In this chapter, I want to build on my analysis of why Herbert Marcuse’s critique of one-dimensionality and technological rationality can, with some updating, be helpful in thinking through the current conjuncture of advanced neoliberalism. The current moment is characterized by the rise of authoritarianism, far-right parties and leaders coming to political power, the dramatic rise of hate speech, trolling, doxing, cancelling, scapegoating, etc. on social media, while global capitalism and its global entertainment/media complex churn out ever more one-dimensional streaming ‘content’ in ever-more diverse forms globally. These recent/newer centrifugal forces of advanced neoliberalism have accelerated currents of disintegration unleashing them in the form of a now-rampant sexism, racism, homo- and trans-phobia, resurgent nationalisms, religious fundamentalism, and the recent explosion of rage and its manipulation in ‘rage-farming’. These forces constitute a new phase of the ongoing counterrevolution from above, or what I call neoliberal despotism, that has emerged from the past forty years of neoliberalism. While Marcuse’s that I consult here was written before neoliberalism, his insights are still relevant in making sense of the complex, even treacherous political and theoretical terrain on which the Left finds itself today. I end up looking at how Marcuse’s 1960s debate with Adorno over ‘Left fascism’ and the student movement is relevant to recent discussions of what some have called ‘left authoritarianism’, which I argue draws a false equivalence between anger and frustration (produced by the social conditions of neoliberalism) on the left and far-right.

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The Counterrevolution in Late-Stage Neoliberalism: A Marcusean View

  • Terry Maley

摘要

In this chapter, I want to build on my analysis of why Herbert Marcuse’s critique of one-dimensionality and technological rationality can, with some updating, be helpful in thinking through the current conjuncture of advanced neoliberalism. The current moment is characterized by the rise of authoritarianism, far-right parties and leaders coming to political power, the dramatic rise of hate speech, trolling, doxing, cancelling, scapegoating, etc. on social media, while global capitalism and its global entertainment/media complex churn out ever more one-dimensional streaming ‘content’ in ever-more diverse forms globally. These recent/newer centrifugal forces of advanced neoliberalism have accelerated currents of disintegration unleashing them in the form of a now-rampant sexism, racism, homo- and trans-phobia, resurgent nationalisms, religious fundamentalism, and the recent explosion of rage and its manipulation in ‘rage-farming’. These forces constitute a new phase of the ongoing counterrevolution from above, or what I call neoliberal despotism, that has emerged from the past forty years of neoliberalism. While Marcuse’s that I consult here was written before neoliberalism, his insights are still relevant in making sense of the complex, even treacherous political and theoretical terrain on which the Left finds itself today. I end up looking at how Marcuse’s 1960s debate with Adorno over ‘Left fascism’ and the student movement is relevant to recent discussions of what some have called ‘left authoritarianism’, which I argue draws a false equivalence between anger and frustration (produced by the social conditions of neoliberalism) on the left and far-right.