May 10, 2017   |   0 comments

Doug Lain discusses some of the ideas in Mark Fisher’s book Capitalist Realism – Is There No Alternative?

(Stream / download audio at bottom of page)

It is easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism. After 1989, capitalism has successfully presented itself as the only realistic political-economic system, a situation that the bank crisis of 2008, far from ending, actually compounded. Fisher’s book analyses the development and principal features of this capitalist realism as the lived experience of our everyday lives. Using examples from politics, film, literature, work and education, it argues that capitalist realism colours all areas of contemporary experience, is anything but realistic, and asks how capitalism and its inconsistencies can be challenged. For Fisher, spiralling rates of poverty, inequality, depression, and disenchantment are warning signs that the system as we know it is in deep trouble.

Capitalist Realism is a scathing critique of the post-ideological malaise which maintains that the economics and politics of free market neo-liberalism are givens rather than constructions. Mark Fisher’s writing put Zero Books on the map in 2009 and Capitalist Realism continues to define their mission. Fisher’s vision remains as powerful and poignant as ever, adopting a new dimension in the wake of his untimely death in January 2017.

Previous interviews with Doug Lain:
The Dream of Reality
Can Human Beings Live Forever?

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