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A review by 4harrisons
How to Be an Anticapitalist in the Twenty-First Century by Erik Olin Wright
4.0
This is a short and very readable book which cogently sets out a clear statement of why you might want to oppose capitalism, what strategies might be effective in trying to move beyond it, and what alliances might bring together the people who could make it happen. And yet somehow I still found it unpersuasive.
The arguments presented in favour of being an anti-capitalist are rational and make sense, but are founded on the goal of creating the conditions for every individual to "flourish" and therefore fundamentally on a liberal and moralistic outlook. Similarly Wright eschews revolutionary action that seeks to overthrow capitalism in favour of a blended "eroding" of capitalism through a combination of state-driven "top down" and community driven "bottom up" action. I think Wright underestimates the ability of capitalism and it's influence over the state to either eliminate or co-opt it's challengers and in particular that the modern state could be used for the "top down" part of the strategy without triggering significant resistance.
These earlier sections are missing any sense of agency - who might be persuaded by the arguments presented to oppose capitalism, and which actors might pursue the gradualist strategy that Wright recommends. Wright addresses this in the final section which looks at how the sort of alliances required to make change happen might be constructed. Wright adopts a three part schema assessing "identity", "interests", and "values" as the pivots upon which such alliances might be built, drawing together different groups into some sort of progressive alliance. In a sense this feels like it is built on an essentially postmodern view of individuals in society, each filling a range of "subject positions" which may change depending on the circumstance. Wright therefore builds a similar picture to that created by Laclau and Mouffe in "Hegemony and Socialist Strategy", albeit in easier language. This provides the missing agent, but seems unconvincing. Initially plausible, I think recent history has shown that stable alliances are difficult to construct, and all too easily dismantled by capitalism in favour of alternate alliances that support the status quo.
So in summary this short readable book carefully sets out why and how to oppose capitalism setting out potential strategies and alliances that might be used to bring change about, and why we should pursue change in the first place. I have some reservations about both the strategies and the alliances but this is a valuable read for all that.
This review is also on my blog here: https://marxadventure.wordpress.com/2021/06/21/review-how-to-be-an-anticapitalist-in-the-21st-century/
Together with my notes on postmodernism: https://marxadventure.wordpress.com/2021/03/28/some-notes-on-postmodernism/
And my review from a couple of years ago of Hegemony and Socialist Strategy: https://marxadventure.wordpress.com/2018/02/08/review-hegemony-and-socialist-strategy/
And some other thoughts based on "identity": https://marxadventure.wordpress.com/2021/08/04/reinforcing-identity/
The arguments presented in favour of being an anti-capitalist are rational and make sense, but are founded on the goal of creating the conditions for every individual to "flourish" and therefore fundamentally on a liberal and moralistic outlook. Similarly Wright eschews revolutionary action that seeks to overthrow capitalism in favour of a blended "eroding" of capitalism through a combination of state-driven "top down" and community driven "bottom up" action. I think Wright underestimates the ability of capitalism and it's influence over the state to either eliminate or co-opt it's challengers and in particular that the modern state could be used for the "top down" part of the strategy without triggering significant resistance.
These earlier sections are missing any sense of agency - who might be persuaded by the arguments presented to oppose capitalism, and which actors might pursue the gradualist strategy that Wright recommends. Wright addresses this in the final section which looks at how the sort of alliances required to make change happen might be constructed. Wright adopts a three part schema assessing "identity", "interests", and "values" as the pivots upon which such alliances might be built, drawing together different groups into some sort of progressive alliance. In a sense this feels like it is built on an essentially postmodern view of individuals in society, each filling a range of "subject positions" which may change depending on the circumstance. Wright therefore builds a similar picture to that created by Laclau and Mouffe in "Hegemony and Socialist Strategy", albeit in easier language. This provides the missing agent, but seems unconvincing. Initially plausible, I think recent history has shown that stable alliances are difficult to construct, and all too easily dismantled by capitalism in favour of alternate alliances that support the status quo.
So in summary this short readable book carefully sets out why and how to oppose capitalism setting out potential strategies and alliances that might be used to bring change about, and why we should pursue change in the first place. I have some reservations about both the strategies and the alliances but this is a valuable read for all that.
This review is also on my blog here: https://marxadventure.wordpress.com/2021/06/21/review-how-to-be-an-anticapitalist-in-the-21st-century/
Together with my notes on postmodernism: https://marxadventure.wordpress.com/2021/03/28/some-notes-on-postmodernism/
And my review from a couple of years ago of Hegemony and Socialist Strategy: https://marxadventure.wordpress.com/2018/02/08/review-hegemony-and-socialist-strategy/
And some other thoughts based on "identity": https://marxadventure.wordpress.com/2021/08/04/reinforcing-identity/