Despite insoluble contradictions, intense volatility and fierce resistance, the crisis-ridden capitalism of the 21st century lingers on. To understand capital's paradoxical expansion and entrenchment amidst crisis and unrest, Mute Compulsionoffers a novel theory of the historically unique forms of abstract and impersonal power set in motion by the subjection of social life to the profit imperative. Building on a critical reconstruction of Karl Marx's unfinished critique of political economy and a wide range of contemporary Marxist theory, philosopher Soren Mau sets out to explain how the logic of capital tightens its stranglehold on the life of society by constantly remoulding the material conditions of social reproduction. In the course of doing so, Mau intervenes in classical and contemporary debates about the value form, crisis theory, biopolitics, social reproduction, humanism, logistics, agriculture, metabolism, the body, competition, technology and relative surplus populations.
"An instant classic. The best introduction to Marx's thought in any language."
Aaron Benanav
"This is the first in-depth investigation of a key concept used in Marx's Capital: mute compulsion. Far beyond a purely philological exercise, S�ren Mau shows the centrality of this concept for a better understanding of capitalist class rule, subsumption and biopolitics. If we take the findings of S�ren Mau's book seriously, it will considerably change our views on the "power of capital" and the p
