The Bichler and Nitzan Archives
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Review of Nitzan and Bichler's "Capital as Power: A Study of Order and Creorder"
No full text-- Cutting-Edge Dialectics --
FROM THE REVIEW: "Nitzan and Bichler replace the possibility of thinking the unity in contradiction of objectivity and subjectivity, of being and thought, with the fantasy of a theory that plainly states the facts; instead of the complex immanent relations between contradiction and mediation, we get the external relation of immediacy and truth as opposed to plain lies, illusions and falsities.
Call for Papers: "Capitalizing Power: The Qualities and Quantities of Accumulation"
No full textKeynote speakers:
* Jeffrey Harrod, University of Amsterdam -- Global Weimarism: The Demise of Cohesive Global Power?
* Herman Schwartz, University of Virginia -- Intellectual Property Rights, Collective Action, and the Continuing Power of "Finance"
* Justin Podur, York University -- Nature, Capital and Commodification: Ecology and the Capital as Power Framework
* J.J. McMurtry, York University -- Community Capital: The Pitfalls and Promise of Local Power
* Jonathan Nitzan, York University -- No Way Out: Crime, Punishment and the Limits of Power
With the global crisis lingering, many now wonder how capital has become so powerful, and what should be done about it. Although we are eager to provide answers, the problem starts with the question itself: what exactly do we mean by ‘capital’, and what does it mean to say that capital is ‘powerful’?
The theme of the 2012 conference is the capitalization of power. The focus is the conversion of qualities to quantities: to theorize and research how the qualities of power – the multifaceted interactions of command and obedience, force and submission, violence and resistance – are universalized and discounted to the quantities of capitalization.
The conference will comprise two parts: public presentations open to all (September 28), followed by a closed workshop for the conference participants (September 29-30). The workshop will consist of longer presentations, allowing more time for debate, discussion and contemplation.
Financial assistance: we may be able to assist presenters by partly covering the cost of travel and accommodation. This possibility is still tentative; it is conditional on our ability to secure sufficient funding.
Deadline for abstract submissions: July 21, 2012
Political Economy of Capital Accumulation (YorkU, LAPS/POLS 4292 6.0, Undergraduate, Fall Term, 2011-12)
No full textCapital is the central power institution of capitalism: it is the main force underlying the relentless transformation of power relations in capitalist societies. The course explores the accumulation of capital from three interrelated perspectives: conceptual, historical and empirical. At the conceptual level, the course examines the evolution of different orthodox and critical theories of value and how these theories serve to explain and justify contending notions of accumulation. At the historical level, it traces the development of capital from its humble pre-capitalist origins to its present world dominance. At the empirical level, it studies and juxtaposes the qualitative and quantitative aspects of capital accumulation and study what they mean for the contemporary political economy. In parallel to these explorations, the course introduces students to the art and science of empirical research. By the end of the course, students are expected to be able to develop and integrate theoretical arguments with their own empirical work
Differential Accumulation
No full textEarly in 2011, we received a surprising invitation from the Financial Times Lexicon. A reader had suggested that an entry on differential accumulation be added to the Lexicon, and the online content developer asked us if we would be willing to write it. Our first thought was that this must have been a mistake. . .
From Collectives to Connectives: Italian Media Activism and the Repurposing of the Social
Get PDFThe dissertation develops the concept of repurposing as a means for thinking with activists and the issues they confront. It moves alongside pirate television collective insu^tv as they draw on a variety of histories, traditions and technological resources for their practices. Repurposing functions on multiple levels and at multiple scales, from the recycling of materials and spaces to the harnessing and relaying of encounters and events within an ever-expanding field of social relations. When seen as a way of connecting activist groups and communities, the repurposing of media contributes to strengthening an often fragmented and conflicted activist field. Indeed, insu^tv’s use of information and technology brings to the fore the value of media activism for the creation of social assemblages in which the “media” literally mediates between individuals and among individuals and their environment, instituting and developing an ontogenetic relation (Simondon, 1989). Yet, rather than simply making sense of insu^tv’s practices, the concept of repurposing also provokes a discussion regarding the ethics of connection. For insu^tv, this connective ethics can be understood as a set of rules and principles that facilitate the evaluation of actions, communication, and thought according to an immanent mode of collective existence (Deleuze, 1988; Simondon, 1989). For the author, herself a member of insu^tv and an academic researcher, this immanent position helps challenge traditional models of knowing and envisioning social change and instead proposes alternatives that attend to the singularity and relation among new political movements, and to the political potential of research methods that focus on process and fold activism into academia. The methodology is inspired by the militant research methods of the Italian Autonomia movement (conricerca or inchiesta), as developed and performed by activists themselves. While attending to the complexity of social struggles, the concept of repurposing enables an approach to research and experimentation as modes of sociability, where these modes are themselves repurposed through an ethics of connection. This line informs the relation between ethics and subjectivation, as well as between ethics and micropolitics, facilitating the emergence of new modes of political action through the repurposing of the social field itself
Review of Nitzan and Bichler’s ‘Capital as Power: A Study of Order and Creorder’
Get PDF[FROM THE REVIEW] Nitzan and Bichler produced an exciting and rich volume situated within radical thinking. [Their book] concerns nothing less than the main pillars of economic theory [and] represents a far-reaching reconsideration of the theory of capital from a heterodox perspective
"The Capitalist Mode of Power: Past, Present, Future": Conference Programme and Videos
No full textThis is the second in a conference series organized by the Forum on Capital as Power. The present meetings explore the capitalist mode of power. There are 26 presentations, including keynote addresses and guest presentations by Bob Jessop, Randall Wray, Michael Perelman and Jonathan Nitzan. Attendance is free and all are welcome.
DATE/TIME/PLACE:
October 20-21, 2011 || 9AM -- 7PM || Senate Chamber, N940 Ross Building, Keele Campus of York University
Differential Accumulation (Reprint)
No full textEarly in 2011, we received a surprising invitation from the Financial Times Lexicon. A reader had suggested that an entry on differential accumulation be added to the Lexicon, and the online content developer asked us if we would be willing to write it. Our first thought was that this must have been a mistake. . .
Call for Contributions: "The Capitalist Mode of Power: Critical Engagements with the Power Theory of Value"
No full textPOSTED BY TIM DI MUZIO:
The 2009 publication of Nitzan and Bichler’s Capital as Power: A Study of Order and Creorder has unsettled both heterodox and mainstream theorists of political economy, while igniting debate across the social sciences. Building on decades of research, their book offers not only a provocation to all political economists, but also a new approach to studying capital and capitalist sociality as a mode of power.
This collection, edited by Tim DiMuzio, aims to bring together scholars and practitioners interested in critically appraising and engaging with the work of Nitzan and Bichler, as well as researchers who use a power theory of value in their own work.
Contributions should be no longer than 8,000 words, including notes and references. Papers should be original (i.e. not published elsewhere), unless the author has explicit permission from the copyright holder to republish the piece in this volume. Contributions will be evaluated on their merit, as well as on how well they fit within the larger project.
Deadline for Submissions: June 1, 2011
Submissions are to be sent to: [email protected]
Imperialism and Financialism. A Story of a Nexus (Revised and Expanded)
Get PDFOver the past century, Marxism has been radically transformed in line with circumstances and fashion. Theses that once looked solid have depreciated and fallen by the sideline; concepts that once were deemed crucial have been abandoned; slogans that once sounded clear and meaningful have become fuzzy and ineffectual. But two key words seem to have survived the attrition and withstood the test of time: imperialism and financialism.
Talk of imperialism and financialism – and particularly of the nexus between them – remains as catchy as ever. Marxists of different colours – from classical, to neo to post – find the two terms expedient, if not indispensable. Radical anarchists, conservative Stalinists and distinguished academics of various denominations all continue to use and debate them.
The views of course differ greatly, but there is a common thread: for most Marxists, imperialism and financialism are prime causes of our worldly ills. Their nexus is said to explain capitalist development and underdevelopment; it underlies capitalist power and contradictions; and it drives capitalist globalization, its regional realignment and local dynamics. It is a fit-all logo for street demonstrators and a generic battle cry for armchair analysts.
The secret behind this staying power is flexibility. Over the years, the concepts of imperialism and financialism have changed more or less beyond recognition, as a result of which the link between them nowadays connotes something totally different from what it meant a century ago.
The purpose of our article is to outline this chameleon-like transformation, to assess what is left of the nexus and to ask whether this nexus is still worth keeping. In so doing, our goal is not to present our own view of the nexus, but rather to critique what others have written about it. We try to stick to the categories and units of the theories we examine – categories and units with which we often disagree – so that we can compare and contrast the theories on their own terms. And we make no attempt to pick and choose. We do not try to decide which version of the nexus is correct in some universal sense, and not even which version was correct for its time. Instead, our aim is to highlight the historical development of the nexus, particularly the loose manner in which it has been altered – to the point of meaning everything and nothing