Abstract
The multitude made their presence known late January, 2011. As Hardt and Negri observe, ‘only the standpoint of bodies and their power can challenge the discipline and control wielded by the republic of property’ (p. 27). In a spontaneous surge, a vast and diverse group of Tunisian common workers, students, intellectuals and professionals united in protest against an authoritarian, but Western friendly, government. Their rage was triggered by the self-immolation of a young man, educated but denied economic opportunities, and social anxiety about rising food prices. The protests were successful in forcing out the despotic leader. Unfortunately, the government that emerged in the aftermath of these tumultuous days included members of the former elite. The populace continues to resist amid increasingly bloody confrontations. The rise, attempted containment and spread of the rage of the multitude in Tunisia dramatize the theoretical strengths of, and practical challenges to, Commonwealth.
Commonwealth is the third book in Hardt and Negri’s trilogy that began with Empire (2001) and Multitude (2005). Empire articulated the new networks of power constituted by corporations, institutions and other network centres that control global social and economic relations. Multitude named and described the six billion citizens who are marginalized or exploited by Empire, but whose networked agencies, particularly in urban areas, can promote the development of global democracy. Commonwealth articulates the foundations for this global democracy in the commons, a sphere neither public nor private, within which subjectivities can be created who resist the increasingly ubiquitous ‘republic of property’, authoritarianism, war and degraded forms of the commons, such as urban slums, resulting from impoverishment and/or marginalization. A particular and political form of love provides ‘a path for investigating the power and productivity of the common’ (p. xii). The utopic commonwealth transcends false dichotomies such as humanity and nature, by focusing instead on ‘the practices of interaction, care, and cohabitation’ (p. viii). Thus, Commonwealth aims not only to articulate the political construction of the multitude within Empire, but also strives to find ways of translating the ‘productivity and possibility of the poor into power’ (p. xi) in order to promote and re-create the commons.
Simultaneously, Hardt and Negri also attempt to address the various challenges posed previously by critics. Particularly pressing is Paolo Virno’s charge that there is no reason to assume that political actions by the multitude will be oriented toward expansion of the commonwealth and, relatedly, liberation (see p. 167). Hardt and Negri respond by espousing the biopolitical roles of love and force. Redefining Foucault’s concept of biopolitics, they stress the ‘localized productive powers of life—that is the production of affects and languages through social cooperation and the interaction of bodies and desires, the invention of new forms of the relation to the self and others, and so forth’ (p. 58). Thus, resistance must be productive, not merely combative of the extant order. Yet, Virno’s concern has relevance in the context of the exploding Arab world and also for the simmering rage of dispossessed populations within the ‘advanced’ Western economies, particularly the US.
The despotic nature of many Arab governments, and their entrenchment within, and support by, networks of finance and oil, illustrate the networked nature of Empire and the republic of property (see Albayaty et al., 2011). The financial crisis’ stress on the pillars of neoliberal Empire has produced outrage in the developing world, which has been impacted by plummeting consumption, collapsing production, and inflating commodities. Tunisia, whose government willingly adopted the neoliberal austerity prescriptions of the International Monetary Fund, merely illustrates how networked forces of Empire are capable of exacerbating economic and social impoverishment of entire populations.
Resistance is to be expected by populations pushed to breaking points. Just as described by Hardt and Negri, resistance is enabled by networking in the electronic commons. Around the world, many members of the disenfranchised Multitude are youth who are educated and technologically savvy. Facebook, twitter, and other forms of instantaneous communication facilitate expressions of resistance by these young people. The question is what comes next? Can spontaneous resistance be transformed into the creation of sustainable social organizations capable not only of resistance, but also of preserving and extending the commons? Accordingly, populist rage in Tunisia and throughout the Arab world must be transformed productively into a social organization that can promote subjectivities, practices and policies capable of redressing neoliberal injuries and forces of dispossession while combatting the overt and insidious forces of Empire.
Empire is difficult to resist for nations entwined within its networks. For instance, Moody’s just downgraded Tunisia’s credit rating, making it more difficult and costly to raise money through the sale of sovereign bonds (Hatoum, 2011). Should a new government attempt to reverse privatization of state resources, such as the recent partial privatization of Tunisia’s telecom system, rating agencies would quickly punish with downgrades, a frightening prospect for a nation that imports food (USDA, 2009). Likewise, efforts to reverse the recently liberalized import policy (law #94–41) could result in litigation, boycotts or even military reprisal. Even the technologies of the commons, such as Facebook and Twitter, can be subordinated to the aims of Empire as groundswells of resistance are monitored, channeled and directed by strategically trained or co-opted ‘activists’ (see Greenop, 2007).
Perhaps more insidious is Empire’s seductive promise of endless growth and the siren call of consumerism. ‘In Nigeria, Used Cars are a Road to Status … Taking “Baby Boy” Home’ reads a recent headline in The Wall Street Journal (Connors, 2011, p. B1). Baby Boy is a nickname for the 2000 Honda Accord. This headline gets at the crux of the challenge to the preservation and expansion of the commons. The pull and seduction of things—things celebrated and fetishized on the electronic commons—operate as a compelling force against the aspirational view of the commonwealth.
Yet, it is clear that the earth cannot bear much longer Western, industrial models of ‘the good life.’ Global warming is going to make food production more tenuous. Depleted water tables loom. Peak oil means expensive energy. The world’s affluent populations are beginning to confront the scarcity that has characterized the lives of the majority of the world’s populace. The harsh realities of scarcity will conflict deeply with the ideology of abundance promoted by pervasive, Western consumerism.
Now that the Multitude has raised a regional voice, will it acknowledge the perils of Western excess, or will it simply demand its share of a form of an unsustainable form of life, of a corrupting form of the commons? The subjectivities that can confront scarcity and work collaboratively to allocate limited resources in times of environmental uncertainties and strains are not ones typically produced and encouraged by Empire. What kind of force can address the singularities of consumer desire? What kind of force can lead away from idealized lifestyles predicated upon unsustainable consumption in a time of growing scarcity? What kind of social organization can emerge quickly enough with the theorized love and force capable of confronting not only existing apparatuses of Empire, but also looming and potentially cataclysmic environmental challenges? I watch the revolts in Tunisia, Algeria and Egypt with hope and with concern for what comes next.