CULTURAL POLITICS CAPITALIZES ON DEMOCRACY AND, CO-EDITED WITHPAULAND, CO-EDITED A BOOKONTHEPOLITICAL THEORY OFSLAVOJ ZIZEK. HARDT ANDNEGRI CURRENTLY WORKINGON JODI DEANISAPOLITICAL AND WRITINGINUPSTATE RECENT WORKINCLUDES NEW CLOTHES:READING A. PASSAVANT, HOW TECHNOCULTURE PP 51–74 VOLUME 1,ISSUE 1 NEW YORK.HERMOST THEORIST TEACHING PUBLICITY’S SECRET:PUBLICITY’S EMPIRE’S . SHEIS PUBLISHERS. DIRECTLY FROMTHE REPRINTS AVAILABLE prevents theemergence ofacleardivision both imaginaryandReal. Thisfantasy wholeness relies on andproduces aglobal technology fetishism.The fantasyof or participationismaterialized through to thecontribution.Thefantasy ofactivity unit ofcommunicationfrom themessage inthebasic abundance leadstoashift fantasies animatingthem.Thefantasyof communicative capitalisminlightofthe moves toemphasizespecific features of one ofcommunicativecapitalism.Itthen current political-economicformationas argument, first, conceptualizesthe they are profoundly depoliticizing. The I argue thatascommunicativecapitalism networked communicationstechnologies? Whatisthepoliticalimpactof ABSTRACT JODI DEAN OF POLITICS THE FORECLOSURE CIRCULATION AND CAPITALISM: COMMUNICATIVE ONLY PERMITTED BY LICENSE PHOTOCOPYING PRINTED INTHEUK © BERG2005

51 CULTURAL POLTICS 52 CULTURAL POLTICS JODI DEAN and national strategy in terms of a distinction between politics as politics between distinction a of terms in strategy national and like alltheothercultural effl uvia wafting through cyberia. content,just circulating much so into morphed messages anti-war contrary, in the days and weeks prior to the US invasion of Iraq, the and information, there wasn’t exactly a debate over the war. On the other.each commentary with of involvedterabytes So,the despite wereviews seem,these it that made wayBush no meant,so in or were other views; all had the right to exist, to be expressed – existed but views that different from his own. There were his views and there some sense obligated to respond. Rather, washe which in to him to message a sending as he protestors the of acknowledged actions that and therewords the treat didn’t He message. their to respond protestors had the right the to – express their circulating opinions. there,He didn’tout actually was message a that fact the iterated re- simply Bush 2003,15, February of demonstrations worldwide massive the acknowledged House White the when Even medium. ground. Allinall, astronganti-war messagewas outthere. the on action the about information reliable and frequent supplied House, myriad progressive, alternative and critical left news outlets march on Washington when 250,000 people the surrounded White the September protest of 400,000 people in London or the October mainstream US news outlets failed to cover demonstrations such as on each step, commented referencing bloggers other media of supporting their thousands positions. proceeded,When war to march the As sessions. training direct-action and protests marches, for congressional phone and fax numbers, petitions and announcementsintroduced for attacking Iraq. Circulating on the Internetmagazine offered weredetailed and listsnuanced The critiques policy.withof various security reasons national administration’s Bush the of broadcast shows intensely opposed to the Now,”program,“Democracy Goodman’sradio regularly militarismsyndicated and unilateralismAmy Iraq. in destruction” mass of “weapons of “evidence” the of evaluations critical and commentary insightful reports, thoughtful provided media non-US and media media,independent Alternative the in technoculture. capitalist represented global flmediated communications of well ow nonetheless were perspectives critical NO RESPONSE no response. is there communications its for celebrated age an in why to explain is capitalism communicative of account this providing in goal My destroyed.fi be profound to and threat a as other the of guring between friend and enemy, resulting instead in the more dangerous > e ih epes hs icnet ewe eggd criticism engaged between disconnect this express might We But, the message was not received. It circulated, reduced to the encouraging platforms for making the his case provided for invadingBush outlets administration Iraq,with supportive, media non-critical and even US mainstream Although Nation On the other hand are institutional politics, the day-to-day activities mindshare. years, dot.com the from term quaint now the in and, politicians, governments and activists struggle for visibility, currency dimension,this In messaging. text instant of versions proliferating with RSS (Real Simple Syndication) feeds, blogs, e-mail lists and the heads, radio shock jocks, and the gamut of print media to websites hand there is media chatter of various kinds – from television talking offias politics and content of circulation the policy.cial one the On messages are more likely to get lost as mere contributions to the to contributions mere as lost get to likely more are media,messages of proliferation extensive and intensive the of conditions political effi cacy of networked media depends on its context. Under the that Panticis and point (Matic My Milosevicregime 1999). the censorship and disseminate news of massive demonstrationsin Serbia. Radio B92 used the Internet to circumvent governmental against numerous examples to the contrary is perhapsthe of visible themost the of experienceOne resistance. political of facilitate never B92 ofcommunicativecapitalism. formation post-political the – opposite the precisely in results resistance, or access and opportunity, far from enhancing democratic governance tion, distribution, acceleration and intensifi cation of communicative prolifera- The counterhegemonies. strong of formation the hinders it that extensive so assertions and resistances of multiplication a confront we frontiers, demarcated or reference of points terms, common employing contestations of instead debates, engaged of Instead stickiness. or dominance contributions their give will tion) contribu- a of nature spectacular the or contributions of number of of communications, hoping that suffi cient volume (whether in terms critics, they counter with their own contributions to the to circulating respond.fl Rather thanow responding to messages sent actors by(corporate, activistsinstitutional and and governmental) from the obligation dense, intensive networks of global communications relievesoffiand content top-level Today,politics. cial the in content of circulation the put, there is a signifi cant disconnect between politics circulating as are supposedtoimpactoffi cial politics. I’ve been referring to as the circulation of content and media what sphere,chatter, public the of interactions Ideally,communicative the sphere. public the of practices accountability,deliberative the and and the press, norms of publicity that emphasize transparency and speech,of assembly freedoms communicative of terms in thought been generally has people the by governance And, people. the of sovereignty the is democracy liberal of premise very the all, After offiof activity the as politics and content of sense. no makes cials content. system seem to run independently of the politics that circulates as police and national the security of states. apparatuses Thesethe and components judges lawmakers,of bureaucracies, the of political Needless to say, I am not claiming that networked communications today,States however,bluntly don’t,or,United theyless the In At fi rst glance, this distinction between politics as the circulation COMMUNICATIVE CAPITALISM: CIRCULATION ANDTHEFORECLOSURE OFPOLITICS

53 CULTURAL POLTICS 54 CULTURAL POLTICS JODI DEAN indeed, the mechanism by which the will of the demos manifests demos the of will the which by mechanism the indeed, place idea that the market, today, is The the notion siteof ofcommunicative democraticcapitalism conceptualizesaspirations, the common- COMMUNICATIVE CAPITALISM us answer. These are the questions the idea of communicative capitalism helps with the collapse of democratic deliberation and, indeed, struggle? networks, the proliferation of the very tools of democracy, coincided failed? Why has the expansion and intensifi cation of communication and access those of others rapidly and immediately, has democracy have been revolutionized, when people can contribute their opinions were in the gallery. Why, at a time when the means the of use of communication force in Iraq, no one was on on the fldebate Senate of day oor second – eventhe though on many case.”Nevertheless, his “made had Bush whether of spoke street the on strategy,people the ever-present meme regarding the White House’s public relations the Bush administration’s emphasis on preventive war. asked. They did not Givingtake a position or provide a clear alternative to voice to with an eye to this “debate,” that asserted questions needed to be “leaders,”“debate.”Democratic of trope the employed frequently media mainstream President, the to war declare to constitutional responsibility its abdicate to congress urged administration the no response. is there communications its for celebrated age an in why to explain is capitalism communicative of account this providing in goal My destroyed.fi be profound to and threat a as other the of guring between friend and enemy, resulting instead in the more dangerous I argue that this fantasy prevents the emergence of a clear division ness that relies on and produces a global both and imaginary Real. through technology fetishism. Finally, I consider the fantasy materialized is fantasy this of that argue I whole- participation. or activity of from the message to the contribution. Second, I address the fantasy ways this fantasy results in a shift in the basic unit of ing them. First, I communication take up the fantasy of abundance and discuss the features of communicative capitalism in light of the fantasies animat-munication and communicability. I then move com- to emphasize in specifichanges emphasize that c present the of theories other of context the in capitalism communicative of notion the situating by between openandclosed. is not only already there but also apparent at and as the very frontier necessary for politics. In relatively closed societies, that antagonism of content in communicative capitalism forecloses the antagonism comes a new form of hegemony in another. Or, the circulation of intense content. What circulation enhances democracy in one context be- In the months before the 2002 congressional elections,congressional 2002 as the just before months the In My argument proceeds as follows. For the sake of clarity, I begin market is not the a But system se. for per delivering choice political of outcomes form – paradigmatic despite the choices, the mercial they mustbepopular.So, them. choose People want? people what offer they know we do How want. people what offer to seem they because popular as regarding claims of popularity.McDonald’s, circularity depicted televisionare reality and Walmart the of here think might We itself. name, buildingthewebsite andmaking thelinks? raising the money, buying the television time, registering the domain require it Doesn’t across? message the get and organize one can else how system: the strengthening require to seems – capitalism ing the system – organizing against and challenging communicative today.governance democratic of terms Chang- very the set culture fia of standards the put, entertainment consumption-driven and Bluntly nance- spectacle. and market of terms in reformatted been have to seem life of domains more and more communication, of commodifithe Indeed,with communication. mass of means cation sionalized practices centered on advertising, public relations fiand of profes- domain theand a mediated become nancially has politics unions,and parties in organized actively than Rather participation. political in shift bya accompanied been has media of proliferation capacity to discipline national governments. In the US, moreover, the tion of manufacturing but fi nancial markets themselves acquire the services complex lead to hypermobility of capital and the devaloriza- 1996). Not only does the possibility electronic of superprofi of ts interconnectivity communications in produce the massive and ficoncentrations of simultaneity nancewealth speed,and (Sassen the how andeffiopportunity cacy formostoftheworld’s peoples. freedom, the deluge of screens and spectacles undermines political the emergence of a richer variety in modes of living and practices of equitable distributions of wealth and infl uence, instead of enabling tions of global telecommunications. But instead of leading to more realized in and through expansions, intensifi cations and interconnec- Ideals of access, inclusion, discussion and participation come to be in networked communications technologies (cf. Dean 2002a;in which 2002b).values heralded as central to democracy take material form way networkedcommunicationsbringthetwotogether. merging of democracy and capitalism. It does so by highlighting the The concept of communicative capitalism tries to capture foreignthis policystrange and the way it administration’sfaith-based Bush pushed the of a here thinking link (I’m claims between Iraq and Al Qaeda). unsupported and faith,conviction of reiteration mindless the than involve– more relationships legitimate of perimeters the establish or marketing campaigns. Political decisions – to go to war, say, or to fact that political campaigns are indistinguishable from advertising The obvious problem with this equation is the way it treats com- Research on the impact of economic globalization makes clear makes globalization economic of impact the on Research Communicative capitalism designates that form of late capitalism COMMUNICATIVE CAPITALISM: CIRCULATION ANDTHEFORECLOSURE OFPOLITICS

55 CULTURAL POLTICS 56 CULTURAL POLTICS JODI DEAN elements of larger signifying chains or Indeed,political formations. juridically, spectacularly or disciplinarily rather than being treated as their particularity, as specifi c issues to be addressed standtherapeutically, for something beyond themselves. They are simply pain prevents treatedpoliticization. Matters aren’t represented in – they all don’t another’shearing on emphasis and difference to attunement and contemporary risk management. The problem of is characteristic assessments that and allmeasures probabilities, the this of tolerance managed rather than as issues to be politicized. Or we might think be to syndromes as them treating resentment,effect and in anger for explanations provide sociology and psychology of discourses expert the that ways the of think might We concerns. technical or require debate and struggle are now addressed as Real personal issues cooperation. and consensus antagonism or dissent previouslyis foreclosed. Matters thought to of premise the from begins Post-politicsthus 198). (1999: account” into demands and needs expert knowledge and free deliberation that takes people’s concrete ideological divisions behind old and leave confront new to issues, need armed with the the necessary “emphasizes post-politics that closure of the political via the concept of “post-politics.” Zizek explains are thebasicelementsofcapitalistproduction. politics, democratic to fundamental being than rather exchanges, today as a primarily Differently economic put,form. communicative function to connection and belonging of ideals political from itself detached clear,has however,makes communication Agamben As another at least in principle, can be in political beings:relation to thoseone another.who can discuss, whoconceptualized in terms of the essential communicativity of canhuman come to an agreement states,withHabermas’s,Jurgen as such theories in say, one been also has We can extend his point by recognizing that the ideal of nation state constitutional was thought in terms of linguistic and religious groups. unites them.” Agamben is pointing out how the commonality of the is communicability itself: human beings are being separated by what factor of the production cycle. What hinders autonomous communication,sphere to an the extent as to which therefore,constituted it becomes is the essential that (language), essence generic same this current conditions, however, “it is preciselyground this (nation,same language,communicativity, religion, etc.)” (Agamben substantiated 2000: as 115).a presuppositionUnder that had the function of a estrangement of the communicative commonessence of human beings was assessment ofthepossibilitiesforpoliticalchange. production with Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, it differs from their And, even as it shares the description of communication as SlavojZizek’swith and spectacle the of capitalistpost-politics. on emphasis society the in language of alienation the Agamben’sof discussion Zizek approaches this same problem of the contemporary fore- contemporary the of problem same this approaches Zizek More specifi cally, Agamben notes that “in the old regime . . . the My account of communicative capitalism is affi liated with Georgio friends and enemies are replaced by emphases on all of contingenciesus. Likewise,already pervading one’s own values. Divisions toleratingbetween these beliefs through the of importance cultivationthe and beliefs of plurality of the value,on of ansources attunement to the possibilitythatthingsmightbeotherwise. very the foreclosing again,administration, on focus They politicization. prevent they capital: global support third-waysocieties how is this hence wealth. and A similar “synergies” belief new underlies generate the to conviction itself that volume say, was enhanced transactions, and of speed The connectivity. and tremendous volume a speed, by in driven faith was years dot.com the of delirium The CONTRIBUTION THE FANTASY OFABUNDANCE: FROMMESSAGE TO municative capitalism. politicization. To this end, I turn now to the fantasies animating com- especially insofar as it relies on networked communications,to this task, then,prevents is understanding how communicative capitalism, shared enemy or opponent (cf. a to Laclauopposition of context or and course the in Mouffeideals and resistances 1986: 188). Crucial struggles, other with together articulated is that politicized, be to transgression are not political in and of themselves; of instances rather,or opinion of statements resistance, of acts they singular have Specifi56-64). or 1996: c Laclau (cf. universal as acts or claims itizes politicization as the diffi cult challenge of representing specifi c prior- political,instead immediately and anythingis that notion the rejects it as insofar optimistic less is advocate I view The empire. within crises the of immediacy and intensity the from hope taking economic,the to primacy cedes doing so in also but economic the and political the between elision the embraces only not inspiring, and prevents co-optation. As I argue elsewhere, this position, while organization of pressure the from opposition releases it as insofar asset an problem,is a than rather struggles, of incommunicability conflof site “open an the as wherein empire ict” of whole the see that there is no outside to the new order of empire, Hardt and Negri (Hardt and Negri 2000: 347; cf. Dean 2002b: 272–5). Emphasizing entirely and society globally to submitting its in regime, suppressing succeeded all alternative has paths” capital which in production For example, they agree that “communication is the form of bycontingency,characterized capitalist formation singularity.and multiplicity global a Zizek’sof with portrayal and communicability without tion capitalist formation coincides with Agamben’s account of communica- forecloses theconfl forpolitics. ict andoppositionnecessary attunement everyday.very the this of But micropolitics words, a to but as a characteristic of all of life. There is an attunement, in other politics is understood as not confi ned to specifi c institutional fi elds The post-political world, then, is marked by emphases on multiple Finally, Hardt and Negri’s description of the current techno-global- COMMUNICATIVE CAPITALISM: CIRCULATION ANDTHEFORECLOSURE OFPOLITICS

57 CULTURAL POLTICS 58 CULTURAL POLTICS JODI DEAN standing (Habermas 1984). In Habermas’s model under- of reaching communicative toward oriented action suggest, would Habermas to Agamben’s terms, communication. communicativityhinders functions symptomatically to produce its own negation. Or, to return a contribution to register or have an impact). In sum, communication make (andthemore shock, for spectacleornewness isnecessary might one given one any impact an of less there,the out are that extent of a circulating data or stream inclusivity – openness, the the more to opinions or proportionate comments inversely likewise is contribution particular any of value The circulation. of fact the to the addition to the pool. Any particular contributionresponded toremains is secondaryirrelevant. The only thing that is Who relevantsent it isis irrelevant. circulation,Who receives it is irrelevant. That it need be of part a circulating data stream. Its content particular is irrelevant. simply is message the – media broadcast and print in or Web the receiver. Uncoupled from contexts of action and application – as on So, a message is no value. longer primarily a message use from a sender to their a overtakes messages of value exchange the put, responses. elicit to actions not – content circulating to communicative capitalism, this changes. Messages are contributions is in terms of a message and the response to the message. Under me Let explain. contribution. into message of morphing this precisely is argument is that a constitutive feature of communicative capitalism My content. ever-circulating this to contribution a thus is message specififltheir data the into and with merging and city ow.given Any images and reactions circulate in a massive stream of content, losing totransmit andreceivemessages. opportunities in expansions exponential by characterized are communications optimists and pessimists are committed to the view that networked abundance,then,both of value the of assessments differing their Despite 72–3). 2002a: Dean cf. 1998; (Dyson conversation the of part be can people” of kinds “all that fact the and smog data fiof lack the the lters,about worry sphere.”Pessimists “public or conversation” “the into view of points or voices of millions upon millions of inclusion the and Internet the on available information networked of of wealth the emphasize practices democratic on communications impact the about optimistic Those abundance. of is offeredasanindicationofdemocraticpotential. messages,then,of abundance sheer The messages. send to and but also to register their points of view, to agree or disagree, to vote Web, for example, enables millions not simply to access information ever before can make their opinions known. The convenience of the than people More democracy. facilitates access communications omncto i cmuiaie aiaim te, s o, as not, is then, capitalism, communicative in Communication One of the most basic formulations of the idea of communication The fantasy of abundance covers over the way facts and opinions, fantasy same this share alike pessimists fact,and In optimists 1 Differently A contribution need not be understood; it need only be repeated, be only need it understood; be not need contribution A value, exchange its contribution its to a larger than pool, flimportant less is ow or message circulation of a content. of value use the the communicative exchange. In communicative capitalism, however, popular than the bottom few. Some more call vastly this the are emergence fewof an middle “A the few,and middle the than popular more much are few top instead,don’tthe scale; They distribution. powerlawa networks,wayblogs,follow citation the that likeother particular contribution. Social network analysis demonstrates any clearly of devaluation resulting the occludes fantasy the abundance, as it emphasizes these multiple expansions and intensifi more cations, inclusive,this more accessible; highspeed, broadband, its etc.emphases through Yeton shift expansions even the in communication expresses It – faster, contribution. to better, message from cheaper; capitalism (Zizek1989). communicative reproduces that belief action,the underlying belief the as ideology manifests action This this. know not do we if as act we participating, in contributing, in fl content, changing of ow fiand moving rapidly a in circulate simply editor) the to lms, letters specifiour messages,books,posting,articles, (our contributions c is the system, the communicative network. Even when we know that effective. Some contributions make a difference. But more signifiof communicative capitalism. Some cant messages, issues, debates are circulation. Indeed, this link is crucial to the ideological reproduction a relation to understanding in no way negates the centrality of their in capitalist exchange. Similarly, the fact that messages can retain or, obviously, their use. Rather, it is their what economic makesfunction, them their commodities role is not the need people have for them that many commodities are not useless, that people need them. But, beyond the context of their circulation. Of course, it is also the case extend discussions some that received, are messages some that fact the capitalism: communicative in asymmetry an be to appear otherwise would what on light sheds value exchange of terms in itsacceptanceorsuccess. duration ofacontributionmarks arguments exemplifi es this point. The popularity, the logos, branded penetration of media and identities, circulation rumors, The catchphrases, contribution. even positions the and to immaterial become the picture in commodity exchange, so does the sender (or author) producer,And,the rejected. as or just accepted labor, of out drops ently, how a contribution circulates determines whether it had been differ- somewhat Put contribution. a of rejection or acceptance the for context,condition the the reproduced,is Circulation forwarded. on this understanding. Understanding is thus a thus is Understanding understanding. this on depends message the of rejection or acceptance Any understood. and received be to it for intends sender orientation. a message, a its sending In on depends message a of value use the action, The fantasy of abundance both expresses and conceals the shift Thinking about messages in terms of use value and contributions COMMUNICATIVE CAPITALISM: CIRCULATION ANDTHEFORECLOSURE OFPOLITICS necessary necessary part of part

59 CULTURAL POLTICS 60 CULTURAL POLTICS JODI DEAN that itmeanssomething. fail to coalesce into actual debates, that fail as messages in need of nonetheless. Put back in terms of the circulation passive of linked,interconnected,but is contributionspassivity,that profound one that circulation,content maywellinvolvea and Net, contributing frantic the wayon the activity me to suggests This happening. really from something prevent action,to actual prevent to works fetish the of embodied in the fetish, is passive . . .” Zizek (1997: explains,21). “you The think frantic you are activity active, while your true position, as interpassive, something else, are a fetish object,we is active “interpassivity.”in When our stead. term the with activity false of kind this describes Zizek blog. a on commenting their or petition a adding to name button, a on clicking by simply difference a making active,theyare theyare that maybethat even Theybelieve action. communicative of kind a is content circulating to contribution their registration effect. One effect. registration think their thoughts and believe ideas theyare registering doing – so in also but online thoughts their putting to reveal themselves fion the to manyInternet. Not only it are easy people accustomed nd how to point to image quaint this mention I think!” you what me tell and write to forget Don’t by! stopping for “Thanks typical, the was site his of bottom the At harness. style SM- an in erect fully himself and parents, his dog, his of pictures through surfiYahoo’swhile ago,Years ng home are. pages, they I who found the of page sense of a their guy of who featured aspects emotions, intimate feelings, some of the more secret or signifi cant intense express to apt are communications,people online their In FETISHISM THE FANTASY OFPARTICIPATION: TECHNOLOGY afantasy ofparticipation. effect thatsupports registration of kind a induce communications networked way the for their blogs. Why? As I explain in the next section, of importance their I contributions, think presuming that there it are readers involves the in knowledge,believing this havedon’t they if as act But,they information. of surfeit the evennetworks, media, the the awareof fully are People concealed. isn’t then,takes, communication this enabling everyone to contribute, participate and be heard. The form in whichthecontributionisembedded. known misdirects attention from the larger system of communication fact that one can contribute to a discussion and make one’s opinion the more extreme the inequality” (Shirkey 2003). plus freedom of choice creates inequality, list” andor the 80/20 the rule. As Clay greaterShirkey summarily puts theit, “Diversity diversity, Precisely because of this registration effect, people believe that To put it differently, networked communications are celebrated for ! Contributing to the infostream, we might say, has a subjective believes that it matters, that it contributes,matters,it it that that write and tell me what you 2 Emphasis on the insofar as they but life,reiterate real in these struggles struggles,reiterate Net the they on displaceStruggles resist. them.to And this supposed is it those empowers involvementultimately our of form but because involved,we be do! to Or,want don’t put or more care precisely,don’t people it because is not depoliticizing because the is linked toothercontent, butnever fullyconnected. that content as interpassivity response,odd this of think wemight the 1996 bill affibill 1996 the and Internet the both drive will rmed,market “the As form. material into brought convergencebills rhetorical the that a capitalism, and democracy of convergence a explicit These made bills Act. Telecommunications the1996 and 1993) in passing (both Act Infrastructure Information National Infrastructure the Act, and Technology Information the through worked Congress as nineties the in Gingrich’srhetoric Newt political and Gore Al drove that education and democratization of promises the millions, for meetings town of lure the and access citizens’ of guarantees the a time revolution.”a capitalist started Finally, one might also recall the of about was,was slogan “It The image Marx. Karl of one an to next computer placed that Macintosh the for ad an ran Apple as saving democracy by bringing technology to the people. In 1984, world,the changing as itself presented Apple by Computers. Apple participatory democracy. One might also think of the image projected seventies,renewalthe to means the of as theycomputers up held context of the San Francisco Bay Area’s anti-war activism of the early People’s ComputerCompany a Brand,the Ted of Nelson,Stewart think might One empowerment. to popularity in part on the message that they were tools for political way ofgettingtheirvoiceheard, away ofmaking acontribution. might want to be more active and might feel that action online is a choose not to do, or giving money. Thus, it is not open surprising to that most many Americans are either voting, which increasing numbers to fi nance-intensive organization strategies, the highest levels,political and opportunitiesthe shift in political parties from person-intensive membership and increase in corporate salaries and benefi ts at the union in decrease dramatic the markets, global of conditions and demands the to states of constraining effithe of face the and cacy.In impact political for opportunities of loss the in found be can answer likely a US view,the my in In today? trauma socio-political also helps one through a trauma, it what doing might so serve in as that an but analogous trauma a over covers only not fetish a that saying in correct is Freud ask,if can direction,we different a from disempowerment or castration. Approaching this fetishistic disavowal fetishistically today: as a disavowal functions of a more fundamental political communication reason another suggests This politics. “offiof space the protects and displacement,turn,secures in cial” Weirdly, then, the circulation of communication is depoliticizing,Weirdly, is communication of circulation then,the nd their emancipatory images of computing technology. In the In technology. computing of images emancipatory their nd Indeed, interactive communications technology corporations rose COMMUNICATIVE CAPITALISM: CIRCULATION ANDTHEFORECLOSURE OFPOLITICS

61 CULTURAL POLTICS 62 CULTURAL POLTICS JODI DEAN change the world. And, armed with networkedcan music byfans: held music deeply one is fantasy the course of personal computers, the onto which all sorts of fantasies of political action are projected. Here sharing musicfi les beany different? industry or assaulting the very regime of private publishing property. the dooming Whyas presented weren’t shoulde-books unwieldy to 2003: 259). Worries (Gamson about the loss of the continuity” beloved paperback book historical overshadow ‘newness’ let to and brackets,those of outside media new of users and uses theorize in a tendency “to bracket institutions and ownership, to research and over the political impact of a specifi c technological practice results enthusiasm displaced wildly here: appropriate is Internet-philia of astronomical profi ts in others. JoshuaSony and Gamson’s Bertelsmann can face pointdeclines in aboutone sector the and stilllegacy makedepended on one industry. Industries rise and fall. Corporations like He contends: violation.”copyright large-scale of result a as disruption market of Napster, and other peer-to-peer networks, present “real possibilities private property itself. Nick Dyer-Witheford, for example, argues that down capitalism. More than piracy, Napster was a popular attack on heralded as a sea change; it would transform private property, bring Napster – despite that fact that it was a commercial venture – was Napster. to appeals mantra-like hypnotic, rather early the of light political of fantasies action areprojected. of sorts all which upon screen a becomes device,new a system,of impact political code the or of discussions platform. in Aclear is particular fantasy technologicala innovation and helping us understand ourselves as active. The working of such fantasy wherein underlying deeper,technology a functions is as a it fetish No, covering propaganda. over simply our not impotence is new communications technologies. But, the promise of participation the enhancement of democracy through citizens’ access and use of cases, what is driving the Net is the promise of political effi cacy, of highway”the information (Dyer-Witheford 1999: 34–5). In all these It shouldn’t – and that is my point; Napster is a technological fetish Lost in the celebratory rhetoric is the fact that capitalism has never (Dyer-Witheford 2002:142) least, seriously problematizes current plans for their enclosure. grassroots expansion of the digital commons and, at the very central component of North American youth culture presents a copyrighta as systems . celebratory these of . adoption The intention of destroying both state censorship and commercial Free Net – were designed as political projects with the explicit Napster like – were created as commercial applications, – such as others – networks peer-to-peer these of some While in fi especially sharing, peer-to-peer le of here think might We engaged subject by acting in the subject’s stead. The technological part of the subject. That is to say, it protects the fantasy of an active, companies tolower thepricesoncompactdisks). (or,change really record would get nothing best,could that atthey while the all comforted world the changing were they think could revolutionariesculture, wired the entertainment oh-so-consumerist weapons of choice for American college students in a not-so-radical tion, displacement andforeclosure. communicative capitalism. I emphasize three operations: condensa- will bring home the way new communications technologies reinforce context. projected. These fantasies displace attention from their be commercial can connection of fantasies which upon screen a is portal the fetish, Qua 270–1). (Ibid.: market” with equated community and explains, “community needs are confl ated with consumption function primarily desires,“to deliver a market share to corporations.” As he What he notes, however, is the way that these safe gay spaces now community.gay the for spaces friendly and safe offer to promises their and portals gay on focuses He 260). (2003: investors” and advertisers to primarily answering businesses into communities organizations answering at least to partly geographical and political has been a major force in transforming “gay and lesbian media from US,Internet the the in that argues Gamson function. fetish this of and thenwe willhave ademocraticorreconciledsocialorder. technology, particular a universalize to is weneed all that think us the social by advocating technological a fiparticular x. The “fi x” lets the lack or fundamental antagonism forever rupturing (yet producing) something better. A technological fetish is at work technologies when are one investeddisavows with hopes and dreams, with aspirationsorder, to compensating in advance for this impossibility. Differently put, absence in the social order. It protects a fantasy of unity, wholeness or isdoingitforus. technology the again, because, responsibility political assume to have don’t We passive. politically remain to us enables actually stead our in The paradox of the technological fetish is that the technology acting secure in the belief that we are after all informed, and engaged citizens. part our doing be not might we that guilt the of relieved lives our of rest the about go to us enabling us, for political” “is fetish information they need to participate effectively. Information Bingo! participate to need they information the have don’t they informed; aren’t people that is democracy of problem to be solved and one technologicalone thing, one solution.into condensed So,are – etc. representation,division,the problem plexities of politics – of organization, struggle, duration, decisiveness, The technological fetish covers over and sustains a lack on the on lack a sustains and over covers fetish technological The The technological fetish operates through the operation of the technological fetish Specifying more clearly Gamson’s account of gay websites provides a compelling illustration or lack fundamental a over covers also fetish technological The COMMUNICATIVE CAPITALISM: CIRCULATION ANDTHEFORECLOSURE OFPOLITICS condensation . The com-

63 CULTURAL POLTICS 64 CULTURAL POLTICS JODI DEAN organizing and struggle. It also of remainswork hard the oddly from energy one-sided,political displaces emphasis of conveniently sort myIn view,action. political real as construed is this website– this redirect hits to other sites, to deny access to a website, to link to a website,to a deface website,to a To up politics. put with teeming thus is – telephone) old regular the weirdly,not (though, devices The Net – as well as cell phones, beepers and other communicationsresistances, collusions, cabals, transgressions and resignifi cations. overfl ow with political activity: confl icts, What people the do everyday in lives their is everyday supposed to negotiations, interpretations, activists and, yes, even the politicians were somehow extraordinary.and academics and readers and writer the if as – people ordinary or everyday of activities the upon displaced is Politics elsewhere. energies political displace to writing account theory some in tendencies for to displacement of sense this expand to want I But us. for political is fetish technological the waythat the and Napster of description my in already idea this addressed I’ve displacement. daypop orTechnorati. like sites ranking blog on up show doesn’t it that small so also is it but – journalism conservative and mainstream on commentary MediaWhoresOnline blog might be celebrated as a location of The events. criticaland websites,blogs singular emphasize activists and “They didso,” shecontinues, often lobbied for national disclosure requirements,” Graham writes. “Companies position. market their improve to reports their use to or unpopular decisions. could Corporations comply – and fi nd ways hard avoiding while data more and labels warning for argue could politicians know, to right a had people that Agreeing impossible. mechanism tory precisely at a time when legislative action seemed regula- a as function to started transparency – policy error medical of the politics of disclosure in chemical emissions, food labeling and example, in the United States – as Mary Graham explains however,in Forwill. political and organizing of problems the occludes her study of strategy,technologies provide people This with sort information. The second mode of operation of the technological fetish is through Additional examples of condensation appear when cybertheorists (Graham 2002:140) tion, increased demand for authentically healthful productions. gain from labeling as consumers, a armed with accurate to informa- or crackdown on regulations, health claims. Some new also expected competitive and requirements state multiple to alternative an as labeling nutritional national supported large food processing companies and most trade associations requirements, or improve competitive advantage . . state multiple . Likewise,of threat the eliminate regulation, tougher of because they believed that disclosure could reduce the chances Shirkey invokes a similar argument to explain Howard Dean’sHoward explain to argument poor similar invokesShirkeya much, ifnotmore, thanprogressivegroups. as just Internet the use lobbyists and organizations conservative communications – the Republican Party as well as all of sorts other networked of context political the years,and for organizations and publications print progressive and left havebeen and not werenot forgetting both the larger media context of these activities, as if there f h tcnlgcl eih s ie i avne i i immediate, is it presumed, advance; understood. File in sharing given is fetish technological the of previous ones: foreclosure. As I have suggested, the political purchase that’s all. media,and new through and of politics a – that precisely remains to and from caucus attendees in Iowa, for example, Internet politics without organized, mobilized demonstrates, actionalso campaign on Dean the the ground,As ground. the without on responsesaction against barrier a provide does and can itself medium the waythat demands much, much more than networked communication and the should not displace our attention from the ways that political change movement around Dean’s supportive vital, a candidacy.build to software social of use But,its was in innovative campaign the Dean pleasures the of and the communicating medium and connecting for social software is useless. The Web provides an medium important Shirkey successesontheInternet. writes: remarkable his be to appeared what following caucuses Iowa the in showing Geert Lovink andFlorianSchneider: Geert of politicization proper. Consider this breathless proclamation from possibility the is excluded is what And, exclusion. prior a on else, Blogging Writing on Many-2-Many, a group web log on social software, Clay The last operation of the technological fetish follows from the from follows fetish technological the of operation last The that or trivial are activities web-based that mean not does This even steeperthanusual. changing theworld and world the changing about talking between threshold the everything gets arranged for the convenience of wayfl thethe environment and online user interaction the wayattens makes provide a respite from the vagaries of the real world. Both the be that the pleasures of life online are precisely the way they There are many reasons for this, but the main one seems to takesworld nonotice, asisitscustom. actual and imperfect the while world, future perfect your of details smallest the byout something arguing accomplishing you souls, like-minded with you’recommuning When world. real the with interact to willingness a dampens actually that satisfaction of sense a provides often communities online in participation because hard, hard,is it that change political for groups very organize to software social use to attempts past from well know We is political. But this very immediacy rests on something on rests immediacy very this But political. COMMUNICATIVE CAPITALISM: CIRCULATION ANDTHEFORECLOSURE OFPOLITICS feel oiia epai] ie you’re like emphasis] [original is political. A website 3 (Shirkey 2004) is political.

65 CULTURAL POLTICS 66 CULTURAL POLTICS JODI DEAN To be sure, I am not arguing that the world serves as a space for space a as serves world the that arguing not am I sure,To be locating them by in matter the content most significirculating to contributions cant our of that possible spaces sense – our the global. further animating networked communications. This fantasy furthers that they make a difference. I turn now to the fantasy of wholeness give people the sense that our actions online areparticipation politically accompanyingsignifi the technologycant,of fantasy the accompanying and fetishism.contributions as abundance messages of These reformatting the of fantasies fantasy the of terms in capitalism Thus far I’ve discussed the foreclosureINSTITUTION of the political in communicative THE FANTASY OFWHOLENESS: AGLOBAL ZERO beyond themselves.Onlysuchatreatmentwill avoid fetishization. something against struggle a of service the in themselves beyond should be politicized. They should be made to represent something for dependence their of existence on capital,racialized violence and division. Technologies global can and of brutalities the within of emergence of web radio and open source, of their embeddedness rather, it relies on the prior exclusion of the antagonistic conditions struggles; political other of disavowal the simply say,not code, is immediately political character of something web radio the of put,Bluntly political. the asserting for possibility of condition a or foreclosure open-source this from stems fetish technological the of power its and object representation, its ability to stand for something an beyond itself. The between space a politicization, for necessary open source. of celebration utopian the for space a create to as so advance in vanish, immediately and magically. Or, they Struggle,conflpractices. are technological byparticular foreclosed, context and ict eliminated ontologization such that the political nature of the world is produced employs an illegitimate short circuit. More specifi cally, it relies on an To ontologize the political is to collapse symbolic the space very world the wikifi of the cation” means “revolution that Saying King 2004) read, write, edit and execute. (Lovink and Schneider 2003; cf. creating many different versions of worlds, which everyone can Today revolution means the wikifi cation of the world; it means will transform knowledge-production into a world-writable mode. fi le-sharing tools shows a glimpse of the triumph and of software standards,free open of a success overwhelming code that peer technologies. It is practiced already on a daily basis: the architecture and client-server the phenomenal rise of peer-to- traditional of the of decline steady terms the on based archaic is It property. over idea source open the of advantage It the surprise. in anticipated is It no time. long a for as announced been has come should age our of revolution The by Claude Levi-Strauss, the zero institution (Zizek 2001: 221–3). A as theRealofglobalcapitalism. as the secure global. networked The transactions fantasies in turn communications materialize specifi c fantasies of space unity of andcommunicative wholeness capitalism is the thethat is argument contrary,Internetmy the On capitalism. and industrial for that networked communicative capitalism analogous to the one the nation provided hand one the the Internet On imagines,global. the stages and of enacts presencing the of “global” kind of a global as serves totality imagined boundaries,this of lack and freedoms its for Celebrated insofar asitisanimatedby thefantasyofglobalunity. world, the Internet functions as a particularly powerful zero institutionwhich communicative capitalism intensifi es its hold and produces Hereits the global is imagined and realized. More than global. the a of fullness and unity the meansas itself presents Internet the through spaces,separate into fragmentation entails networks) directed all her point. starting So despite the fact that its architecture very (like to back links retrace can user a that mean not does direction one in links following likewise, continent; another to user a link never may continent one on links Following 161–78). 2003: (Barabasi into four major “continents” with their own navigational requirements clear,brokenmakes Webis networks Wide Worldscale-free the in fantasy. In fact, Barabasi’s as Albert-Laszlo research on directness a is opportunity equal and endless of world virtual smooth,open, anyas This likelyhits site. anyequally get other that is to site one such fashion random in distributed nodes to links and nodes with disconnected network spaces. The Internet is not a wide-open space,as they radically disagree, fail to co-link, and inhabit fragmented and even structure global same the of part as themselves understand to constituencies myriad enables It capitalism. institution communicative of zero the as emerged has Internet the institutionality, by contextuallygivendifferences. absolute difference that will always be fi lled in and overdetermined difference, in contrast, suggests difference as such, a zero level of sexual betweenclasses; struggles and divisions irreconcilable the antagonism, radical of face the in society of unity the designates nation and the sexual both difference how function into as insight zero adds institutions. Zizek The idea nation Levi-Straussian the To nevertheless understand themselves as members of the same collectivity their tribe.of descriptions different radically with people how explain helps institution zero the of concept the Levi-Strauss, by developed originally As example). for chaos to opposed (as such as institutionality signify is does it all – function positive no with institution an is It signifimeaning. instead of but presence the es zero institution is an empty signifi er. It has no determinate meaning To explain why, I draw from Zizek’s elucidation of a concept introduced The Internet provides an imaginary site of The providesaction Internet and belonging. an imaginary for symbolically stand to capacity nation’sfailing the of light In COMMUNICATIVE CAPITALISM: CIRCULATION ANDTHEFORECLOSURE OFPOLITICS

67 CULTURAL POLTICS 68 CULTURAL POLTICS JODI DEAN Internet Internet is striking. For example, Richard Rogers’ research on linking oftheglobal. thisunitycannot bepart Whatever disrupts porn. The image of the Internet works as a fantasy of a global unity. more than a battle of images and wasinvolved more than Internet gambling and the up clean to effort the that fact the home brings respected through abstract norms and rights. That the other is Real imagine as like me and not the symbolic other to be recognized and I other the not – other Real the is Internet the on other terms,the hard-working, balanced and normal on the other. Put extreme on the inone hand, and psychoanalyticthose who are civilized, mainstream, are sexualized, undisciplined, violent, irrational, lazy, excessive and the Internet debate suggest that the difference is between those betweendifference in oscillations The expressed? be them and us who (Laclau 1996: 38). If capital today traverses the globe, how can the threatening, can only be expressed as a difference internal the to and society non-social,it,betweento or other is what and society social and external the between division the argues, Laclau Ernesto As networks. extra-legal and interpersonal social, on reliant more through electronic communications and mediated fiand traversed societies nancialbetween difference networks starker and the those businesses, express as a difference on the Internet what is actually ways more benefi cial in to transactions established commercial corporations organize than and to rationalize centralize,small, to local who want to get rid of or zone the porn and the gambling, who want goes. and subjectivities.Noteverything has been constituted in and through confl Internet the ict over specifi accessible, and c engaging practices far-reaching, Rather multiply installed. than be should and would particularity of kind what that struggles over regulating the Internet have been struggles over and alwayshas Net the that us remind oscillations particular been and involved drugs, kiddie porn, LSD and plutonium. These familiar underground were interactions Bad Amazon. on were interactions innocent children or dreadful war-game playing teenage boys. Good (Dean 1997). In other versions of this same matrix, users wereevidence either of the US government’s work collecting or stocks with Internet obscure on porn,betting downloading extraterrestrials at Area 51 web-surfias appeared they or rooms dark,dirty in waste-of-lives ng halls and regularly communicate with their elected representatives, town electronic in participate to eager citizens engaged as either Internet can clarify this point. In the debate, Internet users appeared 2002: 181). (Zizek antagonism a by unruptured totality or essential consistent fully it observing perspective external the by undisturbed reality such an entity were possible, as if one could designate an objective capital. But on the other this global is nothing like the “world” – as if h priuaiy f h fnais f h goa aiaig the animating global the of fantasies the of particularity The We might even say that those who want to clean up the Internet, the of character the over debate 1990s the in oscillations The on incunabula.org or ollapodrida.org come into contact with sites with contact into come ollapodrida.org or incunabula.org on of the global (Patelis 2000). How would fringe culture fans of blogs – the way the world on the Web is shrunken into problem a similar a on AOLclick of world sheltered the very of wellas as specifi c image Dutch ‘food movement’” (Rogers 2002). Critics of personalized news notes “little in the way of ‘web dialogue’ or linkage outside of small provincialism. In his account of the Dutch food safety debate, Rogers practices on the World Wide Web brings out the Web’s localism and makes no sense. Dot.orgs, dot.coms, and dot.govs are all clearly clearly all are dot.govs and dot.coms,Dot.orgs, sense. no makes governance as politics and content circulating as politics between There isjustthecontribution tocirculatingcontent. is not really sent. There is no response because there is no arrival. tions? It means that a letter, communica- networked to a respect with message,mean this does What tion. in communicative capitalism A Lacanian commonplace is that a letter always arrives at its CONCLUSIONdestina- by evil ontheother. results in a world closed to important politics and on the vital one interactions hand, networked and mythreatened makes that global a of fantasy very The with. world a sharing imagine cannot I other alternative is the Real that ruptures my world, that is to say the evil effect change in this of sort world – it is already complete. The only is no politics; there is already agreement. Circulating content can’t fi lled in by the particularities of specifi c contexts, is one through where foreclosure. there Thus, the imagined unity produced of order the very global,the destroys foreclosed a is fantasy what accessing or Admitting foreclosed. is it there), already is (everything excluded simply isn’t – encountering imagine can’t or – encounter to fail I be annihilated. So, if everything is out there on the Internet, anything does not exist or is an inhuman, otherworldly alien threat that must outside the experience or comprehension of these whatever communitiesspecifi either c communities or exchanges vary according imagineto one’sit necessarily context. to And, that be,precisely effects because the anythingglobal and is expectations capitalism, municative com- of effects and expectations the create They capital. global of Our networked interactions produce our specifi c worlds as the global because this is the global that networked communications produce. with whichthey alreadyagree. the segmentation and isolation of users within bubbles of opinions available on topics in information which one is of deeply interested – contribute amount to undigestible already the mention to not – opportunities to customize the news and announcements one reads Indeed, as a number of commentators have worried for a while now, no language problems? And, why would they bother?providing Koranic Why instruction to should modern Muslims they?– even if there were Many readers will likely disagree. Some may say that the line I draw important is global the of fantasies these of particularity The COMMUNICATIVE CAPITALISM: CIRCULATION ANDTHEFORECLOSURE OFPOLITICS

69 CULTURAL POLTICS 70 CULTURAL POLTICS JODI DEAN one looks at alternative politics, that is when one focuses on the role of politicization. it is a refusal to take a stand, to venture into the dangerous terrain me as precisely that disavowal of the political I’ve been describing: progressive, anti-war, left-democratic – this sort division. While of I from fi ideology,non-position from strikesnd abstains this disingenuous it on the that surface – emphasize MoveOn’s to politics likes are MoveOn politics. of efforts risky the and incremental time-consuming, behind leaves it as insofar capitalism communicative feeds feeling that And political. feel can people blog, a on article an to petition,responding a e-mail,signing an sending By accessed. be will information expressed, be will views circulate, will opinions – capitalism communicative of democracy the is democracy its that awarethem,fully on demands any) (actually many too place won’t community virtual democratic responsive,relatively The much. too change will nothing that them assuring while guilt their alleviating them,for act will technology the – theyactive think are can people populist and relatively democratic virtual community” (Ibid.: 16). Busy– via online postings and straw polls – MoveOn entrepreneurial has style with a builtstrong ethic of listening to a its members responsive, based organization with regular meetings . . . By combining a nimble chapter- a of part a be wantto maynot who people busy for home “MoveOn’sthat group,. writes the lies of strength . a providing in . bothered with boring meetings. Andrew Boyd, in a positive appraisal your home” (Boyd 2003: 14). No one has to remain committed or be says that the organization is “opt-in, it’s decentralized, you do it from foreclosure of the political. MoveOn’s campaigns director, Eli Pariser,the confiof and exemplifiaccount fetishism my rms technology es to broadcastit. the Super Bowl football game. The ad was great – but CBS refused during network television major a on shown be would ad the winning contest: ad an sponsored MoveOn 2004, early In hours. for capital day,the same into the lines on phone times down shutting sit-in: over 200,000 of us called into Washington, DC at scheduled Congress,of members MoveOn’sof one wasactions best virtual a In addition to circulating petitions and arranging e-mails and faxes to American politics and boasts over worldwide. two million members mainstream in presence a become has MoveOn term, second a Iraq war, to recent to efforts prevent George W. Bush from acquiring Bill Clinton censure and “move Congress on,” have to to its presence push as a critical early force against its the From moveon.org). the morediffi all cult. becomes opponents critical by networks these on impact any identifying interconnected, are they that extent the to But, tions. interconnected and intertwined in their personnel, policies and posi- Perhaps one can fiwhen can me one Perhapswith disagree to reasons better nd As I see it, far from being evidence against my argument, MoveOn (www. MoveOn of successes the up bring might readers Other political activists – especially given the increasingly all-pervasive all-pervasive increasingly the given especially – activists political in 130 countries. Such uses of the Internet are vitally for important 16, 2003 candlelight vigil, an action involving over a million people most striking example, but one might also mention MoveOn’s March protest the Bush administration’s push against Iraq is perhaps the to worldwide people million ten of mobilization 15,2003 February The source. media independent an providing in and world the over of the Internet in mass mobilizations, in connecting activists from all Agamben, G. (2000), REFERENCES others many and url this Towslagerfor Auke to thanks Special 3. I am grateful to Drazen Pantic for sending me a link to this site. 2. A thorough historical analysis of 1. the contribution would spell out andAukeRogers Towslager. greatly from exchanges with Marres,Noortje Drazen Pantic, Richard immeasurable help and patience. My thinking on this paper benefi earlier draft of this paper and to John an ted Armitage and on Ryan Bishop comments for for Dunn Kevin and Quinby Lee to grateful am I NOTES communicative to us attaching capitalism. fantasies the through and with breaking require well may conditions current change to working of sense the in Toextent,politics before. this ever than – necessary more diffiand more – change cult political make they struggle, of terrains and tools provide communications networked globally as opposite direction, that is to say in the direction of post-politics. for Even the political impact of new technologies proceeds in precisely the more duration. Thus, I remain convinced that the with strongest solidarities political of argumentformation the to contribute and efforts organizational larger drive will meaning social intense of instances their circles. But this does outside not those answer to the question not of whether if such even – another one to connections social reach of corporate-controlled media. Through them, activists establish Press. V. Binetti and C. Casarino, Minneapolis: of University Minnesota on blogspace. other circuitsofcommunication. into incorporated and message broadcast the from uncoupled responses,actual viewers.These say,weof can responses are ratings are not responses and provide little insight into the actual studies, media and communications has repeatedly emphasized, other words, responded for the rest of us. Yet, as work in cultural attention and measured in of terms ratings. Nielsen families, in broadly cast messages of television programs were confi gured as Such an analysis would draw out the ways that responses to the the steps involved in the uncoupling of messages from responses. COMMUNICATIVE CAPITALISM: CIRCULATION ANDTHEFORECLOSURE OFPOLITICS Means Without End: Notes on Politics , trans. by

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