Customer Reviews

Commonwealth

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

When "Empire" came out in 2000, it changed the way we view the international distribution of power, it provided a new framework and vocabulary with which to understand the world. "Multitude" provided us with the other side of the equation - the global silent majority infused with latent demands for a new world. This third installment points the way forward - how to put those demands for liberation into practice.

Ignore any reviews that bash this book as another totalitarian iteration of Marxism - it is far from it. The Left has long needed some serious conceptual reworking of our basic presuppositions and ideas, and this book goes a long way to rethinking society as it is, recognizing the emancipatory energy to be found in it, and prescribing what to do with it. Read it, think about it, talk about it, organize.

Regardless of one's political views (myself a risk professional in the realm of global capital), Hardt and Negri's work is a remarkably vital, anticipatory and accurate analysis of the evolution of capital. For the more libertarian reader, I'd still strongly recommend the Empire, Multitude, Commonwealth "trilogy" given the significant accuracy of analysis the authors provide which is a necessary study regardless of ideology and advocacy. Capital is indeed becoming post-capital, infusing the cultural values brought forward through critical theory and postmodernism, and is increasingly anticipatory of poststructural thought. For those of us involved in the analysis and formation of corporate strategic thinking, these trends and their systemic ramifications are a necessary study.

I'd have to believe that a Fordist business person of the early 20th century would find the entire region of the humanities, critical theory, postmodernity, ethics, etc. to be a complete waste of time, yet as such, they would have complete difficulty in understanding our (post)modern workplace where differences are not only tolerated, but increasingly embraced given the intersubjective perceptual strength such multiplicities of difference bring toward product creation, marketing innovation, risk management, etc. From the perspective of Hardt and Negri's work, all three are necessary for the thoughtful, ethical professional (regardless of political or economic ideology) in the evaluation of the global system emerging.

The concept of Coloniality of Biopower is presented by the authors as their own. They don't bother in making a distinction with (or attributing the original concept to) Anibal Quijano - who has over 20 years developing in print the concept of Coloniality of Power - or to other scholars who have also advanced this notion in Latin America. They even drop the "Bio" and simply appropriate the term Coloniality of Power as their own. If you feel you need more detail, I suggest you look up Mark Driscoll's review of the book in the journal Postmodern Culture (Volume 21, Number 1, September 2010): "Looting the Theory Commons: Hardt and Negri's Commonwealth". Yes, looting. Duke University Press in 2008 has a collection of essays on Coloniality (Coloniality at Large: Latin America and the Postcolonial Debate (Latin America Otherwise)) with an essay titled "Coloniality of Power, Eurocentrism and Social Classification" by Quijano. Looting indeed, colonialism is still at large.

I found this book on the train earlier this week, so what the heck, I read all 448 pages before dropping it off at the lost and found this morning. I have but two comments.

1. I sure am glad I didn't pay any money to read it. If you are a normal, hard working individual considering purchasing this book, you will almost certainly find it to be a complete waste of money.

2. The authors are so pitifully stupid that at times I couldn't help but laugh out loud. When I was in college we had a term for idiots like Hardt and Negri - "Pseudo Intellectuals." A pseudo intellectual is a person who is generally well spoken, but has a practical level of intelligence that is equivalent to maybe a plant or perhaps a wall. I would recommend this book for its unintentional humor, but no, it gives an overall dark and evil impression that detracts from the humor.

By the way, did any of you pseudo geniuses out there ever notice that Marxism has never worked? WTF makes you think it will work now?