol i t i cs ar enot capabl e of any t r anscendent truth; t heyar e not i ndependent of t he games of eco-nomc val or i zat i on; theyar e i nseparabl e f romspec i f i c terr i tor i es of power and of humandesi re . Pol i t i cal uni versal i ty cannot t her ef or ebe developed through a di al ect i c of al l y /en-emy as t he r eacti onar y J acobi n t r adi t i on compet i t i vel y pr escri bes. Truth "wthauni ver salmeani ng" i s const i t ut ed by t he di scover y oft he f r i end i n i t s s i ngul ar i ty , of t he ot her i n i t si r r educ i bl e het erogenei t y, of t he i nterdepend-ent communi ty i n t he r espect f or i t s appro-pr i ate val ues andends . Thi s i s t he "method"and t he " l ogi c " of t he marg i nal i t i es whi char e t hus t he exemlary s i gn of a pol i t i cali nnovat i on correspondi ng t o t he r evol ut i on-ar y t r ansf or mati ons cal l ed f o r th by t he cur-rent producti vear r angement s .

CouNsmi n Us 43Evei y mar gi nal i t y , by pl acing i t sstakes on i t s e l f , i s t her ef or e the pot ent i albear er of t he needs and desi r es of t he l arge

maj or i t y. Before ' 68, t he probl emof repro-ducti on remai nedmarginal i n rel at i on t o pro-duct i on. Thewomen' s movement has madei t central . Al though t he quest i ons rel at i ng t ot he pr eparat i on of t he abstract andnon-mate-r i a l l abor f orce remai ned l at eral i n rel at i ont o t he factory l abor f or ce, t he st udent move-mentsmade themcent r al i n t he sameway ast he newneedswhi ch t he t heor eti cal andaes-thet i c i magi nati on proposed. The emergi ngcol l ec t i ve consci ousness came t hereby t o seei t s e l f as t he nodal ar t i cul at i on of amul ti tudeof margi nal i t i es and s i ngul ar i t i es; i t began t oconfi rm t s power on t he scal e of a s i g n i f i -cant soci al experi ence, which di d not c l oseback on i t s e l f or "conclude, " but whi chopenedout onto f urt her st ruggl es, t he prol i f -erat i on of processes of col l ec t i ve s i ngul ar i -zat i on and t he i n f i n i t e l y di f f erent i ated phy-l umof thei r ongoingt r ansf or mati on.Thi s i magi nati on of l i bera t i on t husundertook, wthmore or l ess s ucces s, t o su-perimose-and t o impose i t s e l f-on t hef i ct i on of t he domnant r e a l i t i e s . I t s l i nes of


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44 FED( GUATrAR&TOMNEGRcol l ect i ve f eel i ng, i t s "newsof t ness, " i t s ca-paci t y t o br i ng t oget her t he most i mmedi atepreocupat i ons wth the broadest soci al di -mensi ons demonstrated t hat t he emergi ngform of producti on werenot t he enemy ofdesi re, l i berati on, and creati vi ty, but on yoft he capi tal i st and/or soci al i s t organi zat i on ofwork f or prof i t . Humangoal s and t he val uesof desi re must fromhi s poi nt on ori ent andcharacteri ze producti on. Not t he reverse.Duri ng thi s peri od, t he producti on of l i bera-t i o n became t he foremost goal . I t w l l proba-bl y take some t i me bef ore onecangrasp t hef ul l s i gni f i cance of what was then at stake.To repeat , i t had nothi ng at al l t o do wthut opi ani sm but wth t he i n t r i ns i c rea l i ty oft hat hi stori cal peri od' s soci al movement. I twas probabl y t he women' s movement, wthi t s extraordi nary power of devel opment,which, af ter ' 68, most advanced t he newsyn-t hesi s of t he concept of producti on and ofsoci al l i berati on. For t he f i r s t t i me, wtht hatdegreeof l uci di ty, producti on f or prof i t andwork f or t he r epr oduct i on of t he speci es wereover t ur ned, revol ut i oni zed ont he basi s of t hemost extreme si ngul ari ty, t hat of t he total"concepti on" of t he chi l d and of generat i ng

CommmTsIKE Us 45anewsof t ness t o l i f e .

But thi s i ncredi bl e experi ence wasal so asymbol : t he revol ut i on was understoodas an opt i mzat i on of si ngul ari ti es, as t hebegi nn ng of a mobi l i zat i on agai nst t he di s-aster of t he current s i tuat i on and i t s form ofcommand. The corporeal i t y of l i berat i on be-came pri mary: I nsurr ect i on of bodi es as anexpressi onof subj ecti vi t y, as i ncarnat i ng t hemateri al i t y of desi res and of needs, as promi s i n g i n the f ut ure t he i mpossi bi l i t y of sepa-rat i ng t he col l ect i ve charact er of economcdevel opment f romhe s i ngul ar i ty of i t s ends .I nsurrect i on of bodi es, meani ng t he success-f ul l i berat i on of those i mmense pr oduct i vef orces whichhumn ty, up t o thi s poi nt, on yturned agai nst i t s e l f . 1968 represents t he sub-j ect i ve si de of product i on; thi s i s an " i nter -pretat i on, " ona l arge scal e, of i t s soci al tex-ture, whi ch di spl aces t he pr evi ous pol i t i calprobl emati cs onto the ter rai n of representa-t i o n consi dered as a si ngul ar proj ect of l i b-erati on.

1968 i s al so amagni f i cent r eaf f i rma-t i o n of democracy. The f act t hat i t wascrossed by a cert ai n nai ve "Rousseaui sm"t hat through i t a few ast champi onsof J acob-


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46 FELIXGUATrAR&ONI NEGRI I CommumTs LI KE Us 47i ni smand of a di sf i gured Leni ni smcam t oshi ne f o r t h f or a fewmomnts, doesn' t i nanyway det r act from he power of democ-racy i n t he movemnt consi dered i n i t s e l f . I tshowed t hat t he prol et ar i at , f rom hi s poi nton, soc ia l i zed and si ngul ari zed, woul d notbe abl e t o "comprehend" a pol i t i cal move-mnt except on t he condi ti on t hat i t i sfoundedon democrati c arrangemnts i n ac-l i on. Thi s was not onl y a t heor et i cal t r ut hbut al so a concret e hi stor i cal af f i rmat i on:t her e i s no speci f i c formof f reedomwhi ch i snot at t ached t o t he group goal s of t he move-mnt and l i ved, "exper i enced, " by i t s members . Thi snew"gi ven" was underscored i n acert ai n way, ont o l ogi cal l y, i n t he gener at i onwhi chcam after ' 68. And whi chwants t o-day t o send us back t o t he school of Angl o-Amri can l i ber al i smand i t s i deas of t hemr-ket pl ace! Ant i - c api t al i smand ant i - s oci al i smhavebecom t he onl y formwhi chpermt ar enai ssance of democracy.

3THEREACTIONOFTHE' 70S:

"NOFUTURE"I . INTEGRATEDWORLDCAPITALISM

A rest ruct uri ng of power helped t orestore t he commndmchani sm i n t he 70s,and t o restart t he process of capi t al i s t andsoci al i s t producti ve accumul ati on. P o l i t i c sand economcs, capi t al and t he St at e, werenowcomletel y i nt egrat ed. The process de-vel oped i n two di rect i ons.I n t he f i r s t pl ace, as t he i nt ernat i onali nt egrat i on of nat i onal economes on an i n-creasi ngl y worl d scal e, and t hei r subordina-t i o n w t hi n a po l ycent r i c and ri gorousl yplanned proj ect of cont rol . Wcal l t hi s f i g -ureof commndwhi chcoordi nat es yet exas-per ates t he uni t y of t he worl d market , sub-m t t i ng i t t o i nst r ument s of producti ve plan-ni ng, monetary cont ro l , pol i t i cal i nf l uence,wth quasi -s ta t i s t charact eri st i cs, I nt egr at edWorl d Capi t al i sm( I . W C. ) . I n th is process,Worl d Capi t al i nt egr at es, besi des t he devel -


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48 FEUD, , GUATrAR&ON NEGRoped count r i es and di rect l y dependent onthem t he ensembl e of real social i st coun-t r i e s , and cont r ol s, i n addi t i on, t he means bywhi ch t he economes of numerous Thi rdWorl dcount r i es ar e absorbed, put t i ng i n ques-t i on t hei r previous posi t i on of "per i pher aldependence. " I ndeed, s t a t i s t command andthe nat i onal States t hus undergo a veri tabl edeterri tori al i zat i on. I nt egr ated Worl d Capi -t a l i sm i s not l i m t e d t o recomposi ng, usi ngnewform of uni f i cati on, t he f l u x and hi er-archi es of s t a t i s t powers i n thei r t radi t i onalsense. I t gener at es suppl ementary s t a t i s t f unc-t i ons whi char e expressedthroughanetworkof i nt er nati onal organi zati ons, a pl anet arystrategy of t he mass-media, r i gorous taki ngcontrol of t hemarket, of t echnol ogi es, etc.I t i s cert ai nl y i mportant to avoi d ani ngenuous or anthropomorphi c concepti onofI .WC. whi ch woul d ent ai l descri bi ng i t ast he work of a Levi athanor as a one-dimen-si onal macr o-s t ructure of t he Marcuseanva-ri ety. I t s pl anet ary expansi on, as wel l as i t smolecul ar i nf i l trati on, occur throughmecha-ni sm whi ch can be exi remel y f l exi bl e andwhi chcaneven take contractual f orms. Eachone engages l egal form t hat rel y on con-

CoMVItJ NTSTS L i Us 49

t i nuous procedures rather than constr ai ni ngsubst ant i ve l aw. But i t i s no l ess t rue that i ti s thi s very procedural and r egul at or y con-ti nuumof rel ati ons whi ch consol i dates t hecent r i petal tendency of the system bydi l ut -i ng and "negot i ati ng" the ef f ect of cri ses i nti meandspace andby rel at i vi st i cal l y reterr i -tonal i z i ng eachsi ngul ar process.I n t he secondpl ace, and condi t i oni ngt he consti t ut i on of thi s gl obal i nt egrati on, t herestr uctur i ng ai m at t hemodeof producti onand t he ensembl e maki ng up t he col l ect i vel abor f orce whi ch rel ates t o i t . Thi s deterr i t o-nal i zat i onand thi s i ntegrati onwas faci l i t atedby r ender i ng t he soci al i nto data form i . e .on t he basi s of t he fundamental computeri -zat i on [ i nf ormat i sat i on] of soci ety . Expl oi ta-t i on coul d t hus be art i cul ated sci ent i f i cal l yover the ent i re arenaof the social , extendi ngt he control of prof i t creat i on mechani sm.Under t hese condi t i ons , the assembl y l i n e ofcommerci al and i ndustri al producti on spr eadsi t s f abri c over t he soci al , not i n i t s symbol i csense but materi al l y. Soci et y i s no l ongermerel y subsumed by capi tal i st command; i ti s absorbed enti rel y by t he i nt egratedmodeof pr oduct i on. Di f f er ences i n producti vi t y and


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50 FELI x GUATrAR&ON NEGRi n l evel s of expl oi tat i on can then be art i cu-l at e d i n a smoother, more di f f us e waywthi neach geo- pol i t i cal segment accordi ng t o re-gi on, count r y, or cont i nent . Competi t i on, t hekeyl i nk i n t he bour geoi s mar ket , i s no l ongervery i mportant f or thi s process of capi tal i stretrai ni ng.The t r ansnat i onal computeri zati on oft he s oci al i s concerned wth onl yone formof compet i t i on: t hat whi ch i t can provokebetween workers and between t he di f f erentstrata of t he worki ng cl ass and of t he pr ol e-t a r i a t . I t t hus becomes possi bl e f or I nt egr at edWorl d Capi tal i smt o act i vat e speci f i c tech-ni ques of anal ysi s and control of soci alcl asses-whi ch nowmake st ruggl es erupt,nowpul ver i ze thei r power at those poi nt swhere thei r l evel of pol i t i ci z at i on i s s i g n i f i -cant, or, on t he contrary, unl eash themi n acontr ol l ed wayat t hose poi nt s where t he prob-l ems of economc "take- o f f " and of pol i t i calreformar e posedmost ur gent l y.As i t has al ways been i n t he hi s t oryof capi tal , thi s r enovat i on of t he form ofcommand by I nt egrated Worl d Capi tal i smgoes hand i n handwth a redef i ni t i on of t heways sur pl us - v al ue i s extracted (computen-

COVIMUNISTS LIKE Us 51

zat i on of t he work process, spread of soci alcontrol throughmass medi a, subj ect i ve i nt e -grat i on bygovernmental appar atuses, et c . . . . ) .And as i t has al ways been i n t he hi s -tory of t he expl oi t at i on of workers' st ruggl es,thi s l eap forwardof t he organi zat i on of workand of t he State was "ant i ci pat ed" by t hemovement s of t he cl ass str uggl e. The formof soci al subj ect i vi ty whi ch emerged i n 1968gave r i se t o a "weavi ng" of mol ecul arst ruggl es f or l i ber at i on whi ch ar e concernedwth obj ect i ves t hat ar e at once i mmediateand l ong- t er m l oal , everyday, t r i v i a l , yetengaged nevert hel ess wth t he future of hu-mani tyon a gl obal scal e. Thi s operati on wasof course very compl ex and, i n many re-spects, i mpossi bl e t o "sumup" wthi n t heframeworkof a s i ngl e hi stori cal sequence.

I t i s no l es s t r ue t hat t he pseudo-pro-gressi ve di al ect i c of c api t a l i s m whi ch t r i -umphed after t he secondworl dwarwas t huscompl etelybl ocked. Af t er ' 68, t he dynamcbetween t he di f f erent f uncti ons of capi t al(constant and vari abl e) and t he i nteract i onbetween t he cl ass of capi tal i sts and the so-ci al work force has r adi cal l y changed con-t ext ; t hi s i s a resul t of t he emergence of i n-


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52 FELIXGUATFARI &ornNEGR1

creasi ngl y i mport ant , heterogeneous arrange-ments of subj ect i vi ty andsensibi l i ty. The l awof val ue has ceased to f unct i on-f i t everworked i n t he manner i n whi ch i t was de-scri bed -al ong wth norm of economcproport i onal i t y and even t he or di nar y mo-dal i t i es of si mpl e cl ass expl oi tati on. The so-ci al hegemony of t he newprol etari an sub-j ect i vi t i es, once i t was aff i rmed, had t o ac-qui re t he qual i ty of i r revers ibi l i ty: no l ongerwoul d anythi ng be abl e t o prevent i t f romr eveal i ng i t s e l f , r egardl ess of t he prevai l i ngrel ati ons of force, "the hi ghs and t he l ows; "i ndeed, part i cul ar l y on t he "front" of thei raf f i rmati on i n t he mass-media, no l onger cananythi ng prevent t hese subj ect i vi t i es f rombeing basi c reference poi nts f or futurest ruggl es. Capi tal i st and/ or soci al i st restruc-turati on does not automat i cal l y refer t o rel a-t i vel y r at i onal l aws. I t i s not "sci ent i f i c"-nomatter howsophi sti cat ed t he t heoret i caldevi ces and t he i nstruments of predi ct i onwhich i t empl oys: i t i s essenti al l y repressi ve.The computeri zati on [ i nf ori nati sati on] of t hesoci al i s i nsepar abl e f rom t s mechani zati onand i t s ml i tar i zat i on, i n such away that t hesyst emat i c producti on of i nformati on tends

CoMMuNsTsLIKE Us 53

t o be substi t ut ed f or t he search f or i t . Suchare the zones of str ategi c importance that t heci rcui ts of r epr oduct i on whi ch support l i f eand t he str uggl e are more and more con-tr ol l ed, or der ed, and, ul t i matel y, repressed i na pr event i ve f ashi on. L i f e t i me thus f i nds i t -sel f t i ght l y f astened onto t he m l i t a r y t imeofcapi tal . The t imeof capi tal , or t he capaci t y t otr ansl ate every sequence of l i f e i nto term ofexchange, and of over det erm nat i on wth t heurgency and t he necessi t y of t he operat i onsof economc quaf l t i f i cat i on and of pol i ti calcommand; terror, or t he capaci t y t o anni hi -l ate al l thosewho refuse t o submt t o i t : thi si s what t he reshuf f l i ng of the tr adi ti onal func-t i ons of t he s t a t e , and thei r unl i mt ed pene-trat i on of peopl e' s at t i t udes, sens ibi l i ty andmnds, amounts t o . By t hr eateni ng t he veryf oundati ons of bei ng, t he state manages t ocont r ol t he si ngul ar fl owof our l i ves, sub-j ect i ng i t to t he rhythmof capi tal i st i c t i me.Once i t became cl ear that no l aw, nor othernorm coul dever mediate between t he capi -t a l andt he prol i ferat i on of col l ect i ve subj ec-t i v i t i e s , terror became t he onl yway t o securet he resumpti on t o capi tal i st i c and soci al i s t ic


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54 FELIxGUATFART&ON NEGRIaccumul ati on i n t he 70' s . I t i s under t he i mpet us of th i s terror t hat t he nucl ear state be-came t he cent r al f i gure of I nt egr at edWrl dCapi t al i smAt pr esent t he cl ub of nucl ear powerssubj ect s on a l arge scal e al l nat i ons andpeopl es t o i t s mul t i cent ered networks; but i tal so di ctates i n detai l s t he count l ess conf l i ctsand l ocal s t r i f es whi ch poi son l i f e on t h i searth, r epr essi ng or f uel i ng themat wi l l . I nthe Th rd Wrl d, si nce the so- cal l ed peri odof "decol oni zat i on, " al l these conf l i cts makeup someki ndof worl dwar t hat doesn' t darecal l i t s e l f by t hat name. Nucl ear terror i s att he root of every ki ndof oppr essi on and over-determnes t he rel at i onshi ps of expl oi t at i onbetween soci al groups at both pol i t i cal andmcro-pol i t i cal l evels . Thus threat and i n t im -dat i on seep through a l l t he por es of t he t h i nski n of nucl ear det er r ence, whi chdoesn' t ex-cl udemore di r ect forms of i nt ervent i on. Theul t i mate goal , as always, i s t o force peopl et o condone thei r msery and pol i t i cal i mpo-t ence. Capi t al i smanswer s: "No futur e " t o t her i s e of newforms of prol et ar i an subj ect i vi t y,count eri ng thei r of f ensi ve wth state terror.At th i s j unctur e t he word "democ-

COMMUNSTSLamUs 55

racy" begs redef i ni t i on. Theword "commu-ni sm" has cl ear l y beendef aced, but t he worddemocracy i t s e l f has been trashed andmuti -l ated. Fromt he Geekpol i s t o t he popul arupr i si ngs of t he Renai ssance and Reforma-t i on, fromt he prol et ar i an rebel l i ons that co-exi sted wth the great l i beral r evol ut i ons,democracyhas al waysbeensynonymous wtht he l egi t i mat i on of power through t he peopl e.Thi s l egi t i mat i on, al ways concr et e, punct ual ,mater i al , tookspeci f i c f or ms, breaki ng awayfroma di vi ne or absol ut e t r adi t i on.

Wth democracy, l egi t i macy i s pr i -mari l y human, spat i al l y and temporal l y de-f i ned.

W' re al l subj ected to I ntegratedWrl d Capi t al i smbecause i t i s i mpossi bl e t ol ocat e t he sour ce of i t s power .I f we t r y t o go back t o i t s sour ce, al l

we f i n d i s subj ect i on t o t he second, thi rd, nthdegree. The o r i g i n of power r ecedes hi gherandhigher upandcanbe s i zed up i n r el at i ont o t he depth of our owni mpotence. Pol i t i calrel at i onshi ps -cal l ed "democrati c"-aswe experi ence themon a dai l y basi s, ar e atbest t r ompes- l ' o e i l when they don' t throwus


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56 FELI X GUATFARI &TON NEGU

st r ai ght i nt o pai n and despai r . Thi s i s thecommon f eature, t he unavoi dabl e axi omoft he capi ta l i s t or soc ia l i s t rest r uc tura t i on oft he pol i t i cal powers.

I I . NORTHSOUTHTERRORANDHUNGERAswehave begun t o s ee, t he capi ta l -

i s t and/ or soc ia l i s t r eact i on of t he 70s i nt e-grates t he worl d market accordi ng t o a de-s i gn f or t he expl oi t at i on of work and f or po-l i t i c a l control whi chevol ves i n a homogene-ous manner. The fundamntal t r ans i t i on, i nt hi s sense, begi ns w th t he phase of ni xoni ani n i t i a t i v e i n t he mnetary and i nt er nati onalpol i t i cal ar enas . Between 1971 and 1973, aser i es of operat i ons l ent a pol i t i cal char act ert o t he mul t i - nati onal network of expl oi t at i onwhi ch was al r eady i mpl anted i n t he worl dmar ket . The take- o f f of t he dol l ar r el at i ve t ot he gol d standard and t he petrol eumc r i s i sart i cul ated, under t he same mnetary command, (subtracted from l l quest i ons of val ue)t he ru l es f or t he or gani zat i on of work andthose of thepr oduct i ve hi er ar chy onan i n t e r -

Co1uvuN1sTsI KE Us 57nat i onal l evel . The petrol eumc r i s i s empti edt he t r easur i es of count r i es andpushed f i nan-ci al centr al i zat i on and uni f i c at i on t o t he poi ntof paroxysm I n i t i a l l y , t h i s operati on ap-pear ed, duri ng t he Ki ssi nger era, as a greatshock. The di vi s i ons w t h i n t he capi ta l i s t and!or soc ia l i s t pol i t i cal personnel r ever berat edsuccess i vel y i n t he Tr i l ate ral Commssi on,then through t he agreemnts and t he coopta-t i ons w t h i n I nt egr atedWrl dCapi t al i sm thati s , i n t he newarrangemnts of t he pol i t i calw l l of domnati on. I t i s on t hi s foundati ont hat t he ef f ec t i ve pol i t i c al cartography ofexpl oi t at i on onaworl d scal e i s sketched out .Capi t a l i s t i ntegra t i on determnes cer t ai n fun-damntal pol ar i t i es around whi chmove de-pendent sub- syst ems, i n part i al rupture wtht he hi er ar chi es of power whi chovercode t hest r uggl es f or l i bera t i on and t he c l ass st r uggl es,-t hat permt capi ta l i s t i ntegrat i on t o al l owi t s e l f t he l uxury, on t he l evel of t hese sub-syst ems, of l arge scal e modi f i cati ons . At t heheart of t h i s compl ex pl ay of mul t i cent eredsyst ems, whi ch di s j oi n t he f l ows of st ruggl eand ca r r y out dest abi l i zat i ons and/ or st rate-gi c stabi l i zat i ons, a t r ansnati onal mode of pro-ducti on i s consol i dated. Throughout t hese


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58 FELIx GUATFAR&ON NEGRsystemc ensembl es, one f i nds t he i mmenseent erpri se of t he producti on of cybernet i csubj ect i vi ty [ subj ecti vi t i nf ormati see] whi chr egul at es t he networks of dependenceand t heprocesses of mar gi nal i zat i on. The worki ngcl ass and t he soci al l y pr oduct i ve prol etari atof t he central metr opol i t an count r i es ar e byvi r t ue of this fact subj ect t o t he exponent i alcompet i t i on of t he prol et ari at of t he l argemetr opol i ses of under-development. The pro-l etari ats of t he most devel oped count r i es thusare l i t e r a l l y terrori zed by t he spect acl e of t heext ermnat i on by hunger whi ch I nt egr at edWrl d Capi t al i smimposes on t he margi nal -i zed ( and often l i mot ropi c) count ri es . Thei ndustr i al reserve army, domnatedby a newl awof absol ute pauperi sm i s curr ent l y con-sti tuted on a conti nent al basi s. Capi tal i st and!or soci al i st command, mul t i pl i ed i n to pol y-centr i c subal t er n sub- syst ems, bri ngs t oget hert he hi ghest rates of expl oi t ati on wth areasof poverty and deat h. For al l that, t hest r uggl es f or l i berati on have not been m l i -ta r i l y or pol i t i cal l y strangl ed. But , w thi n t hef rame of these di f f erent sub- syst ems, I nte-grated Wrl d Capi t al i smhas not ceased t ost i mul at e fr atr i ci dal wars f or t he conquest o f

COMMUNSTSi i Us 59i ntermedi ary degr ees of part i ci pati on i n i nte-grati on. The enemy has become t he poor ,those poorer t han onesel f . I f theory has everhad t he need t o eval uat e t he basi s of powerand of command over human l i f e , i t f i nds i nth is a convincing exampl e, i n that t he es-sence of t he probl emturns out t o be i n pro-ducti on and i n t he or gani zat i on of work, i nt he f r i ght eni ng capi tal i st vor aci ousness whi chstructures themon aworl d scal e and whi chsubj ugates themw t h i n t he f rame of t he gen-eral i zed mass-mediated, cybernet i c [i nforma-t i que] i ntegrati on of pol es of domnat i on.

To a cert ai n extent , t he poor f i ndthemel ves produced t w c e by thi s systemby expl oi t ati on and by mar gi nal i zat i on anddeath. Terror, whi ch i n t hemet r opol i t an coun-t r i es i s i ncar nated as t he potent i al f or nucl earext erm nati on, i s actual i zed, i n t he margi nal -i zed countr i es , as ext erm nat i on by f amne.Let i t be c l e ar , nevert hel ess, t hat there i s noth-i ng "per i pher al " i n t hi s l ast desi gn: i n fact,there are onl y di f f erences of degreebetweenexpl oi t at i on, destr uct i on by i ndustr i al andurban pol l uti on, wel f are concei ved as asepa-rat i ng out of zones of pover t y, and t he exter-mnati on of enti re peopl es, such as those


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whi ch occur i n t he cont i nent s of Asi a, Af -r i ca, and Lat i n Ameri ca.

I t i s worth t aki ng proper note t henewness of t he forms of cont r ol impl ementedby I . W C [ I nt egr atedWrl dCapi tal i sm . Thestr at egi es of tenor and of r epr essi on t end t obemore andmore t r ansver sal , punct ual , andsudden.

Eachpi ece of ear t h, each geo-pol i t i -cal segment, has become a pot ent i al enemyf ronti er . Theworl dhas beent ransf ormed i ntoa l abyr i nth w t hi n whi ch one can f a l l at anymoment , at t he w l l of t he destr ucti ve op-t i ons of t he mul t i nat i onal powers.Apr acti ce of pi r acy, correspondi ngto t he cur r ent phase of over- mat urati on ofcapi t al , has been subst i t ut ed f or t he pol i t i csof power of t he per i od of mat ur i t y of imperi -a l i s t capi tal i sm F lo t i l la s of hyper-power [sur-pui ssances] pl owt he oceans and t he seas t hesameas Morganand t he Dutch.Wshoul d prepare f or t he sett l i ng ofaccounts between t he submari nesof t he capi -t a l i s t and/ or soci al i st nucl ear buccaneer s. Buti t i s not j ust i n t he expl i ci t l y m l i t ar y ear t hl y,mar i t i me, and aer i al ar enas t hat t he perma-nent war of I . WC. agai nst worl d soci et y t a k e s

CovIuNsTsLamUs 61

pl ace. I t i s al so i n t he ensemble of c i v i l , so-c i a l , economc, and i ndustr i al domai ns. And,there as wel l , accordi ng t o i nf i ni t el y d i f f e r -ent i at ed, t r ansver sal f i l i a t ions of operat or s ofpower, who are beyond t he cont r ol of commonhumans, beyond uni onor pol i t i cal con-trol-t l east i n t he tr adi ti onal sense-andi n t he mddl e of whi ch can be foundmxedup: mul t i nat i onal s, t he Maf i as, t he m l i t ar yi ndustr i al compl exes, t he secr et ser vi ces, event he Vat i can. Onal l l evel s, on al l scal es, eve-r ythi ng i s permtted: specul at i on, ext or t i on,provocat i ons, destabi l i zat i ons, bl ackmai l ,massi ve depor t at i ons, genoci de. . . I nthi s vi ru-l ent phase of decadence, t he capi tal i stmodeof producti on seems t o r edi scover , i ntact, t hef er oci ousness of i t s or i gi ns.Al l t hese modal i t i es are i nscr i bedw thi n t he same conti nuumof i ntegr ati on: ofi nf or mat i on, command, and prof i t . I f i t i s truet hat f or a l ong t i me, t he gl obal st r uggl es of"communi st l i ber at i on" w l l develop-atl east i n t he i magi nat i onof r evol uti onar i es-al ong t he East-Wst axi s, onemust al so ac-knowedge t hat t he fundamental cont r adi c-t i onwhi ch runs throught he I nt egratedCapi -t a l i s t modeof producti on todayon aworl d


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62 FELI x GUATrAR &or . a NEGfi

scal e i s di str i buted embl emati cal l y betweentheNorth and t he South. I f Red Square everr epr esent ed a l i ght of hope, t he soci al i s t sys-temhas curr ent l y becom t he suprem stageof t he degenerat i on of capi ta l i sm ar id i s ani nt egral part of t he mul t i val ent axi s of North-South expl oi tati on. Capi ta l i s t and/or soc i al -i s t restr ucturi ng i n t he ' 70s has st i tched to-get her t he ol d mdes of pr oduct i on, redi s-t r i but i ng t he f unct i ons of t he pl ayers, andre-or gani zi ng on a worl d scal e t he di vi s i on ofexpl oi t at i on.

I t i s r espectabl e t o say, amng t hewestern i ntel l i gentsi a, t h a t , f or strategi c rea-sons or f or ol dmoi st mmri es, t he coun-t r i es of r eal l y exi st i ng soci al i smand, i npar-t i cul ar t he Sovi et Union, consti t ut e a greaterthreat t o Europeand t he count r i es of t he Thi rdWrl d than t he U. S.

Thi s i s not at al l our poi nt of vi ewwedo not bel i eve t hat t he West can be pre-f err ed t o t he East . I n t he sense t hat wecon-si der our sel ves "c i t i zens of t he worl d, " wear e not concerned wth t he exi st i ng antago-ni smbetween t he two super -powers. Per i l -ous, debi l i tat i ng, dramati c-hi s antagoni smi s no l ess i n cert ai n regards f act i t i ous and

CorvmIur'4ismri s Us 63myst i f i cat ory, i n t he sense t hat i t i s overde-termnedbya fundamntal f unct i onal agree-mnt rel at i ve t o the subj ugat i on of t he pro-duct i ve f orce of t he europeanprol etari ats andt o t he appr opr i ati on of aquasi - grat ui t ous areaof expansi onand provi si oni ng i n rawmte-r i a l s and i n l abor f or ce on t he other cont i -nent s.

Wthout cal l i ng on, i n t he " l ast i n-st ance, " a f i nal marxi st ref erent , but siml yi n t he l i ght of good sense and of a percep-t i on of everyday i nt ernati onal rel at i ons, i tseem t o us t hat t he current r i s e i n East-Wstt enSi onhas above al l as anobj ect t he msk-i ng of t he dest ructi on by hunger of enti repeopl es, i n an equal f ever of r epr oduct i onthroughprof i t, which torments t he domnantcastes, as much i n t he U. S. A. as i n t heU. S. S. R. . I n t he l ong te rm t heref ore: corn-pl ement ari t y and compl i c i t y i n order t o as-sure a commondomnati ononaworl d scal eover t he di vi s i on of l abor and i t s expl oi t a-t i on.

And i t i s preci sel y on thi s scal e t hatt he " ci vi l i zi ng mssi on" of capi t al has demonstr at ed t he ext ent of i t s f eroci ousness andi t s absur di t y. Ont hat scal e, povert y, mrg -


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nal i zat i on, ext erm nat i on, and genoci de ar er eveal ed t o be t he ul t i mate consequences ofamodeof producti onwhi ch set i t se l f upi n at i l l - n o wpeacef ul symbi osi s w t h t he st ruggl esof t heworki ng cl ass of t hemet ropol i t an coun-t r i e s . But , f aced wth t he c r i s i s of i t s ownsystemof prof i t andwth t he degr adat i on ofi t s ownpri nci pl es of l egi t i mat i on, capi t al i snow const ra i ned t o have recourse ( and t ot heori ze t hat recourse) t o t he most extrememeasur es. The era of t he over - maturi t y ofcapi t a l i smreveal s t he vi ol ence of i t s or i gi nsi n a cl i mate of pani c due t o t he weakeni ngof i t s mot i vat i ons . The capi ta l i s t restructur-i ng of t he worl d mar ket , undertaken s i ncet he 70s, has ent ai l ed an ext raordi nar y accel -erat i on of t he process of i nt egrat i on, whi l eseparat i ng out i t s ef f ect s under t he formofpar adoxi cal cri ses. The capi ta l i s t i nt egrat i onof t he worl d mar ket , i f i t has not crownedt he dream of t he promoti on of amore hu-mane ci vi l i z at i on, has shown, on t he con-trary, t o what l evel t he cruel t y and cyni ci smof t he capi ta l i s t modeof producti on can berai sed. The at t empt s t o overcome t he i nt er -nal cont r adi ct i ons i ni t i at ed by t he emergenceof new col l ect i ve subj ect i vi t i es founded on

COMMNSSI KE Us 65t he wdeni ng of t he market, despi t e t he cau-t i o n of pol i t i cal personnel of t he Ki ssi ngeror Car t er t ype, have not onl y put an end t ot he i nt ernal c r i s i s of t he cent r al met r opol i t ancountr i es, but have pushed i t t o t he poi nt ofparoxysmand have spread i t s devast at i ng ef-f ect s over the ent i re gl obe.The space domnated by capi t al ,whi ch i s subdi vi ded, f ragment ed, segmented,and f unct i onal i zed accordi ng t o t he ends ofcapi ta l ' s command, i s openi ng as anewter-r ai n of resi st ance and of conquest . The ex-tremeweapons of ext erm nat i on andmargi -nal i z at i on w l l not succeed f orever i n bl ock-i ng t he process of r ecomposi t i on, whose vi -t a l i t y one can al r eady detect . I t i s i mport antt o underscore t he cor r el at i on between t hel evel at t ai ned by capi ta l i s t rest ructuri ng andt he unprecedented dimensi ons of t he c r i s i sof t he past decade. One can t hus note, on t heone hand, t hat even i n t he most ter r i bl e oftests, t he new soci al di ssi dence has notst opped wei ghi ng on t he s i tuat i on andaccel -erati ng t he c r i s i s , andon t he ot her hand, t hatt he capi ta l i s t i nst r ument s of control ar e prov-i n g t o be l ess and l ess adapted t o t hei r end,moreandmore i nef f ect i ve.


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I t was no doubt begi nni ng i n 1982that t he cycl e of rest ruct urat i on, whi ch be-ganbetween 1971 and1973, l aunched a f i r s tdeci si ve bar r age, when t he most i ndebtedcount r i es of t he Th rd Wrl d t hreat ened t heconsorti umof banks wth t he possi bi l i t y ofdecl ar i ng bankr upt cy, i n response t o t he un-precedented pol i t i cs of def l at i onary strangu-l at i on whi chtheywere undergoi ng. I t seemsthat i n an i r r evers i bl e f ashi on, anewtypeofpr ocess of l i berat i on and of l argescal e se l f -or gani zat i oncame i n t o bei ng. Ww l l re turnt o t hi s poi nt .

I I I . THERGHTINPOWRThe temporal and spati al mechani smf or cont r ol l i ng st r uggl es, put i n pl ace duri ngt he capi tal i s t and/ or soci al i s t restr ucturat i onof t he worl d of produci ng, i nvest ed newf i g-ures of cl ass st r uggl e. I n t hose pl aces wheret he R ght tri umphed, I nt egr ated Wrl dCapi -t a l i s m succeeded i n i ns t i t ut i onal i zi ng thesenewf i gures and i n maki ng themact as amo-t or of rest ructurat i on. As t he r eact i onary cycl e

of t he 70s put s themon di spl ay f or us, t hei nst r uments set i n moti onby I nt egr atedWor l d

Cov1uNsTsLn Us 67

Capi t al i smi n or der t o channel andevenpro-duce cl ass st r uggl e wthi n t he f rame of i n s t i -t ut i onal i nt egrat i on resi de: 1) i n i t s abi l i t y t oput i n pl ace system of t r ansnati onal compe-t i t i o n between cl ass sectors ; 2) i n t he u t i l i z a -t i o n of def l at i onary monetary po l i t i c s whi chi ncrease unempl oyment; 3) i n t he reconver-s i on whi ch i t ef f ect uat es i n t he pol i t i cs ofwel f are, toward a "cont r ol l ed" i ncrease ofpover t y. Thi s pol i t i cs i s accompani ed by apul ver i zi ng, mol ecu ar r epr essi on of a l l at -tempts at r es i s t ance and at t he f ree expres-s i on of needs. I t i s essent i al that t he controlthat i t promotes succeeds i n becomng effec-t i ve i n t he col l ect i ve i magi nar y, ' t hus i n i t i a t -i ng a s i tuat i on of di f f use c r i s i s wthi nwhi chi t w l l at t empt t o separate: 1) that part of t heprol et ar i at wth whi ch i ncumbent power re-l i e s onnegot i at i ng a guarant ee of reproduc-t i o n and 2) t he i mmense mass of those ex-cl uded or "non- guarant eed. "Thi s di vi s i on i s mul t i pl i ed i n f i n i t e l yandhi er archi zed i n t he l abor mar ket , i n whi cht he competi t i on between workers makes i t -sel f f e l t , and beyond, on t he "soci al and i n-st i tut i onal market" i n whi ch a l l t he ot her sec-tors of t he popul ati on ar e constrai ned t o


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"maketheme ves val uabl e. "The r evol ut i onar y events of ' 68, aswel l as t he materi al t r ansf ormat i ons of t he

mode of pr oduct i on, have shown t he deter -mni ngwei ght whi ch t he working cl ass con-t i nued t o possess on t he soci al stage. Thes p i r i t of compet i t i on betweenworkers wast hus weakened i n f avor of a r ecogni t i on ofr evol ut i onary obj ecti ves concern ngagrowi ng number of cat egor i es of oppressedpeopl e.But w t h t he return of t he Rght t o powerduri ng t he ' 70s, a r esegregat i on of t hework-i ng cl ass, whi ch f a l l s back on "al r eady at -t ai ned advantages, " i t s guarant ees, and i t scorporate pri vi l eges, has taken pl ace. Whave seen t he paradoxof an i nst i tut i onal i za-t i on whi ch preform t he working cl ass i nt oi t s ownenemy ( t h i s t i me, onecanreal l y speakof a"newworking cl ass") . I n thi s cont ext ,t he str uggl es were condemned t o remain i n-sti tuti onal i zed, t o be pi l ot ed by I nt egr at edWorl d Capi tal i sm f requent l y t hey even re-veal ed t hemel ves to bet he best support s f orpol i ti cal andsoci al conser vat i sm. ( I n par t i cu-l a r , ont he mlecu ar terrai n of capi tal ' s sub-sumpti on of soci al workand agai nst t he so-ci al di f f us i on of r evol ut i onar y needs and

COMMUNSTSI KE Us 69t r ansf ormati onal desi res. ) I t seem to us es-sent i al t o i nsi st onthi s poi nt : t oday, Stakha-nov, t he superi or di gni ty of t he worker wthcal l oused hands, ( fo r whomReagan has acert ai n nostal gi a) a cert ai n concepti on ofworker centr al i t y, and the ent i re ol d imagi -naryman pu atedby t he un ons and t he l e f t ,i n a syst emat i c msapprehensi onof t he greatmaj or i t y of t he "non-guaranteed" prol et ari at ,has i rredeemabl ygoneby t he waysi de.

"Real l y exi sti ng soci al i sm" has be-comea pri vi l eged i nst rument of t he di vi s i onof t he met r opol i t an prol etari at, a weapondi -rectl y manpu atedbycapi tal i st conser vat i smWi chdoes not mean, never t hel ess, t hat t heworking cl asses, i n t hemsel ves, canno l ongeri n t he future devel opdeci si ve st ruggl es w t hi nt he dynamc of soci al t r ansf ormati ons. Buton yon t he condi t i on t hat t hey are radi cal l yreshapedby t heml ecuar r evol ut i ons whi chrun t hrough themI n fact, capi tal i st and/or soci al i stst ructurat i on i n t he ' 70s di rectl y conf r ont edt he new r evol ut i onar y subj ecti vi ti es, con-str ai ni ng themt o i nter i or i ze thei r potent i alconsci ousness andobl i gi ng themo beundert he thumb of system of t echnol ogi cal con-


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t r o l anda battery of government appar at useswhi char e more andmore sophi sti cat ed. Thefundamental obj ect i ve of I nt egr at ed Worl dCapi tal i smwas t o at ta in amaximal expan-si on of t he i nt egr at ed pr oduct i ve dimensi onon t he soci al l evel and on t he geo- pol i t i call evel , segr egat ed f romt he r ei nt r oduct i on ofpover t y, of hunger, andof te r ro r as an i n-strument of di vi si on. The vi ct ory of t he r i ghtwas basedon i t s abi l i t y t o neut r al i ze t he re-composi ti on of t hat r evo l ut i onar y subj ect i v-i t y whi ch found i t sel f exposed t o t he greatdi f f i cul t y of r econst i t ut i ng uni t ary l i nes ofattack agai nst expl o i t at i on. Thi s r eact i onar ytu rn-around succeeded i n assumng, i n re-ver si ng, and i n expl odi ng everythi ngwhich,si nce 68, was r eveal ed as anewpower of t hepr ol et ar i at-t hat i s , t he ensembl e of soci alcomponents andof col l ect i ve capaci t i es f orar t i cul at i ng t he molecul ar mul t i pl i ci t y of i t sneeds and i t s desi r es. The di vi si on i mposedthrough i nst r ument s of economc and i nst i -t ut i onal vi o l ence was consol i dat ed throught he promoti onof a symbol i smof destr uct i onpushed t o an ext r eme. "Extermni sm becamet he r ef er ent val ue par excel l ence. Extermna-t i o n by submssi on or deat h, as t he ul t i mat e

CoMuns1sn Us 71hori zon of capi t al i st devel opment. The onl yl awof val ue whi ch capi t al i smand/ or soci al -i smr ecogni zes t oday: i t i s t he bl ackmai l ofdeat h. Ww l l not l et our sel ves be taken i nby t h i s deat hl y r eal i sm " I t i s r i ght t o r evo l t . "

The r esponsi bi l i t y of t he t r adi t i onalor gani zat i ons of t he workers' movement,whi ch remai ned pri soner t o the i l l usor ychoi ce betweencapi t al i smandsoc i al i sm wast hus deci si ve. I t i s necessar y t o recogni zet hat t he f act t hat t he devel opment of t hemodeof producti on and t he maturati onof col l ec-t i v e consci ousness compl etel y passed themby doesnot i n anyway el i m nat e t he conse-quences of t hei r d r i f t , mysti f i cat i on, andpa-ra l ysi s of al l i ni t i at i ve i n t he workers' move-ment. The i ne r t ia of t he soci al movements,whi ch r eveal ed i t s e l f i n numerous si t uat i ons,t he i nabi l i t y of t he r evo l ut i onar y movementt o reconst i t ut e i t sel f onpol i t i cal l y newfoun-dat i ons, t he i ncapabi l i t y of t he transforma-t i o n pr ocess t o impose i t sel f i n i t s ent i r et y-a l l ar e essent i al l y condi t i oned by t hemonop-ol y of pol i t i cal r epr esent at i on and of t hei magi nary, whi ch t he al l i ance between capi -t a l i s t and soci al i st personnel has seal ed f ordecades. Thi s al l i ance i s basedon establ i sh-


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Communists Like Us - Antonio Negri

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