Capital's Grave - by Jodi Dean (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Bringing together analyses from different fields--law, technology, Marxism, and psychoanalysis--Jodi Dean shows the direction the contemporary world is heading: neofeudalism. Feudalism isn't just a metaphor. It's the operating system for the present. Politics and plunder thrive in the capitalist pursuit of profit, and the many are bound to serve the few, coerced into a system of rents, destruction, and hoarding driven by privilege and dependence.

The question is: In a society of serfs and servants, how do we get free?

With the rise of neofeudalism, and as more and more workers are drawn into the service sector--from nurses to Uber and delivery drivers--Dean argues that we can see the emergence of a new vanguard, the class that can lead the struggle for liberation from oppression and exploitation: what she calls the servant vanguard.

Review Quotes

"Dean provides the most rigorous account of what a neofeudal society entails. Every page is a provocation, every sentence is a delight"
--Corey Robin, author of The Enigma of Clarence Thomas

"Dean's new book gives us plenty to talk about"
--Ed Meek, Arts Fuse

"Dean's new book delivers critical insights on humanity and society."
--Ron Jacobs, Counterpunch

"Seeks to update Marx for a world that Dean thinks is starting to look less like the classical industrial capitalism he wrote about than a kind of high-tech feudalism."
--Ben Burgis, UnHerd

Introduction: Capital's Grave

Chapter 1 What the Grundrisse Tells Us About Uber

Chapter 2 Forwards Can Be Backwards: On Transition and Temporality

Chapter 3 Neofeudalism's Basic Features

Chapter 4 The Subject Supposed to Care

Conclusion The Servant Vanguard

About the Author