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The Political Economy of the Spectacle and Postmodern Caste
Series: - Studies in Critical Social Sciences, Volume: 141
Author:
In The Political Economy of the Spectacle and Postmodern Caste, John Asimakopoulos analyzes the political economy of the society of the spectacle, a philosophical concept developed by Guy Debord and Jean Baudrillard. Using the analytical tools of social science, while historicizing, Asimakopoulos reveals that all societies in every epoch have been and continue to be caste systems legitimized by various ideologies. He concludes there is no such thing as capitalism (or socialism)—only a caste system hidden behind capitalist ideology. Key features of the book include its broad interdisciplinary-nonsectarian approach with quantitative and qualitative data. The Political Economy of the Spectacle and Postmodern Caste is well written and clear, making it accessible to the general public.
John Asimakopoulos, Ph.D., is Full Professor of Sociology at the City University of New York. His publications include Revolt! (Transformative Studies Institute, 2011), The Accumulation of Freedom (AK Press, 2012, with Eric Shannon and Anthony J. Nocella), Social Structures of Direct Democracy (Brill, 2014), and Against Capital in the Twenty-First Century (Temple University Press, 2018).
“People have to engage in autonomous extra-institutional action to change social relations.” Asimakopoulos’s important concluding point captures the vital agenda which motivated the arguments of his new book. In accessible, straightforward and jargon-free prose, and elaborating upon Castoriadis’s, Foucault’s, Debord’s and Baudrillard’s insights, he raises fundamental and challenging questions for radical theory and praxis, and concurrently, he draws out the social and political implications of his analysis of the political economy of the society of the spectacle. Asimakopoulos’s passion and commitment are remarkable.
-- Christos Memos, author of Castoriadis and Critical Theory, Lecturer, University of Abertay Dundee, Scotland
Busting out of Plato’s cave: the title of the introduction tells us what the book is about. How do we get out of here, out of this cave of lies and oppression? This is the only question worth asking. John Asimakopoulos explores the cave to its horrible depths in lively detail. And leaves us with the question of whether there is any way out other than stringing the rich up from the nearest lamppost.
-- John Holloway, author of many books, Professor, Autonomous University of Puebla, Mexico.
-- Christos Memos, author of Castoriadis and Critical Theory, Lecturer, University of Abertay Dundee, Scotland
Busting out of Plato’s cave: the title of the introduction tells us what the book is about. How do we get out of here, out of this cave of lies and oppression? This is the only question worth asking. John Asimakopoulos explores the cave to its horrible depths in lively detail. And leaves us with the question of whether there is any way out other than stringing the rich up from the nearest lamppost.
-- John Holloway, author of many books, Professor, Autonomous University of Puebla, Mexico.
Foreword
Greg Palast
Acknowledgements
Illustrations
Introduction: Busting out of Plato’s Cave
1 The Symbolic Institution of Society
1 Symbolic Interactionism
2 Interaction Exchange and Collective Norms
3 Critical Theory and Post-Structuralism/Postmodernism
3.1 Cornelius Castoriadis
3.2 Michel Foucault
3.3 Guy Debord
3.4 Jean Baudrillard
4 Beyond Post-Structuralism/Postmodernism
2The Spectacle
1 Audience Segmentation
1.1 Sociocultural and Spatial Segmentation
1.2 Educational Segmentation
1.3 Economic Segmentation
1.4 Political Segmentation
2 Total Propaganda
3 Symbolic Institutions
3.1 Educational Institutions
3.2 Economic Institutions
3.3 Political Institutions
3.4 Legal Institutions
3.5 Protective Institutions
3 It’s All Spectacular
1 Spectacular History
2 Postmodern Spectacles
2.1 Doubleplusgood: Spectacular Capitalism
2.2 Plusgood: Spectacular Socialism/Communism
3 Spectacular Class
4 The Quantum Mechanics of Value and Capital
4.1 The Relativity of Value
4.2 There Is No Spoon: Capital(ism)
4 The Monetization of Everything
1 Life, Flesh, and Death
2 Food, Water, and the Environment
3 Cities, Nations, and Culture
4 Time and Space
5 The Global Spectacle
5.1 Finance
5.2 Trade
5.3 Segmented Labor
5 The Structure of Postmodern Caste
1 Social Order
1.1 Privileges and Disabilities Based on Ascription
1.2 Who Pays the Piper?
1.3 Extreme Structural Inequality
2 Caste Groups
2.1 Ruling Caste
2.2 Nobles
2.3 Privileged Labor
2.4 Required Labor
2.5 Precarious Labor
2.6 Institutional Slaves
3 Legitimizing Twenty-First-Century Serfdom
3.1 Mr. Baptist Has Been Too Harsh on the Slavers
Conclusion: Bakunin’s Conundrum
Bibliography
Index
Greg Palast
Acknowledgements
Illustrations
Introduction: Busting out of Plato’s Cave
1 The Symbolic Institution of Society
1 Symbolic Interactionism
2 Interaction Exchange and Collective Norms
3 Critical Theory and Post-Structuralism/Postmodernism
3.1 Cornelius Castoriadis
3.2 Michel Foucault
3.3 Guy Debord
3.4 Jean Baudrillard
4 Beyond Post-Structuralism/Postmodernism
2The Spectacle
1 Audience Segmentation
1.1 Sociocultural and Spatial Segmentation
1.2 Educational Segmentation
1.3 Economic Segmentation
1.4 Political Segmentation
2 Total Propaganda
3 Symbolic Institutions
3.1 Educational Institutions
3.2 Economic Institutions
3.3 Political Institutions
3.4 Legal Institutions
3.5 Protective Institutions
3 It’s All Spectacular
1 Spectacular History
2 Postmodern Spectacles
2.1 Doubleplusgood: Spectacular Capitalism
2.2 Plusgood: Spectacular Socialism/Communism
3 Spectacular Class
4 The Quantum Mechanics of Value and Capital
4.1 The Relativity of Value
4.2 There Is No Spoon: Capital(ism)
4 The Monetization of Everything
1 Life, Flesh, and Death
2 Food, Water, and the Environment
3 Cities, Nations, and Culture
4 Time and Space
5 The Global Spectacle
5.1 Finance
5.2 Trade
5.3 Segmented Labor
5 The Structure of Postmodern Caste
1 Social Order
1.1 Privileges and Disabilities Based on Ascription
1.2 Who Pays the Piper?
1.3 Extreme Structural Inequality
2 Caste Groups
2.1 Ruling Caste
2.2 Nobles
2.3 Privileged Labor
2.4 Required Labor
2.5 Precarious Labor
2.6 Institutional Slaves
3 Legitimizing Twenty-First-Century Serfdom
3.1 Mr. Baptist Has Been Too Harsh on the Slavers
Conclusion: Bakunin’s Conundrum
Bibliography
Index
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