Empire (book)
Encyclopedia
Empire is a text written by post-Marxist
philosophers
Antonio Negri
and Michael Hardt
. The book, written in the mid-1990s, was published in 2000 and quickly sold beyond its expectations as an academic work.
, centered around individual nation-states, to an emergent postmodern construct created among ruling powers which the authors call Empire (the capital letter is distinguishing), with different forms of warfare:
Empire elaborates a variety of ideas surrounding constitutions, global war, and class. Hence, the Empire is constituted by a monarchy
(the United States
and the G8
, and international organizations such as NATO, the International Monetary Fund
or the World Trade Organization
), an oligarchy
(the multinational corporations and other nation-states) and a democracy (the various non-government organizations and the United Nations
). Part of the book's analysis deals with "imagin[ing] resistance", but "the point of Empire is that it, too, is "total" and that resistance to it can only take the form of negation - "the will to be against". The Empire is total, but economic inequality
persists, and as all identities are wiped out and replaced with a universal one, the identity of the poor persists
' description of Roman government, hence the denomination "Empire". Furthermore, the crisis is conceived as inherent to the Empire. Negri & Hardt are also heavily indebted to Michel Foucault
's analysis of biopolitics
and Gilles Deleuze
's philosophy. Before that book, Negri was best known for having written The Savage Anomaly (1981), a milestone book in Spinozism
studies which he wrote in prison. Empire is thus, unsurprisingly, also influenced by Spinoza.
The ideas first introduced in Empire (notably the concept of multitude
, taken from Spinoza) were further developed in the 2004 books Multitude: War and Democracy in the Age of Empire
and the 2009 book Commonwealth
, which were also written by Negri and Hardt.
in 2000 as a 478-page hardcover (ISBN 0-674-25121-0) and paperback (ISBN 0-674-00671-2).
Post-Marxism
Post-Marxism has two related, but different uses: the socio-economic circumstances of Eastern Europe, especially in the ex-soviet republics after the Soviet Union's end; and the extrapolations of the philosophers and social theorists basing their postulations upon Karl Marx's writings and Marxism...
philosophers
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
Antonio Negri
Antonio Negri
Antonio Negri is an Italian Marxist sociologist and political philosopher.Negri is best-known for his co-authorship of Empire, and secondarily for his work on Spinoza. Born in Padua, he became a political philosophy professor in his hometown university...
and Michael Hardt
Michael Hardt
Michael Hardt is an American literary theorist and political philosopher perhaps best known for Empire, written with Antonio Negri and published in 2000...
. The book, written in the mid-1990s, was published in 2000 and quickly sold beyond its expectations as an academic work.
Summary
In general, the book theorizes an ongoing transition from a "modern" phenomenon of imperialismImperialism
Imperialism, as defined by Dictionary of Human Geography, is "the creation and/or maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationships, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination." The imperialism of the last 500 years,...
, centered around individual nation-states, to an emergent postmodern construct created among ruling powers which the authors call Empire (the capital letter is distinguishing), with different forms of warfare:
...according to Hardt and Negri's Empire, the rise of Empire is the end of national conflict, the "enemy" now, whoever he is, can no longer be ideological or national. The enemy now must be understood as a kind of criminal, as someone who represents a threat not to a political system or a nation but to the law. This is the enemy as a terrorist....In the "new order that envelops the entire space of... civilization", where conflict between nations has been made irrelevant, the "enemy" is simultaneously "banalized" (reduced to an object of routine police repression) and absolutized (as the Enemy, an absolute threat to the ethical order").
Empire elaborates a variety of ideas surrounding constitutions, global war, and class. Hence, the Empire is constituted by a monarchy
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
(the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the G8
G8
The Group of Eight is a forum, created by France in 1975, for the governments of seven major economies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 1997, the group added Russia, thus becoming the G8...
, and international organizations such as NATO, the International Monetary Fund
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...
or the World Trade Organization
World Trade Organization
The World Trade Organization is an organization that intends to supervise and liberalize international trade. The organization officially commenced on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade , which commenced in 1948...
), an oligarchy
Oligarchy
Oligarchy is a form of power structure in which power effectively rests with an elite class distinguished by royalty, wealth, family ties, commercial, and/or military legitimacy...
(the multinational corporations and other nation-states) and a democracy (the various non-government organizations and the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
). Part of the book's analysis deals with "imagin
Economic inequality
Economic inequality comprises all disparities in the distribution of economic assets and income. The term typically refers to inequality among individuals and groups within a society, but can also refer to inequality among countries. The issue of economic inequality is related to the ideas of...
persists, and as all identities are wiped out and replaced with a universal one, the identity of the poor persists
Influences
This description of pyramidal levels is a replica of PolybiusPolybius
Polybius , Greek ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic Period noted for his work, The Histories, which covered the period of 220–146 BC in detail. The work describes in part the rise of the Roman Republic and its gradual domination over Greece...
' description of Roman government, hence the denomination "Empire". Furthermore, the crisis is conceived as inherent to the Empire. Negri & Hardt are also heavily indebted to Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault , born Paul-Michel Foucault , was a French philosopher, social theorist and historian of ideas...
's analysis of biopolitics
Biopolitics
The term "biopolitics" or "biopolitical" can refer to several different yet often compatible concepts.-Definitions:# In the work of Michel Foucault, the style of government that regulates populations through "biopower" .# In the works of Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, anti-capitalist insurrection...
and Gilles Deleuze
Gilles Deleuze
Gilles Deleuze , was a French philosopher who, from the early 1960s until his death, wrote influentially on philosophy, literature, film, and fine art. His most popular works were the two volumes of Capitalism and Schizophrenia: Anti-Oedipus and A Thousand Plateaus , both co-written with Félix...
's philosophy. Before that book, Negri was best known for having written The Savage Anomaly (1981), a milestone book in Spinozism
Spinozism
Spinozism is the monist philosophical system of Baruch Spinoza which defines "God" as a singular self-subsistent substance, and both matter and thought as attributes of such...
studies which he wrote in prison. Empire is thus, unsurprisingly, also influenced by Spinoza.
The ideas first introduced in Empire (notably the concept of multitude
Multitude
Multitude is a political term first used by Machiavelli and reiterated by Spinoza. Recently the term has returned to prominence because of its conceptualization as a new model of resistance against the global capitalist system as described by political theorists Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri in...
, taken from Spinoza) were further developed in the 2004 books Multitude: War and Democracy in the Age of Empire
Multitude: War and Democracy in the Age of Empire
Multitude: War and Democracy in the Age of Empire is a book written by Antonio Negri and Michael Hardt published in 2004. It is a sequel to the 2000 book, Empire.- Context :...
and the 2009 book Commonwealth
Commonwealth (book)
Commonwealth is a book by Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri. It completes a trilogy which includes Empire and Multitude: War and Democracy in the Age of Empire....
, which were also written by Negri and Hardt.
Reception
Empire has created important intellectual debates around its arguments. Many scholars have compared the evolution of the world order with Hardt and Negri's world image in Empire.Publishing History
Empire was published by Harvard University PressHarvard University Press
Harvard University Press is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. In 2005, it published 220 new titles. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. Its current director is William P...
in 2000 as a 478-page hardcover (ISBN 0-674-25121-0) and paperback (ISBN 0-674-00671-2).
External links
- Full text of Empire http://www.angelfire.com/cantina/negri/HAREMI_printable.pdf
- Full text of Empire http://libcom.org/files/Empire.pdf
- Have Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri Rewritten the Communist manifesto for the Twenty-First Century? by Slavoj ŽižekSlavoj ŽižekSlavoj Žižek is a Slovenian philosopher, critical theorist working in the traditions of Hegelianism, Marxism and Lacanian psychoanalysis. He has made contributions to political theory, film theory, and theoretical psychoanalysis....
- Blows Against the Empire? by Slavoj Žižek
- The Empire Strikes Back: On Hardt and Negri - A marxist critique of Empire by Maria Turchetto
- Barbarians: the disordered insurgence - An anarchist critique of Empire
- "The Empire does not exist: a critique of Toni Negri's ideas" by Pietro Di Nardo, in Naples, Italy, a Marxist critique of the book.
- Reviews of Hardt and Negri's Empire
- Mehmet Akif Okur, "Rethinking Empire After 9/11: Towards A New Ontological Image of World Order", Perceptions, Journal of International Affairs, Volume XII, Winter 2007, pp.61-93
- You can't build a new society with a Stanley knife Review by Malcolm Bull, London Review of Books
- Hardt & Negri's Empire by Gopal Balakrishnan, New Left Review