#Accelerate# : the accelerationist reader

Accelerationism is the name of a contemporary political heresy: the insistence that the only radical political response to capitalism is not to protest, disrupt, critique, or détourne it, but to accelerate and exacerbate its uprooting, alienating, decoding, abstractive tendencies. The term was coined to designate a certain nihilistic alignment of theory with the excess and abandon of capitalist culture, and the associated performative aesthetic of texts that seek to become immanent to the very process of alienation. Developing at the dawn of contemporary neoliberal consensus, the uneasy status of this impulse, between subversion and acquiescence, between theoretical purchase and aesthetic enjoyment, constitutes the core problematic of accelerationism. Since the 2013 publication of Williams's and Srnicek's #Accelerate: Manifesto for an Accelerationist Politics, the term has been adopted to name a set of new theoretical enterprises that aim to conceptualise non-capitalist futures outside of traditional marxist critiques and regressive, decelerative or restorative solutions. #Accelerate presents a genealogy of accelerationism, tracking the impulse through 90s UK darkside cyberculture and the theory-fictions of Nick Land, Sadie Plant, Iain Grant, and anonymous units like CCRU and SWITCH, across the cultural underground of the 80s (rave, acid house, Terminator and Bladerunner) and back to its sources in delirious post-68 ferment, in texts whose searing nihilistic jouissance would later be disavowed by their authors and the marxist and academic establishment alike. On either side of this largely unexplored central sequence, the book includes texts by Marx that call attention to his own 'Prometheanism' and key works from recent years document the recent extraordinary emergence of new accelerationisms steeled against the onslaughts of neoliberal capitalist realism, and retooled for the twenty-first century. At the forefront of the energetic contemporary debate around this disputed, problematic term, #ACCELERATE activates a historical conversation about futurality, technology, politics, enjoyment and Kapital. This is a legacy shot through with contradictions, yet urgently galvanized today by the poverty of 'reasonable' contemporary political alternatives. Contents 5 List of Sources 7 Introduction by Robin Mackay + Armen Avanessian 9 ANTICIPATIONS 56 Fragment on Machines by Karl Marx (1858) 59 The Book of the Machines by Samuel Butler (1872) 75 The Common Task by Nicolai Fedorov (1906) 91 The Machine Process and the Natural Decay of the Business Enterprise by Thorstein Veblen (1904) 99 FERMENT 114 The Two Modesof Cultural History by Shulamith Firestone (1970) 117 Decline of the Capitalist Mode of Production or Decline of Humanity? by Jacques Camatte (1973) 139 The Civilized Capitalist Machine by Gilles Deleuze + Felix Guattari (1972) 155 Energumen Capitalism by Jean-Francois Lyotard (1972) 171 Every Political Economy is Libidinal by Jean-Francois Lyotard (1974) 217 Power of Repetition by Gilles Lipovetsky (1976) 231 Fictions of Every Kind by J.G. Ballard (1971) 243 Desirevolution by Jean-Francois Lyotard (1973) 249 CYBERCULTURE 256 Circuitries by Nick Land (1992) 259 LA 2019: Demopathy and Xenogenesis. Some Realist Notes on Bladerunner and the Postmodern Condition by lain Hamilton Grant (1996) 283 Cyberpositive by Sadie Plant + Nick Land (1994) 311 Cybernetic Culture by CCRU (1996) 323 Swarmachines by CCRU (1996) 329 ACCELERATION 340 Terminator vs Avatar by Mark Fisher (2012) 343 #Accelerate: Manifesto for an Accelerationist Politics by Alex Williams + Nick Srnicek (2013) 355 Some Reflections on the #Accelerate Manifesto by Antonio Negri (2014) 371 Red Stack Attack! Algorithms, Capital and the Automation of the Common by Tiziana Terranova (2014) 387 Automated Architecture: Speculative Reason in the Age of the Algorithm by Luciana Parisi (2014) 409 The Labor of the Inhuman by Reza Negarestani (2014) 433 Prometheanism and its Critics by Ray Brassier (2014) 475 Maximum Jailbreak by Benedict Singleton (2014) 497 Teleoplexy Notes on Acceleration by Nick Land (2014) 517 Reorientate, Eccentricate, Speculate, Fictionalize, Geometricize, Commonize, Abstractify: Seven Prescriptions for Accelerationism by Patricia Reed (2014) 529 Introduction by Robin Mackay + Armen Avanessian ANTICIPATIONS Fragment on Machines by Karl Marx (1858) The Book of the Machines by Samuel Butler (1872) The Common Task by Nicolai Fedorov (1906) The Machine Process and the Natural Decay of the Business Enterprise by Thorstein Veblen (1904) FERMENT The Two Modes of Cultural History by Shulamith Firestone (1970) Decline of the Capitalist Mode of Production or Decline of Humanity? by Jacques Camatte (1973) The Civilized Capitalist Machine by Gilles Deleuze + Felix Guattari (1972) Energumen Capitalism by Jean-Francois Lyotard (1972) Every Political Economy is Libidinal by Jean-Francois Lyotard (1974) Power of Repetition by Gilles Lipovetsky (1976) Fictions of Every Kind by J.G. Ballard (1971) Desirevolution by Jean-Francois Lyotard (1973) CYBERCULTURE Circuitries by Nick Land (1992) LA 2019: Demopathy and Xenogenesis. Some Realist Notes on Bladerunner and the Postmodern Condition by Iain Hamilton Grant (1996) Cyberpositive by Sadie Plant + Nick Land (1994) Cybernetic Culture by CCRU (1996) Swarmachines by CCRU (1996) ACCELERATION Terminator vs Avatar by Mark Fisher (2012) #Accelerate: Manifesto for an Accelerationist Politics by Alex Williams + Nick Srnicek (2013) Some Reflections on the #Accelerate Manifesto by Antonio Negri (2014) Red Stack Attack! Algorithms, Capital and the Automation of the Common by Tiziana Terranova (2014) Automated Architecture: Speculative Reason in the Age of the Algorithm by Luciana Parisi (2014) The Labor of the Inhuman by Reza Negarestani (2014) Prometheanism and its Critics by Ray Brassier (2014) Maximum Jailbreak by Benedict Singleton (2014) Teleoplexy: Notes on Acceleration by Nick Land (2014) Reorientate, Eccentricate, Speculate, Fictionalize, Geometricize, Commonize, Abstractify: Seven Prescriptions for Accelerationism by Patricia Reed (2014) Diann Bauer 4 x Accelerationisms Accelerationism Is The Name Of A Political Heresy: The Insistence That The Only Radical Political Response To Capitalism Is Not To Protest, Disrupt, Or Critique, But To Accelerate And Exacerbate Its Uprooting, Alienating, Decoding, Abstractive Tendencies--p. [4] Of Cover. Anticipations -- Fragment On Machines / Karl Marx -- The Books Of The Machines / Samuel Butler -- The Common Task / Nikolai Fedorov -- The Machine Process And The Natural Decay Of The Business Enterprise / Thorstein Veblen -- Ferment -- The Two Modes Of Cultural History / Shulamith Firestone -- Decline Of The Capitalist Mode Of Production Or Decline Of Humanity? / Jacques Camatte -- The Civilized Capitalist Machine / Gilles Deleuze + Felix Guattari -- Energumen Capitalism / Jean-françois Lyotard -- Every Political Economy Is A Libidinal Economy / Jean-françois Lyotard -- Power Of Repetition / Gilles Lipovetsky -- Fictions Of All Kinds / J.g. Ballard -- Desirevolution / Jean-françois Lyotard -- Cyberculture -- Circuitries / Nick Land -- La 2019 : Demopathy And Xenogenesis / Iain Hamilton Grant -- Cyberpositive / Sadie Plant + Nick Land -- Cybernetic Culture / Ccru -- Swarmachines / Ccru -- Acceleration -- Terminator Vs Avatar / Mark Fisher -- #accelerate : Manifesto For An Accelerationist Politics / Alex Williams + Nick Srnicek -- Reflections On The Manifesto / Antoni Negri -- Red Stack Attack! / Tiziana Terranova -- Automated Architecture / Luciana Parisi -- The Labor Of The Inhuman / Reza Negarestani -- Prometheanism And Its Critics / Ray Brassier -- Maximum Jailbreak / Benedict Singleton -- Teleoplexy : Notes On Acceleration / Nick Land -- Seven Prescriptions For Accelerationism / Patricia Reed -- 4 X Accelerationisms / Diann Bauer. Editors Robin Mackay [and] Armen Avanessian. The Accelerationist Reader--cover. Includes Bibliographical References. An apparently contradictory yet radically urgent collection of texts tracing the genealogy of a controversial current in contemporary philosophy.Accelerationism is the name of a contemporary political heresy: the insistence that the only radical political response to capitalism is not to protest, disrupt, critique, or détourne it, but to accelerate and exacerbate its uprooting, alienating, decoding, abstractive tendencies.#Accelerate presents a genealogy of accelerationism, tracking the impulse through 90s UK darkside cyberculture and the theory-fictions of Nick Land, Sadie Plant, Iain Grant, and CCRU, across the cultural underground of the 80s (rave, acid house, SF cinema) and back to its sources in delirious post-68 ferment, in texts whose searing nihilistic jouissance would later be disavowed by their authors and the marxist and academic establishment alike.On either side of this central sequence, the book includes texts by Marx that call attention to his own “Prometheanism,” and key works from recent years document the recent extraordinary emergence of new accelerationisms steeled against the onslaughts of neoliberal capitalist realism, and retooled for the twenty-first century.At the forefront of the energetic contemporary debate around this disputed, problematic term, #Accelerate activates a historical conversation about futurality, technology, politics, enjoyment, and capital. This is a legacy shot through with contradictions, yet urgently galvanized today by the poverty of “reasonable” contemporary political alternatives. La 4ème de couverture indique : "Accelerationism is the name of a political heresy: the insistence that the only radical political response to capitalism is not to protest, disrupt, or critique, but to accelerate and exacerbate its uprooting, alienating, decoding, abstractive tendencies."