This chapter rethinks identity politics from the perspective of revolution. Hardt and Negri unfold their argument by first critiquing what might be called “liberal” or “liberal multiculturalist” variants of identity politics which have culminated in “race-blind discourses” and struggles for social recognition.

The joining of neoliberalism and unilateralism in the latter half of the twentieth century is illustrative of the problems faced by capital in contending with the emergence of biopolitical production. In fact, the current crisis in neoliberalism is not due to unilateralism’s death grip, but rather because both systems proved to be solutions generated by an outmoded approach to understanding production.

Cross posted at Fugitive Imagination.
Part 4: Empire Returns
4.1 Brief History of a  Failed Coup D’État
Let the Dead Bury the Dead
For Hardt and Negri, the definitive event of the 21st century, thus far, has been the failure of unilateralism. They see the failure of the US to gain imperial supremacy as evidence that imperialism itself is [...]

Part 3 Capital (and the struggles over common wealth)
3.1 Metamorphoses of the Composition of Capital
This chapter proceeds to outline the biopolitical character of contemporary political economy and how contradictions rooted within this particular phase of global capitalism provide specific openings to social struggles centered on the common. First, Hardt and Negri detail the “technical composition [...]