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.

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 [...]

In the opening pages of Commonwealth Hardt and Negri claim that the book represents an attempt to “articulate an ethical project, an ethics of democratic political action within and against Empire” (vii). Reiterating their position in Empire and Multitude, they argue that despite the insecurities, conflicts, and contradictions wrought by globalization there is no longer any space “outside” the new global capitalist order. For better or worse, globalization has created a common world. Because there is no longer an outside, creating more sustainable and democratic futures requires acting in this world through new collective projects of self-rule and political invention.

Alex Means and Paul Aitken are collaborating on a project to discuss and review Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri’s Commonwealth, the third installment of their “Empire Trilogy.” aimed at (1) an excavation of some productive criticisms/limitations of Hardt and Negri’s project; (2) the creation of something new by thinking with and against Hardt and Negri.