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Commonwealth Paperback – 15 April 2011
by Michael Hardt (Author), Antonio Negri (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars (24)
When Empire appeared in 2000, it defined the political and economic challenges of the era of globalization and, thrillingly, found in them possibilities for new and more democratic forms of social organization. Now, with Commonwealth, Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri conclude the trilogy begun with Empire and continued in Multitude, proposing an ethics of freedom for living in our common world and articulating a possible constitution for our common wealth.
Drawing on scenarios from around the globe and elucidating the themes that unite them, Hardt and Negri focus on the logic of institutions and the models of governance adequate to our understanding of a global commonwealth. They argue for the idea of the "common" to replace the opposition of private and public and the politics predicated on that opposition. Ultimately, they articulate the theoretical bases for what they call "governing the revolution."
Though this book functions as an extension and a completion of a sustained line of Hardt and Negri's thought, it also stands alone and is entirely accessible to readers who are not familiar with the previous works. It is certain to appeal to, challenge, and enrich the thinking of anyone interested in questions of politics and globalization.
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Review
Commonwealth is a timely contribution to our understanding of contemporary capitalist relations and the potential revolutionary conditions they create...Together Hardt and Negri's work is considered to be responsible for a resurgence of interest in non-orthodox Marxism and its political manifestations. Commonwealth is the final part of a trilogy that began with Empire in 2000, a book that was published during the emergence of the alter-globalization movement. Multitude followed in 2004, developing the ideas that had been introduced in Empire, in particular the concept of the multitude as a new revolutionary subject. Commonwealth is a worthy addition to the trilogy, expamnding and clarifying on the understandings in the previous books, but perhaps more significantly grounding their analysis within an extended discussion of "the common."...Commonwealth is a book that challenges presuppositions about the utility of Marx, and introduces the possibility of combining his insights with the ideas of other significant authors such as Nietzsche, Foucault, Deleuze and Guattari, who are not traditionally associated with the radical communist project.--Bertie Russell and Andre Pusey "Red Pepper" (4/1/2010 12:00:00 AM)
Commonwealth [is] the latest book by Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, whose Empire and Multitude have, arguably, been the dominant works of political philosophy of the new century...[It's] the much-anticipated final volume of the Empire trilogy.-- "Artforum" (10/1/2009 12:00:00 AM)
Commonwealth, last and richest of the Empire trilogy, is a powerful and ambitious reappropriation of the whole tradition of political theory for the Left. Clarifying Foucault's ambiguous notion of biopower, deepening the authors' own proposal for the notion of multitude, it offers an exhilarating summa of the forms and possibilities of resistance today. It is a politically as well as an intellectually invigorating achievement.--Fredric Jameson, Duke University
Everyone seems to agree that our economic system is broken, yet the debate about alternatives remains oppressively narrow. Hardt and Negri explode this claustrophobic debate, taking readers to the deepest roots of our current crises and proposing radical, and deeply human, solutions. There has never been a better time for this book.--Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine
About the Author
Michael Hardt is Professor of Literature and Italian at Duke University.
Antonio Negri was an independent researcher and writer. He was formerly a Lecturer in Political Science at the University of Paris and a Professor of Political Science at the University of Padua.
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From other countriesRegardless of one's political views (myself a risk professional in the realm of global capital), Hardt and Negri's work is a remarkably vital, anticipatory and accurate analysis of the evolution of capital. For the more libertarian reader, I'd still strongly recommend the Empire, Multitude, Commonwealth "trilogy" given the significant accuracy of analysis the authors provide which is a necessary study regardless of ideology and advocacy. Capital is indeed becoming post-capital, infusing the cultural values brought forward through critical theory and postmodernism, and is increasingly anticipatory of poststructural thought. For those of us involved in the analysis and formation of corporate strategic thinking, these trends and their systemic ramifications are a necessary study.
I'd have to believe that a Fordist business person of the early 20th century would find the entire region of the humanities, critical theory, postmodernity, ethics, etc. to be a complete waste of time, yet as such, they would have complete difficulty in understanding our (post)modern workplace where differences are not only tolerated, but increasingly embraced given the intersubjective perceptual strength such multiplicities of difference bring toward product creation, marketing innovation, risk management, etc. From the perspective of Hardt and Negri's work, all three are necessary for the thoughtful, ethical professional (regardless of political or economic ideology) in the evaluation of the global system emerging.
Holger Voss
4.0 out of 5 stars Dyonisos als WeltenretterReviewed in Germany on 6 July 2012
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Nachdem "Empire" und "Multitude" ja nun schon Standardausdrücke der politischen Wissenschaft geworden sind, ist "Commonwealth" als dittes gemeinsames Werk von Hardt/Negri und offensichtlichem Abschluss der Trilogie fast schon eine Pflichtlektüre für jeden, der die Philosophie der Gegenwart verfolgt. Leider gibt die Diktion aber immer wieder Anlass zur Verärgerung, die inflationäre Einführung neuer Termini wie "Altermodernität" ist eher verwirrend als sinnstiftend, der ständige Rückgriff auf Spinoza - anscheinend ein Hobby von Antonio Negri - ist nicht wirklich ergiebig und die Selbstgewissheit der Autoren bisweilen ärgerlich. Absolut negativ aber ist die "postmoderne" Verweigerung gegenüber jeder Dialektik - auch für "Commonwealth" gilt das gleiche wie für die beiden vorherigen Bände: treffende Analyse, bisweilen verwirrende Terminologie, aber keine Synthese. Andererseits muss man zugestehen, das durch die neue Begrifflichkeit, die Hardt/Negri entwickeln, bisweilen luzide Einsichten möglich werden: Durch den Übergang von der industriellen zur "biopolitischen" Produktion kann der Mehrwert durch das Kapital nicht mehr im traditionellen Sinne abgeschöpft werden. Selbst Krieg ist kein Mittel der Herrschaft mehr, denn nach dem Scheitern des US-Unilaterismus in Irak und Afghanistan sind die Pläne der Neocons nicht mehr zu realisieren. Einzig die globale Fianzindustrie ist in der Lage, den Wert der biopolitischen Produktion zu absorbieren, In diesem Zusammenhang liefern dann die Seiten 326/327 einen glänzenden Ritt durch die Philosophiegeschichte, um eine alternative Vorstellung von Wert aufzuzeigen. Traurig nur, dass die letzten beiden Glieder dieser Reihe (Nietzsche-Deleuze)dann wieder das Dilemma des gesamten Konzepts sichtbar machen. Die Singularitäten, die die Multitude formen, müssen ihre
Identität ablegen - ein Trauma, das die Postmoderne von Anfang an begleitet, wird hier zur Richtschnur. Darüber hinaus wird auch noch - in alter, aber ungenannter anarchistischer Tradition - die Abschaffung von Familie, Unternehmen und Nationen gefordert. Der so zu schaffende neue Mensch
wird zum Ungeheuer - was Hardt/Negri freudig bejahen, um zum Abschluss des Werks und der Trilogie die alten Strukturen "mit Gelächter (zu) begraben". Die Lösung aller Weltprobleme ist demnach Nietzsches Dyonisos (leider ohne Zitat von oder Hinweis auf "Die Geburt der Tragödie aus dem Geist der Musik") als vorolympischer Widerpart des heiteren Apoll - der Mythos als unterirdisches Erbe der Postmoderne, dazu noch in seiner chtonischen Form, die schon die Nachtseite der Romantik bestimmte(cf. Manfred Frank, Der kommende Gott)ist wohl kaum als Wegweiser in eine bessere Zukunft geeignet - hier geht es zurück hinter Hegel und Kant zum deterministischen Weltbild Spinozas; ein Beleg mehr dafür, dass die Dialektik die einzige Möglichkeit ist, dem hier auflebenden Mythos zu entkommen, damit die im Werk Hardt/Negris immer wieder aufscheinende Utopie in ihr Recht gesetzt werden kann
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Translate review to English
The book by Hardt & Negri is excelent and I'm not going to go into its academic value per se -- enough has been said here as to how good it is. I would like however to comment on the REALLY POOR QUALITY of the Kindle edition: not only the notes have no link - making it impossible to access them while reading the text proper - but there are a number of hyphenated words (that were probably in the end of a line in the paper book), leading one to believe the editors merely converted the pdf archive to the ebook format, without any regard to a proper revision and to reading experience. It is by far one of the worst Kindle editions I've come across so far, but, nonetheless, it cost $12, while the paperback goes for $15 - and I can imagine it's much better edited. I have to say that, if I lived in the US, I would go for the paperback edition and would put up a fight every time I spent my hard earned money in such a scam. Lucky for Amazon and the editors, the book is so good all else becomes irrelevant...
George McDuffee
5.0 out of 5 stars Commonwealth book review (paperback)Reviewed in the United States on 30 April 2012
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Commonwealth Exceptionally insightful! I have all three of the Negri/Hardt books and all are excellent. This gives you an insight into what is happening and why on the macro/international socioeconomic level. It is high level reading, and and will be slow going for most people, but is well worth the effort. Hart has done an exceptional job of translating. Hart has several youtube interviews posted about Commonwealth. He is not as good a speaker as he is translator/writer, but these are also well worthwhile to watch after you have read the books. The _South of the Border_ by Oliver Stone dvd is a good companion to this showing how the new global commonwealth is being resisted in Latin America as the human cost is just too high.
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The authors at least tried to develop consistent theory relate to possible way, did not stop at interperetation of the world
Finished first chapter and it is hard going. The language is opaque and unnecessarily jargon laden. These authors do not really want to communicate rather demonstrate their erudition. The work entirely explains why sociology has lost ground to politics and economics as a discipline within which to understand the world. I will persist but only because I paid good money for it and other writers I do respect have cited the book...
This was in disgusting condition. Extremely water damaged and just dirty. I threw it away as soon I open it from the box.
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===
===
From other countriesRegardless of one's political views (myself a risk professional in the realm of global capital), Hardt and Negri's work is a remarkably vital, anticipatory and accurate analysis of the evolution of capital. For the more libertarian reader, I'd still strongly recommend the Empire, Multitude, Commonwealth "trilogy" given the significant accuracy of analysis the authors provide which is a necessary study regardless of ideology and advocacy. Capital is indeed becoming post-capital, infusing the cultural values brought forward through critical theory and postmodernism, and is increasingly anticipatory of poststructural thought. For those of us involved in the analysis and formation of corporate strategic thinking, these trends and their systemic ramifications are a necessary study.
I'd have to believe that a Fordist business person of the early 20th century would find the entire region of the humanities, critical theory, postmodernity, ethics, etc. to be a complete waste of time, yet as such, they would have complete difficulty in understanding our (post)modern workplace where differences are not only tolerated, but increasingly embraced given the intersubjective perceptual strength such multiplicities of difference bring toward product creation, marketing innovation, risk management, etc. From the perspective of Hardt and Negri's work, all three are necessary for the thoughtful, ethical professional (regardless of political or economic ideology) in the evaluation of the global system emerging.
Holger Voss
4.0 out of 5 stars Dyonisos als WeltenretterReviewed in Germany on 6 July 2012
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Nachdem "Empire" und "Multitude" ja nun schon Standardausdrücke der politischen Wissenschaft geworden sind, ist "Commonwealth" als dittes gemeinsames Werk von Hardt/Negri und offensichtlichem Abschluss der Trilogie fast schon eine Pflichtlektüre für jeden, der die Philosophie der Gegenwart verfolgt. Leider gibt die Diktion aber immer wieder Anlass zur Verärgerung, die inflationäre Einführung neuer Termini wie "Altermodernität" ist eher verwirrend als sinnstiftend, der ständige Rückgriff auf Spinoza - anscheinend ein Hobby von Antonio Negri - ist nicht wirklich ergiebig und die Selbstgewissheit der Autoren bisweilen ärgerlich. Absolut negativ aber ist die "postmoderne" Verweigerung gegenüber jeder Dialektik - auch für "Commonwealth" gilt das gleiche wie für die beiden vorherigen Bände: treffende Analyse, bisweilen verwirrende Terminologie, aber keine Synthese. Andererseits muss man zugestehen, das durch die neue Begrifflichkeit, die Hardt/Negri entwickeln, bisweilen luzide Einsichten möglich werden: Durch den Übergang von der industriellen zur "biopolitischen" Produktion kann der Mehrwert durch das Kapital nicht mehr im traditionellen Sinne abgeschöpft werden. Selbst Krieg ist kein Mittel der Herrschaft mehr, denn nach dem Scheitern des US-Unilaterismus in Irak und Afghanistan sind die Pläne der Neocons nicht mehr zu realisieren. Einzig die globale Fianzindustrie ist in der Lage, den Wert der biopolitischen Produktion zu absorbieren, In diesem Zusammenhang liefern dann die Seiten 326/327 einen glänzenden Ritt durch die Philosophiegeschichte, um eine alternative Vorstellung von Wert aufzuzeigen. Traurig nur, dass die letzten beiden Glieder dieser Reihe (Nietzsche-Deleuze)dann wieder das Dilemma des gesamten Konzepts sichtbar machen. Die Singularitäten, die die Multitude formen, müssen ihre
Identität ablegen - ein Trauma, das die Postmoderne von Anfang an begleitet, wird hier zur Richtschnur. Darüber hinaus wird auch noch - in alter, aber ungenannter anarchistischer Tradition - die Abschaffung von Familie, Unternehmen und Nationen gefordert. Der so zu schaffende neue Mensch
wird zum Ungeheuer - was Hardt/Negri freudig bejahen, um zum Abschluss des Werks und der Trilogie die alten Strukturen "mit Gelächter (zu) begraben". Die Lösung aller Weltprobleme ist demnach Nietzsches Dyonisos (leider ohne Zitat von oder Hinweis auf "Die Geburt der Tragödie aus dem Geist der Musik") als vorolympischer Widerpart des heiteren Apoll - der Mythos als unterirdisches Erbe der Postmoderne, dazu noch in seiner chtonischen Form, die schon die Nachtseite der Romantik bestimmte(cf. Manfred Frank, Der kommende Gott)ist wohl kaum als Wegweiser in eine bessere Zukunft geeignet - hier geht es zurück hinter Hegel und Kant zum deterministischen Weltbild Spinozas; ein Beleg mehr dafür, dass die Dialektik die einzige Möglichkeit ist, dem hier auflebenden Mythos zu entkommen, damit die im Werk Hardt/Negris immer wieder aufscheinende Utopie in ihr Recht gesetzt werden kann
One person found this helpfulReport
Translate review to English
The book by Hardt & Negri is excelent and I'm not going to go into its academic value per se -- enough has been said here as to how good it is. I would like however to comment on the REALLY POOR QUALITY of the Kindle edition: not only the notes have no link - making it impossible to access them while reading the text proper - but there are a number of hyphenated words (that were probably in the end of a line in the paper book), leading one to believe the editors merely converted the pdf archive to the ebook format, without any regard to a proper revision and to reading experience. It is by far one of the worst Kindle editions I've come across so far, but, nonetheless, it cost $12, while the paperback goes for $15 - and I can imagine it's much better edited. I have to say that, if I lived in the US, I would go for the paperback edition and would put up a fight every time I spent my hard earned money in such a scam. Lucky for Amazon and the editors, the book is so good all else becomes irrelevant...
George McDuffee
5.0 out of 5 stars Commonwealth book review (paperback)Reviewed in the United States on 30 April 2012
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Commonwealth Exceptionally insightful! I have all three of the Negri/Hardt books and all are excellent. This gives you an insight into what is happening and why on the macro/international socioeconomic level. It is high level reading, and and will be slow going for most people, but is well worth the effort. Hart has done an exceptional job of translating. Hart has several youtube interviews posted about Commonwealth. He is not as good a speaker as he is translator/writer, but these are also well worthwhile to watch after you have read the books. The _South of the Border_ by Oliver Stone dvd is a good companion to this showing how the new global commonwealth is being resisted in Latin America as the human cost is just too high.
Report
The authors at least tried to develop consistent theory relate to possible way, did not stop at interperetation of the world
Finished first chapter and it is hard going. The language is opaque and unnecessarily jargon laden. These authors do not really want to communicate rather demonstrate their erudition. The work entirely explains why sociology has lost ground to politics and economics as a discipline within which to understand the world. I will persist but only because I paid good money for it and other writers I do respect have cited the book...
This was in disgusting condition. Extremely water damaged and just dirty. I threw it away as soon I open it from the box.
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‹ See all details for Commonwealth
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