The rise of “anti-politics” in the current period is a product of the breakdown of the political order that prevailed in many rich capitalist countries for much of last century. While this has created space for some political projects of the Left and Right to take advantage of popular disdain for political elites, it has also thrown light on the relationship between the social and political spheres of modern capitalism. The Spanish experience, discussed above, most sharply poses the question of how the interests of the great mass of people can be won — through relatively uncritical participation within the logic of capitalist politics or through social struggles that seek to challenge that logic? It is possible that this wave of anti-politics will end with “the political” reasserting itself in a new form on some quite different social basis, but without overturning capitalism — that is, if there is no social emancipatory movement that can come out on top instead. Recognising “anti-politics” is not the same as negating intervention in the political sphere. But it means that the goal of such interventions is to surpass the alienated sphere of the political instead of perpetuating it. We cannot conjure social struggles out of thin air, but neither do we do ourselves any favours by pre-empting them with the demand they conform to the rules of the political game.
Posted on: Thu, 01 Jan 2015 23:05:34 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015