The Reproduction of Subjectivity and the Turnover-time of Ideology: Speculating with German Idealism, Marx, and Adorno

Abstract

In the wake of Michel Foucault's now-famous critique of the repressive role of the state apparatus (dispositif), (1) a central tenet of social theory, namely ideology critique, lost considerable support among scholars and activists. A constant refrain, heard from all quarters, consisted of the need to finally leave behind a model of subjection based on a "sovereign," top-down conception of power, and instead employ a method that gleans the horizontal dispersions or discursive metamorphoses that are more primary in the positive constitution of subjectivity. (2) And yet, in the face of the last fifteen to twenty years, it has grown increasingly difficult to deny the persistent role of the Leviathan in contemporary life. If the explosion in the U.S. prison population were not enough, basic knowledge of the function of the surveillance state likely causes one to begin to question the ease with which approaches like that of Louis Althusser's were discarded in favor of Foucault's approach. (3) Indeed, especially after the recent bailout of international capital by the U.S. Empire, i,e., the international lender of last resort, the question of how contemporary subjectivity is formed in relation to a state apparatus that-despite the element of truth in the "relative autonomy" or non-economistic thesis-is indissolubly linked to the reproduction of capital, weighs down on any theorist who would try to give an adequate account of the present balance of social and political forces. Have we not, along these lines, lost something essential in wholly departing from Althusser's approach? Have we not, that is to say, missed the chance to enrich this mode of inquiry by putting it in tension with the present state of affairs? Surely, given the present constellation, we can now see that the complete dismissal of ideology critique in favor of an analysis of the transformations in discourse is itself part of a power dynamic that thwarts the possibility of grasping just how much repression, i.e., the hail of the State, the threat of external punishment, or, in short, the unparalleled power with which capital, through its various (economic, political, legal, and military) channels, demands the passive adaptation of its subjects. Surely such a position against ideology critique is also part of the mechanism that generates an incapacity to understand how the reproduction of capital simultaneously instigates positive and negative effects on the subject, affirmative and prohibitive games of power that are essential to the formation of contemporary subjectivity?* * 4 And surely, in the midst of economic disparity that has reached Gilded Age levels, it is high time that we return to a consideration of the links between the flows of capital and the manner in which its subject is schematized in and through a relationship to the socially necessary maintenance of class domination. With this background in view, there are two aspects of Althusser's ideology critique that I would like to consider in the hope of returning to and enriching this mode of investigation. (5) Firstly, there is Althusser's Lacanian insight into the "specular" character of the "centered" subject. (6) The play of anticipation with the mirror-image, the "misrecognition" involved in becoming the subject of wage-labor, remains a particularly pressing issue, especially in an age of finance capital, i.e., an age that has seen "speculative" activity in secondary markets grow to unforeseen levels. Secondly, there is Althusser's claim that the base-superstructure model of ideology requires the addition of Marx's conception of reproduction, (7) of the turnover-time (Umschlagszeit) and circulation that are socially necessary for the process of value-expansion. The continued relevance of this line of inquiry can hardly be questioned when confronted with the fact the foundations of this reproduction have been shaken to their core by the worst economic crisis in two generations. Moreover, confronting the dire consequences for subjects living not only amidst this crisis, but also in an era that has seen an unprecedented emphasis on short-term, quarterly earnings, a staggering proportion of which are completely unmoored from the actual production of goods, cannot help but conjure up questions regarding how the subject of neoliberal capital is produced. …