Techno-feudalism or Platform Capitalism? Conceptualising the Digital Society

Written by : [[Jeremy Gilbert]]

Analyses various recent ideas that posit that we have seen the end of capitalism, and that it has been replaced by something worse. Looks at [[Vectoralism]] from [[McKenzie Wark]], [[technofeudalism]] from [[Yanis Varoufakis]], and ideas from [[Jodi Dean]].

In Gilbert's opinion this is still capitalism, and rather than us being in a new [[mode of production]], we are rather in a new '[[regime of accumulation]]' - that of [[Platform Capitalism]].

All good. But it all still strikes me as internal nitpicking. Whether it's a new accumulation regime or a new mode of production, does it actually help us do anything about it?

I imagine the argument would be: yes, you need to understand precisely what it is in order to counter it.

Hmm. Maybe.