Rereading Marx in the Age of Digital Capitalism

The 'end of history' has not taken place. Ideological and economic crisis and the status quo of neoliberal capitalism since 2008 demand a renewed engagement with Marx. But if we are to effectively resist capitalism we must truly understand Marx: Marxism today must theorise how communication technologies, media representation and digitalisation have come to define contemporary capitalism. There is an urgent need for critical, Marxian-inspired knowledge as a foundation for changing the world and the way we communicate from digital capitalism towards communicative socialism and digital communism. Rereading Marx in the Age of Digital Capitalism does exactly this. Delving into Marx's most influential works, such as Capital, The Grundrisse, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts, The German Ideology and The Communist Manifesto, Christian Fuchs draws out Marx's concepts of machinery, technology, communication and ideology, all of which anticipate major themes of the digital age. A concise and coherent work of Marxist media and communication theory, the book ultimately demonstrates the relevance of Marx to an age of digital and communicative capitalism.

List of contents

Acknowledgements

1. Introduction: Rereading Marx in the Age of Digital Capitalism

2. Rereading Marx's Capital in the Information Age

3. Rereading Marx as Critical Sociologist of Technology

4. Rereading Marx as Critical Theorist of Communication

5. Rereading Marx in the Age of Digital Capitalism: The Case of Industry 4.0 and the Industrial Internet as the Digital German Ideology

6. Rereading Marx in the Age of Digital Capitalism: Reflections on Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri's Book Assembly

7. Conclusion

Bibliography

Index

About the author

Christian Fuchs is a leading critical theorist of communication and society. He is a Professor at the University of Westminster, co-editor of the open access journal tripleC: Communication, Capitalism and Critique, and the author of Digital Demagogue (Pluto, 2018) and Social Media: A Critical Introduction (Sage, 2017) amongst other works.

Summary

In order to fight capitalism in the digital age, we must understand Marx!

Product details

• Authors: Christian Fuchs
• Publisher: Pluto
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 31.10.2019
• EAN: 9780745339993
• ISBN: 978-0-7453-3999-3
• No. of pages: 144
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Philosophy > General, dictionaries; Non-fiction book > Politics, society, business > Politics; Social sciences, law, business > Business > General, dictionaries; Kommunismus, Marx, Karl, Wirtschaftspolitik, Marxismus, Wirtschaftstheorie, 21. Jahrhundert (2000 bis 2100 n. Chr.), it, Soziale und politische Philosophie, Wirtschaftspolitik, politische Ökonomie, Wirtschaftstheorie und -philosophie, Informationstechnologiebranche, Computing & IT: Benutzerhandbücher, informationstechnologie, Philosophie / Gesellschaft, Politik, Staat, Technologie / Informationstechnologie, Digital / Digitalisierung (Politik, Wirtschaft, Gesellschaft)