The Making of the Indebted Man: An Essay on the Neoliberal Condition (Volume 13) (Semiotext(e) / Intervention Series (13))

The debtor-creditor relation, which is at the heart of this book, sharpens mechanisms of exploitation and domination indiscriminately, since, in it, there is no distinction between workers and the unemployed, consumers and producers, working and non-working populations, between retirees and welfare recipients. They are all "debtors," guilty and responsible in the eyes of capital, which has become the Great, the Universal, Creditor.--from __The Making of the Indebted Man__ Debt -- both public debt and private debt -- has become a major concern of economic and political leaders. In __The Making of the Indebted Man__, Maurizio Lazzarato shows that, far from being a threat to the capitalist economy, debt lies at the very core of the neoliberal project. Through a reading of Karl Marx's lesser-known youthful writings on John Mill, and a rereading of writings by Friedrich Nietzsche, Gilles Deleuze, Félix Guattari, and Michel Foucault, Lazzarato demonstrates that debt is above all a political construction, and that the creditor/debtor relation is the fundamental social relation of Western societies.Debt cannot be reduced to a simple economic mechanism, for it is also a technique of "public safety" through which individual and collective subjectivities are governed and controlled. Its aim is to minimize the uncertainty of the time and behavior of the governed. We are forever sinking further into debt to the State, to private insurance, and, on a more general level, to corporations. To insure that we honor our debts, we are at once encouraged and compelled to become the "entrepreneurs" of our lives, of our "human capital." In this way, our entire material, psychological, and affective horizon is upended and reconfigured. How do we extricate ourselves from this impossible situation? How do we escape the neoliberal condition of the indebted man? Lazzarato argues that we will have to recognize that there is no simple technical, economic, or financial solution. We must instead radically challenge the fundamental social relation structuring capitalism: the system of debt. A new and radical reexamination of today's neoliberalist new economy through the political lens of the debtor/creditor relation. "The debtor-creditor relation, which is at the heart of this book, sharpens mechanisms of exploitation and domination indiscriminately, since, in it, there is no distinction between workers and the unemployed, consumers and producers, working and non-working populations, between retirees and welfare recipients. They are all 'debtors,' guilty and responsible in the eyes of capital, which has become the Great, the Universal, Creditor."from The Making of the Indebted Man Debtboth public debt and private debthas become a major concern of economic and political leaders. In The Making of the Indebted Man , Maurizio Lazzarato shows that, far from being a threat to the capitalist economy, debt lies at the very core of the neoliberal project. Through a reading of Karl Marx's lesser-known youthful writings on John Mill, and a rereading of writings by Friedrich Nietzsche, Gilles Deleuze, Flix Guattari, and Michel Foucault, Lazzarato demonstrates that debt is above all a political construction, and that the creditor/debtor relation is the fundamental social relation of Western societies. Debt cannot be reduced to a simple economic mechanism, for it is also a technique of public safety through which individual and collective subjectivities are governed and controlled. Its aim is to minimize the uncertainty of the time and behavior of the governed. We are forever sinking further into debt to the State, to private insurance, and, on a more general level, to corporations. To insure that we honor our debts, we are at once encouraged and compelled to become the entrepreneurs of our lives, of our human capital. In this way, our entire material, psychological, and affective horizon is upended and reconfigured. How do we extricate ourselves from this impossible situation? How do we escape the neoliberal condition of the indebted man? Lazzarato argues that we will have to recognize that there is no simple technical, economic, or financial solution. We must instead radically challenge the fundamental social relation structuring capitalism: the system of debt. Copyright Info 1 Contents 3 Foreword 4 1. Understanding Debt as the Basis of Social Life 9 Why a Debt Economy and not a Finance Economy? 16 Manufacturing Debt 21 A Power Relation Specific to Debt 25 2. The Genealogy of Debt and the Debtor 32 Debt and Subjectivity: Nietzsche's Contribution 32 The Creditor-Debtor Relationship as the Basis of Social Relations 32 The Temporality of Debt as Possibility, Choice, and Decision 39 The Economy as Process of Subjectivation 44 The Two Marxes 49 A Very Nietschean Marx 49 "Objective" Debt in Marx's Capital 56 Action and Confidence within the Logic of Debt 60 Infinite Debt 72 Barbarian Flows 76 Capitalist Flows 78 3. The Ascendency of Debt in Neoliberalism 84 Foucault and the "Birth" of Neoliberalism 84 Debt's Reconfiguration of Sovereign, Disciplinary, and Biopolitical Power 91 Sovereign Power 91 Disciplinary Power 95 Biopolitical Power 98 Neoliberal Governmentality and Debt: Hegemony or Government? 100 What Is Capitalism? 100 The Subprime Crisis 104 The Sovereign Debt Crisis 110 Debt and the Social World 117 Three Kinds of Debt: Private, Sovereign, and Social 117 Hypocrisy, Cynicism, and Distrust in the Techniques of Debt Subjectivation 123 Evaluation and Debt 132 Debt as Social Subjection and Machinic Subjugation 140 Antiproduction and Antidemocracy 146 Conclusion 156 Introduction to the Italian Translation - Debt and Austerity: The German Model of Precarious Full-Employment 161 The German Model 164 A Financial Crisis or a Crisis of Capitalism? 168 Notes 170 1. Understanding Debt as the Basis of Social Life 170 2. The Genealogy of Debt and the Debtor 171 3. The Ascendency of Debt in Neoliberalism 174 Conclusion 176 Introduction to the Italian Translation 176 semiotext(e) intervention series 178 Back Cover 179 "A new and radical reexamination of today's neoliberalist "new economy" through the political lens of the debtor/creditor relation ... Debt -both public debt and private debt- has become a major concern of economic and political leaders. In The Making of the Indebted Man, Maurizio Lazzarato shows that, far from being a threat to the capitalist economy, debt lies at the very core of the neoliberal project. Through a reading of Karl Marx's lesser-known youthful writings on John Mill, and a rereading of writings by Friedrich Nietzsche, Gilles Deleuze, Félix Guattari, and Michel Foucault, Lazzarato demonstrates that debt is above all a political construction, and that the creditor/debtor relation is the fundamental social relation of Western societies. Debt cannot be reduced to a simple economic mechanism, for it is also a technique of "public safety" through which individual and collective subjectivities are governed and controlled. Its aim is to minimize the uncertainty of the time and behavior of the governed. We are forever sinking further into debt to the State, to private insurance, and, on a more general level, to corporations. To insure that we honor our debts, we are at once encouraged and compelled to become the "entrepreneurs" of our lives, of our "human capital." In this way, our entire material, psychological, and affective horizon is upended and reconfigured. How do we extricate ourselves from this impossible situation? How do we escape the neoliberal condition of the indebted man? Lazzarato argues that we will have to recognize that there is no simple technical, economic, or financial solution. We must instead radically challenge the fundamental social relation structuring capitalism: the system of debt." --Descripción del editor Has become a major concern of economic and political leaders. In The Making of the Indebted Man, Maurizio Lazzarato shows that, far from being a threat to the capitalist economy, debt lies at the very core of the neoliberal project. Through a reading of Karl Marx's lesser-known youthful writings on John Mill, and a rereading of writings by Friedrich Nietzsche, Gilles Deleuze, Felix Guattari, and Michel Foucault, Lazzarato demonstrates that debt is above all a political construction, and that the creditor/debtor relation is the fundamental social relation of Western societies. Debt cannot be reduced to a simple economic mechanism, for it is also a technique of "public safety" through which individual and collective subjectivities are governed and controlled. Its aim is to minimize the uncertainty of the time and behavior of the governed. We are forever sinking further into debt to the State, to private insurance, and, on a more general level, to corporations Debt, Both Public Debt And Private Debt, Has Become A Major Concern Of Economic And Political Leaders. In 'the Making Of The Indebted Man', Maurizio Lazzarato Shows That, Far From Being A Threat To The Capitalist Economy, Debt Lies At The Very Core Of The Neoliberal Project. 1. Understanding Debt As The Basis Of Social Life -- 2. The Genealogy Of Debt And The Debtor -- 3. The Ascendency Of Debt In Neoliberalism -- Conclusion. Maurizio Lazzarato ; Translated By Joshua David Jordan. Includes Bibliographical References.