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remmerich1's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
5.0
A fascinating examination of late-stage capitalism, the assumptions which underpin it, and how we can challenge those assumptions. Like many "radical" texts I've read over the last few years, it makes points which seem so obvious it's hard to imagine I've not seen them before (though some of the points have been made in more depth in other books, for example the discussion of politics and mental health in Mad World)
That's not to say there's nothing new in Capitalist Realism- there are plenty of new ideas, and connections I'd not seen discussed before. Overall this is an excellent text, and I'll be considering it for a long time to come
That's not to say there's nothing new in Capitalist Realism- there are plenty of new ideas, and connections I'd not seen discussed before. Overall this is an excellent text, and I'll be considering it for a long time to come
alitasharing's review against another edition
4.0
Interesting and urgent. Will require a re-read sometime soon. Decidedly an important piece of work for a more in-depth (but still introductory) look at Capital and its deriding functions in the world.
Quite depressing but necessary.
I enjoyed the use of contemporary examples (like Mike Judge's 1999 movie Office Space and Alfonso Cuarón's 2006 Children of Men).
Despite their contributions being obvious and valuable, Fisher does tend to muddy the waters a little with his over-quotation of Zizek and other old, white dudes. He also tended to use terms that are likely not within the daily vocabulary of the general public (e.g., 'negative atheology').
I did feel that the book ended abruptly with no actual answers to the question 'Is There No Alternative?' It felt like he was telling the 'new left', "now you know the problem, design the solution." Which is not an uncommon demand in leftist circles. He says, "Anticapitalism must oppose Capital's globalism with its own, authentic universality." I would have liked to see some examples of how this is being done, particularly in cyberspaces, in the later chapters of the book and with the same diligence as was shown for the aforementioned examples. But I suppose the title of the book isn't 'Here Are The Alternatives'. And maybe those examples didn't exist yet (although I sincerely doubt this is the case).
Overall, I found Capitalist Realism to be a sincere effort at describing exactly why capitalism/Capital is the monster that it is - what makes up its nature as well as what and whom it feeds on, even if it does serve as a prime example of White Existential Dread.
Quite depressing but necessary.
I enjoyed the use of contemporary examples (like Mike Judge's 1999 movie Office Space and Alfonso Cuarón's 2006 Children of Men).
Despite their contributions being obvious and valuable, Fisher does tend to muddy the waters a little with his over-quotation of Zizek and other old, white dudes. He also tended to use terms that are likely not within the daily vocabulary of the general public (e.g., 'negative atheology').
I did feel that the book ended abruptly with no actual answers to the question 'Is There No Alternative?' It felt like he was telling the 'new left', "now you know the problem, design the solution." Which is not an uncommon demand in leftist circles. He says, "Anticapitalism must oppose Capital's globalism with its own, authentic universality." I would have liked to see some examples of how this is being done, particularly in cyberspaces, in the later chapters of the book and with the same diligence as was shown for the aforementioned examples. But I suppose the title of the book isn't 'Here Are The Alternatives'. And maybe those examples didn't exist yet (although I sincerely doubt this is the case).
Overall, I found Capitalist Realism to be a sincere effort at describing exactly why capitalism/Capital is the monster that it is - what makes up its nature as well as what and whom it feeds on, even if it does serve as a prime example of White Existential Dread.
reduck's review against another edition
3.0
Dense, dense writing about political philosophy mixed with old man yelling at cloud (or in this case BBC), a fixation on niche grievance like university audits punctuated by some really amazing, mind bending points about post Cold War capitalism.
tobiasbroucke's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
krussek's review against another edition
2.0
I’m gonna be real with you guys, I don’t really get the hype with Mark Fisher. Not my thing. Or the constant agonizing about why the Everyman can’t imagine an alternative to capitalism. Isn’t it common sense that to someone enmeshed in the current social/political/ economic paradigm that something different is an ontological impossibility? It’s like how a 13th century European couldn’t imagine secularism, or global market capitalism. Anyway. Could be talking out my ass here.