Søren Mau on Communism, Capitalism, and Social Democracy

What do we want communism to look like? Søren Mau discusses communist modes of production, Left utopian ideas, the transcendental power of capitalism, and his book, Mute Compulsion: A Marxist Theory of the Economic Power of Capital. He is interviewed by Richard Hames, audio producer at Novara Media.
Read his essay on the Verso blog, referenced in the interview: Communism is Freedom www.versobooks.com/blogs/news...
Mute Compulsion: A Marxist Theory of the Economic Power of Capital is out now: www.versobooks.com/products/2...
Søren Mau is a communist philosopher and postdoctoral researcher based in Copenhagen, Denmark. He is an editor of the journal Historical Materialism and a member of the board of the Danish Society for Marxist Studies.
00:00 Intro
01:38 Søren’s blog: Communism is Freedom
09:13 Capitalism isn’t natural
12:38 What is Mute Compulsion
18:38 Proletarianisation
21:36 Why Social Democracy/UBI isn’t enough
28:01 The Transcendental Power of Capitalism
32.24 Proletarianisation pt2
34:18 Why can’t I plant my own crops in the local park?
38:23 Capitalist food production
47:36 Does Capitalism undermine itself?
52:07 Søren’s next book - a Marxist theory of human nature

[@NathanWHill]

This guy's _Mute Compulsion_ is one of the best works of Marxist theory I've read.

[@atDeathMetalMods]

same

[@abr74]

Agree.

[@SeedsofJoy]

damn richard came at soren's throat calling him a social democrat 4 minutes in

[@andrewsstuffy]

One of the things Byung-Chul Han argues is that violence only appears to be absent in modern capitalism. But rather it has transformed into a positive form of violence.. the violence of excess that gives rise to climate change, the violence of self-exploitation that produces burnout and depression. In his view, capitalism has transformed and has outsourced violence to individuals, but nevertheless it is still the source of this violence but has learned perhaps how to distance itself from it and assume the pretense of accountability. This colours capitalism with a much more sinister complexion. I think i would be worth reading Han along side Søren, as Søren attempts to describe a utopian vision while Han describes many of the (often hidden) negative affects of the current one.

[@AbtinX]

The violence of capitalism and imperialism are everywhere in our societies. I think that is a strange perspective, the one of Han. It's systemic, a biproduct and ever present.

[@SvalbardSleeperDistrict]

I think that next book will have much more new ideas to offer - looking forward to it.

[@AbtinX]

Also in a social democratic system, any benefits and securities offered can be revoked and dismantled by the capitalist class at any time. It happens all the time. You are reasonably fed and housed, but for how long?

[@daniel2501]

Absolutely recommend Mute Compulsion. I'm about to read it a second time. Hope he writes another one soon!

[@PoliticalEconomy101]

Great!

[@rjrobinson198]

20:00 Not sure why Soren doesn't not see that capitalism prevents us from being with other human beings. It has reduced us to the nuclear family, with semi-compulsory movement away from our family of birth and neighbours to find work. And at work, it brings us together only with those individuals and only in connection with the purposes of capital itself. All the rest of human relations, though by no means impossible is much harder under capitals, than it need be.

[@cloudbusting_]

Yep. Capitalism relies upon hyperindividualism, atomization, alienation, and so on. I think maybe he had a different meaning that he didn't clarify here but I'm not sure.

[@afiganyo5678]

Because that is the reality of capitalism in America. It is not that way in Denmark. They have VERY high social cohesion

[@dragonbeardable]

Denmark is still capitalism. All those northern countries are.​@@afiganyo5678

[@cloudmonkeys]

I'm glad that Oswald Mosley and Romper Stomper have seen the error of their ways.

[@rjrobinson198]

Good interviewer!

[@Ynimixer]

Søren Mau looks like Russel Crowe in Romper Stomper

[@mesutcelikli727]

The reproach which is coupled with capitalist-realism in the comment section and in general just goes to show why we need communism. He is one of the figures that attempt to remind us of that and he does a good job in his book. U all hate him coz he is hot 😅 we need hot philosophers like him.

[@rjrobinson198]

10:30.No natural basis for communism? No, not if by 'nature' you mean something outside of human reason, but if you include us within nature, communism represents the mode of production (ie, the way human beings exist) in its only non-contradictory form since the earliest days of hunter-gatherer society.

[@torstenfrling1213]

Mute compulsion = the basic fact of life, that you are responsible for your own survival 😂 Doesn't change in any society.

[@alandiaz8755]

must feel nice to offhandedly discard a concept that you didn't even take 5 minutes to try to understand

[@torstenfrling1213]

@@alandiaz8755 Tell med, Alan, what is wrong with my description? And what would be a better description?

[@LongDefiant]

​@@torstenfrling1213individualism is meaningless. Individuals can do nothing without massive social support. Your ultra-liberalism fails under the slightest examination. Individuals are a dead end, socially and biologically.

[@whocares_today]

May be you should talk to people who actually lived in communism before presenting logical word salad as the latest philosophy?

[@anastasiyakotova]

emmmm what people do you think actually lived in communism? I think most contemporary theorists agree that the USSR and the Eastern bloc, the PCR, etc., were pretty distant from embodying a communist society.

[@alandiaz8755]

emmm maybe you should read some Marxist theory before jumping to the knee-jerk conclusion that the historical failure of the USSR implies that the (two centuries long) tradition of thought which it (imperfectly) tried to embody has nothing interesting to say to us today?

[@afiganyo5678]

I lived in a country that was under communism before. The people that remember it mostly miss it, and the people that didn't live under it lament that they no longer have it. They quickly realized capitalism was a ruse, but are also kind of afraid of any new Big Ideas

[@aungsettkyawmin9094]

an idea about how human society should organize production and allocate resources to ensure collective human flourishing can't be articulated in ooga booga caveman vocabulary? MUST BE WORD SALAD!!!