Join us to discuss Mark Fisher’s Capitalist Realism (PDF).

Critical Theory Chicago meets Mondays at the Harold Washington Library 6-8pm in the 6th floor north study room.

“After 1989, capitalism has presented itself as the only realistic political-economic system. What effects has this “capitalist realism” had on work, culture, education and mental health? Is it possible to imagine an alternative to capitalism that is not some throwback to discredited models of state control?” – Back of the book blurb

Discussion Schedule

Day 1: November 5th 

Chapter 1 “It’s easier to imagine the end of the word than the end of capitalism”

Chapter 2 “What if you held a protest and everyone came?”

Chapter 3 “Capitalism and the Real”

Day 2: November 19th 

Chapter 4 “Reflexive impotence, immobilization and liberal communism”

Chapter 5 “October 6, 1979: ‘Don’t let yourself get attached to anything'”

Day 3: December 3rd 

Chapter 6 “All that is solid melts into PR: market Stalinism and bureaucratic anti-production”

Chapter 7 “‘…if you can watch the overlap of one reality with another’: capitalist realism as dreamwork and memory disorder”

Day 4: December 17th 

Chapter 8 “There’s no central exchange”

Chapter 9 “Marxist Supernanny”