Back
McKenzie Wark: Capital is Dead: Is This Something Worse? (Hardcover, 2019, Verso) 5 stars

Review of 'Capital is Dead: Is This Something Worse?' on 'Storygraph'

5 stars

Among the most influential pieces of theory I have read in a very long time. Wark bluntly challenges the established forms by which we address the upper class, arguing that in order to imagine and work towards a better future we must first discard the old forms of conceptualizing it. I would hesitate to call it inspiring (existential terror remains such even with the language to know it), but Wark's ability to blend technical, theoretical, and cultural forces into a unified theory has the effect of finally emerging from a deep sleep.

The last few chapters get a bit in the weeds dismissing Marxist theorists directly, serving as a preemptive defense against their arguments but moving away from the tangible rhetoric of the earlier chapters. It makes the book somewhat less accessible as a whole, but is a minor blemish on what is still a very readable academic text. Essential reading for modern Marxist's, particularly the more obnoxious and online among them (heh, wonder who that's for).