24th
Structures and Resistance
Every structure relies equally on its periphery as it does on its internal components. The development of a structure or institution is aided not exclusively by those forces that support it, but by those forces that oppose it and render opposition to it. The antithesis therefore renders the synthesis possible, and provides it with the grounding necessary for its development.
This micro-political operation is nowhere more prevalent than in the domain of criticism and resistance. In every act of protest, we risk the chance of incorporation into the very structures we wish to do damage to and problematize. This is rooted in the fact that problematization and affirmation are rooted in the same Dialectical structure - in questioning something we risk affirming its grounding and render it stronger.
Capitalism,in its current form, is an organic and totalizing entity. It not only operates in its own self-encapsulated domain, but permeates all aspects of social existences, namely the formation of identity and the articulation thereof. With the organic nature of Capital, it exhibits this resilience to criticism and resistance characteristic of such complex structures. It has developed methods for co-opting and managing the seemingly most devastating of criticisms, the most potentially revolutionary of movements.
Take for example, the No Logo movement associated with the anti-globalization movement. This movement grounded itself in a critique of logos, and the way they established social hierarchies and allowed for capitalism’s colonization of culture and various other social spaces. The idea was to find sources of clothing without logos, and to wear these instead of mass-marketed name-brands such as Nike, etc. The success of this movement was its own downfall. As more and more people started wearing No Logo clothing, No Logo itself became a fashion trend. The absence of the logo itself becomes a logo.This demonstrates two things. (1) Capitalism is capable of undermining the most revolutionary projects and incorporating them into it’s logic and organization. (2) The critique, in attempting to undermine structures of capital, often is colonized by these very structures and incorporated into them.
