Imaginal machines: autonomy & self-organization in the revolutions of everyday life

258 Pages·2009·3.143 MB·English

by  Stevphen Shukaitis

Imaginal Machines
Autonomy & Self-Organization in the Revolutions of Everyday Life
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Autonomedia
Imaginal Machines: Autonomy & Self-Organization in the Revolu-
tions of Everyday Life
Stevphen Shukaitis
ISBN 978-1-57027-208-0
Cover & design by Haduhi Szukis
Cover images by Mike Strunk & Renée DeMund
Credit to the images used (page number indicated in parenthesis) goes
to the following: Tim Nebel (30), Arley-Rose Torsone (112), Haduhi
Szukis (1, 7, 8, 53, 225-226).
2009 Stevphen Shukaitis
Released by Minor Compositions, London/NYC/Port Watson
Minor Compositions is a series of interventions & provocations draw-
ing from autonomous politics, avant-garde aesthetics, and the revo-
lutions of everyday life.
WWW.MINORCOMPOSITIONS.INFO
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Table of Contents
00. Acknowledgments
5
0. Introduction
9
I. Of Imaginal Machines & Compositional Inquiries
12
II. Plan 9 from the Capitalist Workplace
31
III. Revelation Vertigo
53
IV. Dancing Amidst the Flames
61
V. Space is the (non)Place
81
VI. An//aesthetics & Re\\fusal
99
VII. The Labor of Imagination
119
VIII. Questions for Aeffective Resistance
140
IX. Precarious Politics
165
X. Dance, Dance Recomposition
190
∞Collapsing New Imaginaries
206
Bibliography
228

Acknowledgments
This text owes an immense debt, far beyond that which I
could ever hope to repay, to years of conversation and dialogue with
friends, comrades, and colleagues. At the end of the day, if its creation
and circulation (as well as further development in circulation) can
bring back to and replenish the commons and collective creativity
from which it has drawn so much, then it will have achieved its goal.
Having said that, there are individuals whose effort and time has been
absolutely indispensable in the process leading to the formation of this
solidified, and temporally stopped-in-motion text. Among those who
have been so kind and wonderful, and from whom I have learned a
great deal, are Franco ‘Bifo’ Berardi, Erika Biddle, Jack Z. Bratich,
Lindsay Caplan, George Caffentzis, Massimo De Angelis, Dave
Eden, Jim Fleming, David Graeber, Jamie Heckert, Nate Holdren,
Brian Holmes, Silvia Federici, Malav Kanuga, Darren ‘Deicide’
Kramer and everyone from Ever Reviled Records, Sophea Lerner,
Bernard Marszalek, Alan Moore, Rodrigo Nunes, Spencer Sunshine,
Saulius Uzpelkis, Kevin Van Meter and Team Colors, and Will
Weikart. Thanks to the wonderful folks from 16Beaver for the chance
to present and discuss this project as a whole. Many thanks to Peter
Case and Saul Newman for their timely interrogation. Drifting greet-
ings and appreciations to the London Micropolitics Research Group.
Cheers and solidarity to Cindy Milstein and everyone from the Insti-
tute for Anarchist Studies (who provided funding for the research
that was the initial basis of this project). Appreciation to the Asian
bourgeois for sending their children to UK universities and thus in-
advertently providing funding for autonomist social research. Special
thanks to all my comrades and colleagues from the University of
Leicester Centre for Philosophy and Political Economy (especially
Stephen Dunne and Eleni Karamali) and the Autonomist Front
Group at Queen Mary (particularly Arianna Bove, Emma Dowling,
Peter Fleming, Matteo Mandarini, and Angela Mitropoulos). Stefano
Harney and Martin Parker have been of immeasurable value for their
constant discussion, encouragement, and constructive prodding when
necessary. Much love to my family for being supportive of me, even
though they probably think most of this book is gobbledygook. I give
my thanks in all possible senses to Emma Chung, who has brought
more joy and wonder to my life than can possibly be contained within
the space of an acknowledgment. This book is dedicated to my sister
Becky Shukaitis (who did not stick around long enough to see it pub-
lished) and my grandmother Nancy Shukaitis, who taught me all I
needed about maintaining a balanced and joyous relationship with the
struggles of life and politics, under whatever name they may appear.
Imaginal
Machines