In Chapter 16 of Valences, "Utopia as Replication," Jameson proves his point through a powerful dystopia for the Left: Wal-Mart. We all know the horrors of Wal-Mart, so there is no need to repeat them here. But per Jameson, in its production of monopoly power, Wal-Mart is the “purest expression of that dynamic of capitalism which devours itself, which abolishes the market by means of the market itself.” The enormity of Wal-Mart has overcome the anarchy of capitalism and provides the necessities of life to the public, no matter how increasingly poor. This impoverishing power of the giant firm that exploits is suppliers and exploiting its workers, however, could be used in exactly the opposite way, “using its enormous purchasing power not just to raise the standard of living for its customers but also for its suppliers.” This new system of colossal coordination of productive forces could eliminate the opposition between producer and consumer altogether if concurrent with a structurally changed future. Again, he asserts, this is not praxis, not a Leninist plan to just “lop off what capitalistically mutilates this excellent apparatus” after the revolution. Rather, it is an imagining as positive what is currently negative to change the valence of Utopian futurity, to see the possible dystopic geneaologies of a different future.
|
- bill 1-05-2015 1:16 pm