The Entropy of Capitalism : Entropy of Capitalism

"..For the "window in which we can make revolution" really is closing, as Biel demonstrates in The Entropy of Capitalism. More significantly, he demonstrates how and why this window is closing: using thermodynamics, Biel articulates the limits of the capitalist system and how it has passed the point of disarticulation, degeneration, and static disintegration. Without rejecting the mainstays of historical materialist analysis of the capitalist mode of production (i.e. the labour theory of value, the tendency of the rate of profit to fall), he proves this logic by resorting to systems theory. In some ways this recourse to thermodynamics functions as analogical logic to breathe new life into marxian language that often seems stale; in other ways this filter is not simply analogical or metaphorical––Biel really does intend us to understand capitalism as a closed, thermodynamic system that is moving towards an entropic destiny." "..Biel's use of thermodynamics is a way in which to look at a mode of production as a system that breathes new life into old concepts that might seem stale. Moreover, it does provide a methodology in which to talk about a lot of things as interconnected phenomena. If the capitalist mode of production is understood as a thermodynamic system, and we can map out its core logic (tendency of the rate of profit to fall, the laws of capitalist accumulation and capitalist reproduction, the class structure, etc.) by examining this system as one that is both social and ecological, then we can also understand how its order cannot help but lead towards a static situation where it uses up its energy margins, fails to regenerate itself, offsets its closed and degenerating logic in "sinks" that hasten its degeneration." CONTENTS List of Figures..............................................................................................ix Introduction.................................................................................................1 1. Understanding the Limits and Decay of the Capitalist Mode of Production.............................................................................19 Introduction and Core Hypothesis of the Argument.................19 Contribution of the Systems Perspective......................................21 The Entropy Question within Marxism .......................................24 The Significance of Human Capacity............................................30 A Trend towards Absolute Poverty ...............................................35 Imperialism and the Entropy Question........................................39 2. Capitalism as an Adaptive System .....................................................43 Simplicity and Complexity.............................................................43 The Critique of Modernism ...........................................................46 Issues of Structuralism and Evolution ..........................................49 The Role of Agency .........................................................................53 Phase Transitions and Acquired Momentum in Capitalist Development..............................................................56 The Adaptive Problem Faced by Imperialism..............................60 Why Capitalism Can’t Adapt to Become More Green................66 3. The ‘Systemic Turn’ in Capitalist Political Economy .......................73 Defining the ‘Systemic Turn’..........................................................73 Capitalism Learns to Act with Systemic Processes .....................76 Fundamental Contradictions Still Drive Capitalism ..................79 Basic Principles of the Systemic Turn in Management ..............84 Systemic Consciousness and the Issue of Development ............90 A Critique of Evolutionism............................................................92 A Largely Phoney ‘Empowerment’ of Workers...........................95 Knowledge as a Basis for Selective Diffusion...............................99 The North-South Issue within the New Management Models........................................................................................100 The Notion of ‘Embedding’ and Its Contradictions..................104 The Political Equivalent of Network Capitalism and Its Limitations............................................................................109 Dissenting Networks and Why the Dominant Order Fears Them.................................................................................112 4. The Era of Feedback from Entropy..................................................117 Information and the Possibility of a Change of Course ...........117 Managing the Social Contradictions of Capitalism through Negative Energy Flows..............................................118 The Core-Periphery Dimension..................................................124 Payback for Earlier ‘Export to the Future’..................................126 The Information from Social Degradation ................................127 Energy and Identity.......................................................................132 The Peak Oil Debate......................................................................135 A New Regime of Nature..............................................................140 The Approaching Food Crisis......................................................142 The Era of Complexity and Capitalism’s Failure........................148 The Role of Finance Capital in Profiting from, and Accentuating, Disorder............................................................152 The Political Dimension and the Plunge into Militarism...................................................................................164 The ‘Colonisation’ of Security ......................................................169 5. Militarism and State Terrorism as a Response to Crisis ...............175 Introduction: Chaos and Order...................................................175 Networks, and a ‘Diffused’ Form of Chaotic Repression .........179 Justifying Real Terrorism from above by Manufactured ‘Terrorism’ from Below: Historical Antecedents and Contemporary Forms.................................182 The Destructive Impulse Takes Over..........................................190 The Self-Propagating Chaotic Machine......................................202 The Auto-cannibalism of Capitalist Democracy.......................211 The Hollowed-Out Core and the ‘Great Reversal’.....................217 6. Organisation of the Twenty-First Century International System..........................................................................231 The Scope and Limitations of a Non-Eurocentric Capitalist Mode of Production................................................231 Authoritarian versus Systemic Power in International Relations.............................................................240 Rejection of a Rules-Based System..............................................242 Dominating Information about the Future................................245 Reinventing the Federation of the Western States ....................248 7. Contradictions in the Contemporary Phase of Imperialist Governance, and the Forces for Change within It.........................263 Maintaining a System’s Core Features through Adaptation.....263 The Spectre of ‘Cold’ Imperialism, and the Ruling Order’s Attempt to Conjure It .................................................267 Spheres of Exergy, Spheres of Predictability ..............................273 The Futile Quest to Rebuild ‘Soft’ Power....................................279 A New International Power Balance Premised on Scarcity?......................................................................................286 An Inter-dependent Exploitative System Held together by the Core .................................................................290 Towards a Regulation Premised on Addressing Intra-core Entropy?...................................................................296 The Human Response to Scarcity and Restriction....................300 Struggling to Contain the Forces of Informality and Human Adaptation ...................................................................304 The Historic Battle over Commons Regimes.............................309 Food as an Example for the Low-Input Economy ....................318 The Left’s Role in the Struggle for a New Mode of Production .................................................................................322 Implications of Cybernetic Theory for Combating Capitalism’s Hegemonic Pull over the Network Debate ......329 Principles of the Emergent Mode of Production, and Found Objects, Which may Be Incorporated................334 The New Epoch of History...........................................................337 References.................................................................................................345 Index of Names........................................................................................377 Index of Subjects .....................................................................................383 The Entropy of Capitalism 3 Copyright 4 Contents 5 List of Figures 9 Introduction 11 1. Understanding the Limits and Decay of the Capitalist Mode of Production 29 Introduction and Core Hypothesis of the Argument 29 Contribution of the Systems Perspective 31 The Entropy Question within Marxism 34 The Significance of Human Capacity 40 A Trend towards Absolute Poverty 45 Imperialism and the Entropy Question 49 2. Capitalism as an Adaptive System 53 Simplicty and Complexity 53 The Critique of Modernism 56 Issues of Structuralism and Evolution 59 The Role of Agency 63 Phase Transitions and Acquired Momentum in Capitalist Development 66 The Adaptive Problem Faced by Imperialism 70 Why Capitalism Can’t Adapt to become More Green 76 3. The ‘Systemic Turn’ in Capitalist Political Economy 83 Defining the ‘Systemic Turn’ 83 Capitalism Learns to Act with Systemic Processes 86 Fundamental Contradictions Still Drive Capitalism 89 Basic Principles of the Systemic Turn in Management 94 Systemic Consciousness and the Issue of Development 100 A Critique of Evolutionism 102 A Largely Phoney ‘Empowerment’ of Workers 105 Knowledge as a Basis for Selective Diffusion 109 The North-South Issue within the New Management Models 110 The Notion of ‘Embedding’ and Its Contradictions 114 The Political Equivalent of Network Capitalism and Its Limitations 119 Dissenting Networks and Why the Dominant Order Fears Them 122 4. The Era of Feedback from Entropy 127 Information and the Possibility of a Change of Course 127 Managing the Social Contradictions of Capitalism through Negative Energy Flows 128 The Core-Periphery Dimension 134 Payback for Earlier ‘Export to the Future’ 136 The Information from Social Degradation 137 Energy and Identity 142 The Peak Oil Debate 145 A New Regime of Nature 150 The Approaching Food Crisis 152 The Era of Complexity and Capitalism’s Failure 158 The Role of Finance Capital in Profiting from, and Accentuating, Disorder 162 The Political Dimension and the Plunge into Militarism 174 The ‘Colonisation’ of Security 179 5. Militarism and State Terrorism as a Response to Crisis 185 Introduction: Chaos and Order 185 Networks, and a ‘Diffused’ Form of Chaotic Repression 189 Justifying Real Terrorism from Above by Manufactured ‘Terrorism’ from Below: Historical Antecedents and Contemporary Forms 192 The Destructive Impulse Takes Over 200 The Self-Propagating Chaotic Machine 212 The Auto-cannibalism of Capitalist Democracy 221 The Hollowed-Out Core and the ‘Great Reversal’ 227 6. Organisation of the Twenty-First Century International System 241 The Scope and Limitations of a Non-Eurocentric Capitalist Mode of Production 241 Authoritarian versus Systemic Power in International Relations 250 Rejection of a Rules-Based System 252 Dominating Information about the Future 255 Reinventing the Federation of the Western States 258 7. Contradictions in the Contemporary Phase of Imperialist Governance, and the Forces for Change within It 273 Maintaining a System’s Core Features through Adaptation 273 The Spectre of ‘Cold’ Imperialism, and the Ruling Order’s Attempt to Conjure It 277 Spheres of Exergy, Spheres of Predictability 283 The Futile Quest to Rebuild ‘Soft’ Power 289 A New International Power Balance Premised on Scarcity? 296 An Inter-dependent Exploitative System Held Together by the Core 300 Towards a Regulation Premised on Addressing Intra-core Entropy? 306 The Human Response to Scarcity and Restriction 310 Struggling to Contain the Forces of Informality and Human Adaptation 314 The Historic Battle over Commons Regimes 319 Food as an Example for the Low-Input Economy 328 The Left’s Role in the Struggle for a New Mode of Production 332 Implications of Cybernetic Theory for Combating Capitalism’s Hegemonic Pull over the Network Debate 339 Principles of the Emergent Mode of Production, and Found Objects, which May Be Incorporated 344 The New Epoch of History 347 References 355 Index of Names 387 Index of Subjects 393 The project of applying general systems theory to social sciences is crucial in today's crisis when social and ecological systems clash. This book concretely demonstrates the necessity of a Marxist approach to this challenge, notably in asserting agency (struggle) as against determinism. It similarly shows how Marxism can be reinvigorated from a systems perspective. Drawing on his experience in both international systems and low-input agriculture, Biel explores the interaction of social and physical systems, using the conceptual tools of thermodynamics and information. He reveals the early twenty-first century as a period when capitalism starts parasitising on the chaos it itself creates, notably in the link between the two sides of imperialism: militarism (the ‘war on terror') and speculative finance capital. Within the context of the ecological crisis of the twenty-first century, the book integrates Marxism and systems theory to reveal finance capital and the 'war on terror' as complementary responses of a capitalism reduced to parasitising upon symptoms of chaos