Communists like us: new spaces of liberty, new lines of alliance

173 Pages·1990·3.05 MB·English

by  Félix Guattari

CoMMUNISTS
LIKE Us
OFL mERTY,
NEwS PACES
LINES OF
NEW ALLIANCE
FELIX GUATIARI
& Tom NEGRI
WITH
A
1990"
"PosTSCRIPT,
ToNI NEGRI
BY
(tq;
,qq
0
Translabteyd Ryan
Michael
SEMIOTEXT(EF)O REIGANG ENSTESR IES
Main texto rigialnly publini sFherde nch
in 198as5 N ouvelleess pacesde liberte.
This isthe original pubilcationo ft he
"Postscri1p9t, 9b0y"T o niN egri.
Specialt hankst oJ ared Becker,
JimF leminJge,ffF ort,
MichaHealr dSty,l v�Lroetri nger,
MichaReylan ,and TomY emm.
Translaticoonp yrig©h 1t990Se miotext(e)
Semiotee)x t(
522P hilosophHya ll
ColumbUinai versity
NewY orkNY, 10027U SA
Printed tinh Ue nitedS tateosfA merica
CoMMUNISTS LIKEU s
Thep rjoectto:re scu"ec ommunism"
fromi tso wnd isrepuOtnec.ein vokeasd the
liberatoifow no rkt hroumgahn kind'cso l­
lective crceoamtmiuonni,s hmas instead
stifledh umanitWye. w hos eei nc ommu­
nistmh lei beratoifobo nt hc ollecantidv ien ­
dividpuoasls ibilmiutsitree vse rsteh arte gi­
mentatioonf th oughantd desiwrhei cthe r­
minattehsei ndividual.
Bankrupt:c otlhlee ctrievgiismte s
havfea iled tos orecaliialzeoi rsc to mmunist
idealCsa.p italtiosohm a sp layefdas ta nd
loosew itphr omisoefls i bertye,q ualpirtoyg,­
resasn de nlightenmeFnotr gceatp itaanldi sm
socialIinssmt:e waed h avien p lacoen ev ast
machineex,t endoivnegrt hep laneant en­
slavemeonfat l mla nkind. Evaesrype cotf
humanl if-e workc,h ildholoodv,el ,i fe,
thoughftan,t asyart, isd eprivoefd dig­
-
nityi nt hisw orkhouEsvee.ry onfee elosn ly
theth reaotf s ociadle misuen:e mployment,
povertyw,e lfare.
8 F:Eux GuAITARI& ToNNIE GRI
Worikt sdeelffao unil tspt rso miosfe
develtohpreie nlga betitowneshe unm anity
andt hmea teerinavlir onmneonewtv ;e ryone
worfukrsi outsoel vyae,dv ei cytieootnnl ,y
hastentihneogiw ren x pulfrsoimto hmnee ­
chanpircoactleh wsaostr h kabe sc ome.
Indeweodri kts e-lafs o rganized
byc apitaolrsi oscmi al-ihsasmbe come
thien terosfei crtiroasnto icorineaapllr oduc­
tioannd a mplisfioeccdio anls tFreaintttse.r s
- irratsioocnciaoalnl s trainaret sth uast
-
thfeo undoafti osnu bjeccotinvsec ious­
all
nesfso rmienthd ew orpkr oceAsnsed.s tab­
lishitnhcgio sl lescutbijveeoc ftre isvtriitcy­
tioann sdu rveililsthan efic resi tm perative
oft hcea piwtoalriaksp tp aratSue-sls.fu rveil­
lanancded oupbretv eannyti ntimaotfi ons
escaapnpedr, e eamnpqytu estioofnt ihneg
politilceagolarm,l o rlaelg itiomfta hsceyy s ­
temN.oo ncean w ithdrfraowmt hciasp ital­
islte galoifbt lyi nanddna ebsssgu oralds .
Eacihn stanocwfeo reakc,sh e quence,
is" overdetbeyrt minehidem" p eratiovfe s
capitraelipsrtod uecvtieoarncy;ti h oenl tpos
solitdhhieify e rarocfvh aileanusde a uthor­
ity.
ye-tw hiyis tht at t hdei scus-
And
CoMMUNISTS LIKE Us 9
sioonf c ommunisimsta boo?T hidsi scourse
isd efamedan d banishbeydt hev erpeyo ple
itp retentdosl iberafrotem their chansi.C ould
itbe duet ot hes educti"vper,o gsreisvirsat­"
tionaloiftc ya pitaanldi simtso rgazantiiono f
work?'
Afteral lc,a ptailiwsotr karran gements
havseu cceeidnea dp proaptirnigth ed iscourse
ofc ommunis-man analyosfils a bora nd
itsl iberatpooryw e-r andr educiettd o t ech­
niquoefsm anipulati"oAnr:be iMta chFtre i."
Event he socialtiiesst truvmaperrtiec eovery
and reconstructasi tohno ugthh eswee re in­
strumentaglo alasttaina ble throutecghhni cal
means. "Tehteh iocf"s ociarle volutihoans
becomei nsteandi gah tmaroe fl iberatibeo­n
trayedan,d thve isiooftn h fue ture isfre ighted
witaht erribilnee rt.i.a.
Nots ol onagg ot,h ec ritiqoufec a p­i
taliwsasm direcattei dts d estructipveen,e ­
tratnigm arketT.o dawye submittoi ttrsa u­
matizatioofon u rs oulpsas,s iveaslsyu ming
tharte investmsetrantte giaree st he leasotp ­
pressfiovrm e ofp lanning and- socialism
orc apitalisbemc omesam oot point.
So now evryethinmgu stb e rein­
ventetdh:ep urposeo fw orkas wella s the
10 FELIXG uATIARI& ToNIN EGRI
modalitieso fs ocilailf rieg,h tsas wellas
freedoms.W e wiloln cea gainbe gint od e­
finec ommunisasm thec ollective struggle
fort hel iberatioofnw orkt,h aits a,t o ncean,
endt othe currensti tuation!
*****
Empty-heaedceodn omidsotmsi nate
allo verth eg lobe- and yett hep laniest
devastatepedr,h apisn exoraWbel myu.s taf ­
firm firsotf al lt hatth erei sm ore thaonn e
patht:h ep atohf c apitailmipesrti um and/or
socialist/collweocrtkfi ovrmissw th ospee r­
sisteanncdev italitdye pendt oa largep an
ono uro wnin capactiotr ye defiwneo rka sa
projeacntda proceosfsl iberatioWne. w ill
definceo mmunisasm th e assortmento fs o­
ciaplr acticleeasd intgo th e transformation
ofc onsciousannde rsesa lointe yv erlye vel:
politicanadl sociahli,s toranidc ealv eryday,
conscianodu su nconsciRoeucso.g nizintgh at
discouirsas ceti onw,e w ilflorg e a newd is­
coursiens ucha fashiaosnt oi nititahtee
destructioonf t heo ldw ayB. uto urc ommu­
nismw ilnlo tf ora ltlha tbe as pectrhea unt­
ingt heo ldE uro.pe.. W e ratheenrv isaagne
CoMMUNISTS LIKE Us 11
imaginaitvec,r eatipvreco esast o nces ingu­
laran d collectsiwveee,p itnhgew orlwdi tah
greatw aveo fr efusaanld ofh ope.C ommu­
nismi sno thing otthhanea r callt ol ief:t o
breakt hee ncircleomfet nhtec apitalsita nd
socialoirgsatzni atioonf w orkw,h icthod ay
leadnso to nltyo a continuisnugr ploufrs e ­
pressiaonnd e xpolitoanti,b ut toe xtthien c­
tioonf t hew orladn dh umanitwyi tiht
Explotiitoahna sa dvanceodn, t he
basiosf n ucleaarc cumulatiotnobe, c omea
threoafte xecutithoenc ;y cloefsw ar andt he
dangeorfd estructiareo nw elknlo wn.N ow
we are notd etermiinsts- butt odaiyti s not
onldye teirmniswthsore cognitzhea tth ee nd
isi,f n otn ear,c ertainlcyl osbey ,e sepcially
ifw e abadnonpo wer tot hec apiitsaatln d
sociajluigsgte rnuatosf l aboPrr.ve enticnag­
tastropwhiel rleq uirea collecmtoibviezl ai­
tiofnor fr eedom.
Continunig. ..
Why doese verydlaieyf tr emblwei th
fear andl oathiThnigs?f eairs n ott hes tate
ofn atuasre d escribbeydH obbes- thaotl d
excusoeft hew ar ofa lalg iansatll ,i ndivid­
ualw illfsra gmenteidna thirfsort p ower.
Rathewrh atw e haven owi sa transcenden-
12 F:Eu:x GuATIAR&I ToNNIE GRI
tal, yet actually fmeaanwrmh aidcesh e eps
inteov ermyi ndw ithi mmobilizciantga,­
strophidcr eadI.n deehdo pei tsehlafsfl ed
thihso peleshsa,p legsrse,y w orldB.e yond
malailsief,se i nkisn tsoa dnebsosr,e doamn d
monotonwyi,t hn oc hancteo b reako uto f
them orass abosfu rdCiotmym.u nica­tion
speechc,o nversatbianotne,er v,e nc onspir­
acyh as albele n takeinnb yt he" discourse"
ofm ass mediaI nterperrseolnaatilo lnisk e­
wise haves poilanedd ,ar e now character­
izedb yi ndifferencdei,s ingenduiosugsuan sdt
self-ha-treidna wordw,e 'ralel s uffering
fromb adf aith.
Amazingltyh,ef abroifch umanf eel­
inghsa si tseclofm eu nravelseidn,ci etn o
longseurc ceeidncs o nnecttihnetg hr eadosf
desiaren dh opeA.s a r esutlhti,ps s eudo-war
hasp assedo vetrh ew orlfdo r3 0y earsw ith­
outi tkse yf eatuberiensg n oticed;C oltdh e
War escaupneersc ognizase dt hetr uec ul­
prit.
Durintgh awth oltei meh,u man con­
sciousnheass bese ng rounddo wni ntsoo me­
thinmgo rem anageableev,e nc omplicAist .
thei ndividsuialnk si ntios oladteesdp aairl,l
theb uilutp valueisn t hew orlcdo llapse