Overlapping Histories...
One of my favorite lines from A-O goes, "Capitalism is a motley painting of everything that has ever existed." Ontologically, epistemologically, historically, there is a lingering effect from all previous modes of production.
Capitalism is not the end of feudalism, but it is an extension of feudalism. Capital has a carry-over effect that creates multiple oppressions. Schematically speaking there exists Oppressions A (followed by its various tropes, A1, A2, A3, etc), and then this carries over onto Oppressions B (B1, B2, B3, etc.) which disperse throughout the entire social field creating a web of oppression (and repression) that is inter-connected with potentially revolutionary forces of desire. Desire is never disconnected entirely outside of repression/oppression. Contemporary Marxists (particularly Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri) draw on this in their work when they construct a conception of Empire as encompassing the entire globe. Or to put this schematic in my own words from a paper I once wrote, "there is no outside at the end of History..."
Consider for a moment the ominous tone Negri uses at the end of Insurgencies, written in 1992:
"Is what is awaiting us a history of freedom?... What awaits us is a history of liberation, disutopia in action, relentless and as painful as it is constructive." (Insurgencies, p.336)
"One of Marx's caveats: We cannot tell by the taste of wheat who grew it; the product gives no hint as to the systems and relations of production." (A-O p.24)
Commodity fetishism functions by eliding production, and through the use of advertising and branding capitalism valorizes consumption. We do not know where our goods are coming from, just that it feels pleasurable to use them. Nike shoes made in sweatshops by child labor for 2 cents an hour make you "Be Like Mike" for a moment on the basketball court, and that is the image that the person has while purchasing (and using) the product.
Capitalism is not the end of feudalism, but it is an extension of feudalism. Capital has a carry-over effect that creates multiple oppressions. Schematically speaking there exists Oppressions A (followed by its various tropes, A1, A2, A3, etc), and then this carries over onto Oppressions B (B1, B2, B3, etc.) which disperse throughout the entire social field creating a web of oppression (and repression) that is inter-connected with potentially revolutionary forces of desire. Desire is never disconnected entirely outside of repression/oppression. Contemporary Marxists (particularly Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri) draw on this in their work when they construct a conception of Empire as encompassing the entire globe. Or to put this schematic in my own words from a paper I once wrote, "there is no outside at the end of History..."
Consider for a moment the ominous tone Negri uses at the end of Insurgencies, written in 1992:
"Is what is awaiting us a history of freedom?... What awaits us is a history of liberation, disutopia in action, relentless and as painful as it is constructive." (Insurgencies, p.336)
"One of Marx's caveats: We cannot tell by the taste of wheat who grew it; the product gives no hint as to the systems and relations of production." (A-O p.24)
Commodity fetishism functions by eliding production, and through the use of advertising and branding capitalism valorizes consumption. We do not know where our goods are coming from, just that it feels pleasurable to use them. Nike shoes made in sweatshops by child labor for 2 cents an hour make you "Be Like Mike" for a moment on the basketball court, and that is the image that the person has while purchasing (and using) the product.