Capitalist Realism: Is there no alternative?
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| Author | Mark Fisher |
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| Subject | Capitalist realism, neoliberalism, political theory, popular culture |
| Genre | Non-fiction |
| Publisher | Zero Books |
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Publication date
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2009 |
| Pages | 81 |
| ISBN | |
Capitalist Realism: Is there no alternative? is a 2009 book by British theorist Mark Fisher, published by Zero Books. It explores Fisher's concept of "capitalist realism," which he takes to describe "the widespread sense that not only is capitalism the only viable political and economic system, but also that it is now impossible even to imagine a coherent alternative to it."
The book investigates the widespread effects of neoliberal ideology on popular culture, work, education, and mental health in contemporary society. Capitalist Realism was an unexpected success, and has since influenced a range of writers.
Arguably but widely regarded as Mark Fisher's most prolific idea, capitalist realism is an ideological framework for viewing capitalism and its effects on politics, economics, and public thought. The name itself is a play on the term Socialist Realism. Fisher wrote extensively on the subject both under his pseudonym "k-punk" and under his own name. He also frequently gave interviews on the subject that expanded on his definition of the concept with other well-known political bloggers and thinkers.
According to Mark Fisher, the quote "it is easier to imagine an end to the world than an end to capitalism," falsely attributed to both Fredric Jameson and Slavoj Žižek, encompasses the essence of capitalist realism. Capitalist realism is loosely defined as the dominant conception that capitalism is the only viable economic system and thus, there can be no imaginable alternative. Fisher likens capitalist realism to a "pervasive atmosphere" that affects areas of cultural production, political-economic activity, and general thought.
Capitalist realism as I understand it cannot be confined to art or to the quasi-propagandistic way in which advertising functions. It is more like a pervasive atmosphere, conditioning not only the production of culture but also the regulation of work and education, and acting as a kind of invisible barrier constraining thought and action.
Capitalist realism propagates an idea of the post-political, in which the fall of the Soviet Union both solidified capitalism as the only effective political-economic system and removed the question of capitalism's dissolution from any political consideration. This has subverted the arena of political discussion from one in which capitalism is one of many potential means of operating an economy, to one in which political considerations operate solely within the confines of the capitalist system. Similarly, within the frame of capitalist realism, mainstream anti-capitalist movements shifted away from targeting the end of capitalism and promoting alternative systems to an aim of mitigating its worst effects.
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