<nettime> Upcoming Essex Seminars on Capitalism & the Social

[Stevphen Shukaitis <stevphen@autonomedia.org>]

Here’s information on two upcoming seminars at the University of Essex 
Centre for Work, Organization, and Society. Cheers, Stevphen


18/6 Seminar on Revaluing the Social in Contemporary Capitalism
Monday June 18th, 2012 @ 3PM
University of Essex Room 4SB.5.3
Centre for Work, Organization and Society 
(http://www.essex.ac.uk/ebs/research/emc)

Seminar presentations by: Jason Read (University of Southern Maine) / 
George Tsogas (Cass, City University) / Stevphen Shukaitis (University 
of Essex)

Abstracts
General Relations: Transindividuality from Ontology to a Non-Economic 
Critique of Political Economy
Jason Read (University of Southern Maine)

In the Grundrisse Marx writes “Only in the eighteenth century, in ‘civil 
society,’ do the various forms of social connectedness confront the 
individual as a mere means towards his private purposes, as external 
necessity. But the epoch which produces this standpoint, that of the 
isolated individual, is also precisely that of the hitherto must 
developed social (from this standpoint, general) relations.” The 
contradiction Marx grasped between the increased interconnectedness of 
economic production and social isolation has only deepened into the 
twenty-first century: it is the era of commons, of digital connections, 
but also the era of neoliberal individuation, isolation, and precarious 
fragmentation. How then to make sense of an era of connection and 
isolation. I argue that the concept, or rather the problem, of 
transindividuation, makes possible a conflictual understanding of the 
genesis of both individuals and social relations. I say problem, or 
problematic, rather than concept, because transindividuality needs to be 
grasped in its broadest sense as an ontology of relations (Simondon, 
Spinoza); a critique of political economy (Marx, Virno, Stiegler); and a 
constitution of political subjectivity (Balibar, Negri). It is by 
thinking the interrelation of the ontology, economy, and political that 
we can think the constitution and transformation of the present.


Cognitive capitalism, organization, and the labour theory of value
George Tsogas (Cass) & Stevphen Shukaitis (Essex)

We address the reasons and methods for renewing a transfusion of ideas 
between Marxism and organisation and management theorising. We put 
forward a dialectical approach to the search for O&M theories, by 
stepping outside disciplinary confines. The Marxian labour theory of 
value is put forward as the territory for such synthetical exchange to 
commence. For that task, we make the most of the autonomist Marxist 
tradition, inasmuch as it offers us a coherent explanation of the social 
foundations of post-Fordist, contemporary (cognitive) capitalism. We 
question the contemporary significance and relevance of the Marxian 
labour theory of value, in an era of deep capitalist crisis, and reach 
the assertion of the negation of value creation in cognitive capitalism: 
consumption precedes production and creates – rather than destroys – 
value. Our aim is to bring to the forefront of O&M theoretical enquiry 
fundamental questions on the nature of labour, exchange relations and 
forces of production in contemporary, cognitive capitalism.

--

26/6 Seminar: Rise of the Flashpublics
Tuesday June 26th, 2012 @ 4PM
University of Essex Room LTB4
Centre for Work, Organization and Society 
(http://www.essex.ac.uk/ebs/research/emc)

Rise of the Flashpublics: State-friended Social Media, User-Generated 
Discontent, and the Affective Transfer

This presentation examines recent entanglements of social media and 
political dissent to explore mutations in network sovereignty. Using a 
number of recent examples (including the US State Department organized 
Alliance of Youth Movements, the uprisings in Iran and Egypt, KONY 2012, 
Occupy Wall Street, and the US police networks), it argues that we are 
witnessing a convergence of sovereign and network powers, one that 
expresses new modes of control while setting the conditions for new 
forms of evaluation and antagonism. Network alliances and coalitions 
have become key actors in constructing a public (now as “State-friended” 
movements) and dissuading dissent movements (“State-enemied” ones). More 
specifically, counter-radicalization can take place via creating what I 
call flashpublics (quickly mobilized networked alliances that distract 
and prevent other emergent networks). At the same time, these coalitions 
depend on social media spectators/participants, which are affective 
transfer points that exceed network capture.


Bio: Jack Z. Bratich is associate professor and department chair of 
Journalism and Media Studies at Rutgers University. He is author of 
Conspiracy Panics: Political Rationality and Popular Culture (2008) and 
coeditor, along with Jeremy Packer and Cameron McCarthy, Foucault, 
Cultural Studies, and Governmentality (2003). His work applies 
autonomist social theory to such topics as audience studies, social 
media, and the cultural politics of secrecy. He is a zine librarian at 
ABC No Rio in New York City.




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