{"id":115,"date":"2012-12-19T19:00:50","date_gmt":"2012-12-19T17:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/meme.co.za\/?p=115"},"modified":"2012-12-19T19:02:28","modified_gmt":"2012-12-19T17:02:28","slug":"review-franco-bifo-berardi-after-the-future-2011-ak-press","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/meme.co.za\/?p=115","title":{"rendered":"Review: Franco ‘Bifo’ Berardi – After the Future (2011, AK Press)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 20th<\/sup> century was the century that trusted in the future.<\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

Or, as Franco ‘Bifo’ Berardi – veteran of the 1977 Italian post-workerist movement and founder of the legendary pirate radio station Radio Alice – states in the opening pages of his newest work, ‘After the Future’, \u201c<\/em>Liberalism<\/em> and<\/em> social<\/em> democracy,<\/em> nationalism<\/em> and<\/em> communism,<\/em> and<\/em> anarchism<\/em> itself,<\/em> all<\/em> the<\/em> different<\/em> families<\/em> of<\/em> modern<\/em> political<\/em> theory<\/em> share<\/em> a<\/em> common<\/em> certainty:<\/em> notwithstanding<\/em> the<\/em> darkness<\/em> of<\/em> the<\/em> present,<\/em> the<\/em> future<\/em> will<\/em> be<\/em> bright.<\/em>\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

For Bifo, however, there is nothing natural about the future; instead, the very idea that we are progressing naturally towards a better world is nothing more than an ‘imaginary effect’ of the ideology of capitalist expansion. Locating the symbolic birth of what he calls ‘the century of the future’ in 1909, the year of the publication of the proto-fascist Futurist Manifesto \u2013 a zealous endorsement of modernity, industrial massification, acceleration and technological advancement \u2013 Bifo traces this na\u00efve technotopianism through to its end in 1977, the year of punk and its cries of ‘no future!’<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Indeed, the entire book is permeated by a punk-like aesthetic of resignation and despair. While the century of the future, says Bifo, is now over, this is largely because its logic has so deeply infiltrated our consciousness that we are no longer able to even imagine an alternative and are thus resigned to a rapid collective decline into narcissism, anomie and fragmentation: the precarity and distributed nature of work and the resultant loss of solidarity and possibilities for organisation between workers; the overstimulation of the ‘cognitariat’ by the instantaneity and ubuquity of digital media, leading to a crisis of sensitivity and a diminished capacity for communication; the depression, panic, unhappiness, fear, anxiety and terror which are the natural affective conditions of ‘cognitive capitalism’…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

‘After the Future’ is relentless in its hopelessness, even as it offers us a startlingly accurate description of the present. Which of us immured in conditions of immaterial labour, for instance, can fail to recognise ourselves in these lines: \u201c<\/em>The<\/em> social<\/em> field<\/em> is<\/em> \u201can<\/em> ocean<\/em> of<\/em> valorizing<\/em> cells<\/em> convened<\/em> in<\/em> a<\/em> cellular<\/em> way<\/em> and<\/em> recombined<\/em> by<\/em> the<\/em> subjectivity<\/em> of<\/em> capital<\/em>\u201d.<\/em> These<\/em> info-laborers<\/em> are<\/em> paid<\/em> only<\/em> for<\/em> the<\/em> moments<\/em> when<\/em> their<\/em> time<\/em> is<\/em> made<\/em> cellular,<\/em> yet<\/em> their<\/em> entire<\/em> days<\/em> are<\/em> subjected<\/em> to<\/em> this<\/em> kind<\/em> of<\/em> production,<\/em> \u201cpulsating<\/em> and<\/em> available,<\/em> like<\/em> a<\/em> brain-sprawl<\/em> in<\/em> waiting<\/em>\u201d,<\/em> Blackberries<\/em> and<\/em> mobiles<\/em> ever<\/em> ready.<\/em>\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

There is, however, some small thread of optimism running through the pages. While Bifo does not pretend to have any answers, he does at least encourage us to reflect critically and unflinchingly on the composition of the present and calls on us to practice an ethics of resistance: \u201cI<\/em> <\/em>must<\/em> <\/em>act<\/em> \u201c<\/em>as<\/em> <\/em>if<\/em>\u201d<\/em>.<\/em> <\/em>As<\/em> <\/em>if<\/em> <\/em>the<\/em> <\/em>forces<\/em> <\/em>of<\/em> <\/em>labor<\/em> <\/em>and<\/em> <\/em>knowledge<\/em> <\/em>may<\/em> <\/em>overcome<\/em> <\/em>the<\/em> <\/em>forces<\/em> <\/em>of<\/em> <\/em>greed<\/em> <\/em>and<\/em> <\/em>of<\/em> <\/em>proprietary<\/em> <\/em>obsession.<\/em> <\/em>As<\/em> <\/em>if<\/em> <\/em>the<\/em> <\/em>cognitive<\/em> <\/em>workers<\/em> <\/em>may<\/em> <\/em>overcome<\/em> <\/em>the<\/em> <\/em>fractalization<\/em> <\/em>of<\/em> <\/em>their<\/em> <\/em>life<\/em> <\/em>and<\/em> <\/em>intelligence,<\/em> <\/em>and<\/em> <\/em>give<\/em> <\/em>birth<\/em> <\/em>to<\/em> <\/em>a<\/em> <\/em>process<\/em> <\/em>of<\/em> <\/em>the<\/em> <\/em>self-organization<\/em> <\/em>of<\/em> <\/em>collective<\/em> <\/em>knowledge.<\/em> <\/em>I<\/em> <\/em>must<\/em> <\/em>resist<\/em> <\/em>simply<\/em> <\/em>because<\/em> <\/em>I<\/em> <\/em>cannot<\/em> <\/em>know<\/em> <\/em>what<\/em> <\/em>will<\/em> <\/em>happen<\/em> <\/em>after<\/em> <\/em>the<\/em> <\/em>future,<\/em> <\/em>and<\/em> <\/em>I<\/em> <\/em>must<\/em> <\/em>preserve<\/em> <\/em>the<\/em> <\/em>consciousness<\/em> <\/em>and<\/em> <\/em>sensibility<\/em> <\/em>of<\/em> <\/em>social<\/em> <\/em>solidarity,<\/em> <\/em>of<\/em> <\/em>human<\/em> <\/em>empathy,<\/em> <\/em>of<\/em> <\/em>gratuitous<\/em> <\/em>activity,<\/em> <\/em>of<\/em> <\/em>freedom,<\/em> <\/em>equality<\/em> <\/em>and<\/em> <\/em>fraternity.<\/em> <\/em>Just<\/em> <\/em>in<\/em> <\/em>case,<\/em> <\/em>right?<\/em> <\/em>Just<\/em> <\/em>because<\/em> <\/em>we<\/em> <\/em>don<\/em>\u2019<\/em>t<\/em> <\/em>know<\/em> <\/em>what<\/em> <\/em>is<\/em> <\/em>going<\/em> <\/em>to<\/em> <\/em>happening<\/em> <\/em>next,<\/em> <\/em>in<\/em> <\/em>the<\/em> <\/em>empty<\/em> <\/em>space<\/em> <\/em>that<\/em> <\/em>comes<\/em> <\/em>after<\/em> <\/em>the<\/em> <\/em>future<\/em> <\/em>of<\/em> <\/em>modernity.<\/em> <\/em>I<\/em> <\/em>must<\/em> <\/em>resist<\/em> <\/em>because<\/em> <\/em>this<\/em> <\/em>is<\/em> <\/em>the<\/em> <\/em>only<\/em> <\/em>way<\/em> <\/em>to<\/em> <\/em>be<\/em> <\/em>in<\/em> <\/em>peace<\/em> <\/em>with<\/em> <\/em>my<\/em> <\/em>self.<\/em> <\/em>In<\/em> <\/em>the<\/em> <\/em>name<\/em> <\/em>of<\/em> <\/em>self-love,<\/em> <\/em>we<\/em> <\/em>must<\/em> <\/em>resist.<\/em> <\/em>And<\/em> <\/em>self-love<\/em> <\/em>is<\/em> <\/em>the<\/em> <\/em>basic<\/em> <\/em>ethical<\/em> <\/em>rule<\/em> <\/em>that<\/em> <\/em>an<\/em> <\/em>anarchist<\/em> <\/em>prizes.<\/em>\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The book concludes with Bifo’s witty and strikingly beautiful response to the Futurists – the Manifesto<\/em> <\/em>of<\/em> <\/em>Post-Futurism<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 20th century was the century that trusted in the future. Or, as Franco ‘Bifo’ Berardi – veteran of the 1977 Italian post-workerist movement and founder of the legendary pirate radio station Radio Alice – states in the opening pages of his newest work, ‘After the Future’, \u201cLiberalism and social democracy, nationalism and communism, and\u2026 Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":117,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,7,10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/meme.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/meme.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/meme.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/meme.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/meme.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=115"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/meme.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":119,"href":"http:\/\/meme.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115\/revisions\/119"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/meme.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/meme.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/meme.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/meme.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}