Empire

Rating:
Summary: Imagine there's no empire
Review: "Empire" is an ambitious book. Readers who approach this work with an open mind will be rewarded with numerous insights and a keener understanding of the world in which we live.

Reading the book is like being invited to listen to a dialogue between two great thinkers. One can sense the paragraphs that may have been written by the philosopher Michael Hardt from among those by the political scientist Antonio Negri. You are fascinated by the manner in which the exchange of ideas seems to create a kind of intellectual synergy, which in turn leads us to deeper and more penetrating analyses of the subject matter. It would be interesting to learn how the authors communicated with each other (Hardt is in the U.S. and Negri was in prison in Italy) to achieve this remarkable feat.

The book is divided into four sections. It may be helpful to look at each individually to better undestand why opinions about this book seem to vary so widely.

The first section on "Political Constitution" disscuses the characteristics of the empire dominating our postmodern world. The authors discuss the declining power of nation states and the increasing power of multinational corporations along with the institutions that regulate them (such as the IMF, UN, WTO etc.). The authors contend that the requirements of capital have created juridical norms that have literally enveloped all regions of the world, meaning that there is no longer an "outside" to the globalized capitalist regime.

Importantly, the authors draw on Michel Foucault's theories to describe the transformation from the "disciplinary society" in the imperialist era to the "society of control" in the current era of globalization. The term "biopower" is used to describe how the empire's values have become internalized by the multitude, allowing control to be exercised through the self-regulating actions of individuals participating in the market economy. On the other hand, Hardt and Negri contend that biopower may hold the key to the multitude's liberation from capitalism, an idea that is introduced here but is more fully developed out later in the book.

Section two on "Passages of Sovereignty" traces the rise of modernity and the state. This section has seven chapters and could almost be regarded as an excellent book-within-the-book. The topics discussed in this section include the emergence of the state and its relationship with the Enlightenment; the state's role in mobilizing citizens for capitalist production and war; the importance of slave labor to capitalism in Europe and the New World; and much more.

Hardt and Negri's concept of "network power" that is embedded within the U.S. constitution was particularly interesting. The authors contend that by locating power within the productive capacity of the citizens, the U.S. is uniquely capable of projecting capitalist power world-wide. However, they contend that this power is "imperial" (but not "imperialist") in that it primarily serves the interests of capital but not the state and its citizens. While some may take issue with the authors on this point, I believe that the prevalence of corporate tax scams, oil wars, trade agreements with non-existant labor standards and the like suggests that the authors may be right.

The third section is titled "Passages of Production". This is another substantive section containing six chapters that could almost be read as an independent work. Here, the authors draw heavily on Marx to discuss how society has responded to changing economic conditions. I found these chapters to be extremely well-written, offering concise and powerful analyses that helped me gain a new level of understanding.

A few of the topics discussed include the importance of the New Deal in resolving the "crisis of imperialism" manifested by the Great Depression and intra-capitalist war; the socio-political dynamics that led to postcolonial resistance in Vietnam and elsewhere; the emergence of world markets; and more.

Central to the analysis is a discussion of the enormous cultural changes in the 1960s. The authors state that the desire for personal liberation and freedom from the Fordist "factory-society" led to a profound restructuring of the "social mode of production". Capital responded to the crisis by privileging information technology and implementing more flexible, decentralized and inclusive forms of management. However, the Soviet Union's inability to abandon the disciplinary regime and its rigid, centralized management structure meant that it could not successfully make this transition.

Hardt and Negri's description of the postmodern world seems familiar. Most people have economic power and productive freedom but limited political power; the media produces entertaining "spectacle" but also perpetuates "superstitution" and inculcates "fear" of poverty; pockets of wealth have appeared in poor countries but the poor are increasingly visible in wealthy nations; and so on. While much of this has been stated elsewhere, the author's ability to tie these symptoms of globalization to their root causes is masterful and makes for compelling reading.

Section four is about the "Decline and Fall of Empire". In the spirit of Marx, Hardt and Negri hope to show how the times we live in may be different from past eras and hold the potential for revolutionary change. While I think that the case was convincingly made that the empire as the authors have defined it is indeed a new phenomenon, I was not convinced that the evolution to a society that Saint Francis of Assisi might endorse will necessarilly follow.

The authors return to the concept of biopower -- which might also be understood as their updated version of Marx's concept of class consciousness -- to make their case. They believe that the unprecendented mixing of people and ideas is enabling an "ontological human dimension" of biopower that is naturally people-centered, peaceful, and loving. Biopower will eventually realize its material existence when people coopt the means of production (especially information technology) and "cast off" the the violent apparatus of empire in favor of brotherhood, or a state of non-government. In the end, Hardt and Negri have imagined a world that slightly resembles a John Lennon song: a world with no countries and with income and resources available to all.

Whether one agrees with the authors' beautiful vision of the future, I think that this book easily deserves a 5 star rating. With hundreds of pages packed with outstanding research and an uncanny ability to synthesize a variety of sources into an unique vision, this book will no doubt stimulate thinking people for many years to come.

Rating:
Summary: still brilliant insights yet short on technical discourse
Review: the structure here is similar in gesture to 'Thousand Plateaus' of Guattari and Deleuze,only much less rich and diverse in conceptual trajectories and explorations. The entire edifice of European thought however is traversed here, and I can see the frustration of the other reviews here of more predictable vacuous Marxist bashing.

Negri and Hardt are purely conceptual here.In contrast I recommend "Global Gable" by Peter Gowan, as a work more encompassing with technical economically focused yet dealing with identical issues of the reigning imperial power,USA.

There are many brilliant insights here however on the breakthroughs in Western thought, of Hegel, Kant, Descartes, but this was more for student usage, than forming a context for discussion on how for instances Gowan's work brilliantly does,that the American dollar (since the end of Bretton Woods)is responsible for the great waves and pendulums of financial collapse, the reoccuring economic pilferage of other countries.And how the USA through the World Bank and the IMF restructure other economies through devaluations of currencies,allowing venture capitalists greater freedoms,and greater ownership in foreign corporations. Hardt and Negri seem to imply this discussion rather than come directly in confrontation with it.

There is also good contexts rendered on modernity, and the post formations, but again it is a beginning point not an explanation of what remains the dangers for the citizens of the globe downstream.

Rating:
Summary: Misguided and Opportunistic Waste of Paper and Time
Review: This is a hopscotched group of words that do not merit the title of "book" avoiding both logic and empirical reality whereupon regurgitated Marxistoid disproven notions of society and economics are thrown together in lieu of any serious scholarship on the matters at hand. Marxism, for example, has little to do with any ecological issues as even Marx, whose ideas about capitalism were proven wrong by facts and not wishful thinking, was a champion of industrialism over pastoral life. It is difficult to convey how mediocre this publication is at all levels and only the most committed ideologue would invest time reading something that has little to offer to those interested in any serious discussion of the issues surrounding the inevitable and wise globalization of the world's economic, human, cultural and social resources. Spend your money on "The Race to the Top: The Real Story of Globalization" by Tomas Larsson.

Rating:
Summary: How to limit readership
Review: Hardt and Negri's "Empire" Has many intriguing insights into the New World Order. It is a completely fresh treatment of an evolutionary model of economics. Unfortunately it is written in language that is pretentiously arcane and inaccessible to most readers. Here's a sample: "New figures of struggle and new subjectivites are produced in the conjuncture of events, in the universal nomadism..." If someone were to rewrite this book in plain Enlish it would have a considerable impact.

Rating:
Summary: Other than that...
Review: One author is in prison because of his involvement in the assassination of an Italian prime minister. The other is a professor of Italian literature who thinks that qualifies him to comment on economics, history, politics, and sociology. The prose is pompous on those rare occasions when it is comprehensble. The ideas are childish.
Other than that, it's a great book.

Rating:
Summary: Gotta knock a star of for it's Communist Utopianism....but
Review: Otherwise, it's the most outstanding book I've read this year.

It's highly readable if you've got a graduate level education; if "My Day at the Zoo" gives you a headache, perhaps you should wait for the "Empire for Dummies" version to come out.

Having said that, the indictment made in this work IS indeed staggering- and prophetic, given our current domestic terrorism being perpetrated by the collaboration of Islamic Fundamentalists and John Ashcroft.

A MUST READ to understand the REAL problems behind globalism, "terrorism," and the United States!

Rating:
Summary: The Two Stooges
Review: Empire is recycled "vulgar" Marxism that promotes itself as something new and innovative. I suggest that folks read Karl Marx instead and forget Negri and Hardt. Why these two, particularly Hardt, are so popular in the U.S. is beyond me.

Rating:
Summary: Another work on faith-based economics
Review: This work could easily be condensed into a short essay. Its rambling, obscure prose was rather painful and frustrating to read. Long on words and short on content, this book is a collection of linguistic gymnastics and moral exertions devoid of any lucid analysis. After reading the first 50 pages, I still had no clue as to what they were trying to say. Obviously brevity and clarity are not in their vocabulary. An example of this turgid prose (pg. 60): "This perpetual motion can be geographical, but it can refer also to modulations of form and processes of mixture and hybridization. The relationship between system and asystemic movements cannot be flattened onto any logic of correspondence in this perpetually modulating atopia". What in the hell does that mean?
Imagine 400 pages of this drivel! They obviously tried to substitute literary dexterity for factual content.

It is really amazing that after decades of barbaric failures, there are still people out there trying to resurrect Marxism. 80 years ago, one could have an honest, content-rich debate with a Marxist. By the 1970's, after decades of purges, slave labor camps, genocide and economic stagnation, Marxism became more of a religion than a viable political-economic alternative. One could no longer entertain debate with religious fanatics. Debate and facts are too frightening because it might expose the weaknesses of their worldview. It is better to chant mantras against "oppression of the multitude" than to construct a practical program. "Empire" is just another work on faith-based, Marxist economics.

Rating:
Summary: very interesting
Review: this is an interesting book.
it is critical of things as they are.
things as they are, as everyone knows, is no good.
therefore, they have to change.
this book has some thoughts about it.
it might help.
who knows?
so buy it and read it.

Rating:
Summary: An Important Contribution
Review: Hardt and Negri's book is an important contribution to the current debates and an innovative attempt to map out a number of new concepts in political theory.

The rich flavour of the text, the erudition and wealth of references are a major strength of this work. They situate Hardt and Negri within a strand of Neo-Marxist thought that employs concepts developed by Continental theory, while rejecting postmodern and postcolonial analyses.

The examination of "Empire" as a new regime of power based on biopolitical production is an attempt to apply Foucauldian concepts while adding a Deleuzian spin. The characterization of Empire as an impersonal network that asymmetrically grows in all directions and operates through means of control is certainly pungent, if not entirely original (the notion of control society is taken straight out of an interview with Deleuze). Nevertheless, the discussion of Empire's own time and space are to the point. The authors present the idea that in Empire ethical and juridical categories are merged and a new paradigm of power and authority arises.

Biopolitical production refers to a power (Empire) that creates subjectivities, to be understood in this context as "life". While this is as very interesting point, the authors mix up economic production and ontological production. They are equally careless with the term "power" which at once refers to a Foucauldian conception of power (as micro-power) and at the same time to a monarchic conception of power (Empire as "the power").

The part on sovereignty is a superb discussion of the genealogy of sovereignty throughout European modernity and from a number of angles. Their critique of postmodernism and postcolonialism is based on Fredric Jameson's well-known book.

The third part is by and large an attempt to integrate a Marxian economic theory with the political analysis the authors provide in the second part. On the whole, I am much more impressed by the section on sovereignty, then by this somewhat stale revival of classical Marxian ideas. Nevertheless, there are some beautiful sections, in particular on imperialism

The fourth and final part is at once an elaboration of their ontology and a conclusion. In terms of conclusion, this book has not much to offer, but the attempt to operationalize an ontology of the multiple is impressive. Even though their references to "fluidity" and "networks" hide some obscurities, the authors made an impressive contribution in the field of "applied philosophy".