Empire (Theory)

Read for Network Imperialism and out of deep respect to Antonio Negri.

Bibliographic Deets

 * Negri, Antonio & Hardt, Michael 2000. Empire. Harvard University Press, Cambridge Mass.

Content

 * (Just enough to get going mind you, this is not yet exhaustive)


 * "In contrast to imperialism, Empire establishes no territorial center of power and does not rely on fixed boundaries or barriers. It is a decentered and deterritorializing apparatus of rule that progressively incorporates the entire global realm within its open, expanding frontiers. Empire manages hybrid identities, flexible hierarchies, and plural exchanges through modulating networks of command" (xii - xiii)


 * "Thomas Jefferson, the authors of the Federalist, and the other ideological founders of the United States were all inspired by the ancient imperial model; they believed they were creating on the other side of the Atlantic a new Empire with open, expanding frontiers, where power would be effectively distributed in networks." (xiv)

Network Power: U.S. Sovereignty

 * "The networks of agreements and associations, the channels of mediation and conflict resolution, and the coordination of the various dynamics of states are all institutionalized within Empire. We are experiencing a first phase of transformation of the global frontier into an open space of imperial sovereignty." (182)


 * "Empire can only be conceived as a universal republic, a network of powers and and counterpowers structured in a boundless and inclusive architecture. This imperial expansion has nothing to do with imperialism, nor with those state organisms designed for conquest, pillage, and genocide, colonization, and slavery. Against such imperialisms, Empire extends and consolidates the model of network power." (166-167)


 * Never mentions the internet or information technology in this chapter, but it seems very applicable.

Postmodernization

 * Chapter claims we are moving away from modernization and postmodernization to "informatization" (286)


 * "The computer and communication revolution of production has transformed laboring practices in such a way that they all tend toward the model of information and communication technologies. Interactive and cybernetic machines become a new prothesis integrated into our bodies and minds and a lens through which to redefine our bodies and minds themselves." (291)


 * "The anthropology of cyberspace is really a recognition of a new human condition" (291)


 * Work on computers and in age of "informatization" is "immaterial labor" (291)


 * "Production sites can thus be deterritorialized and tend toward a virtual existence, as coordinates in the communication network" (296)


 * "The information networks also release production from territorial constraints insofar as they tend to put the producer in direct contact with the consumer regardless of the distance between them." (296)


 * "virtual panopticon of network production" (297)


 * "Since it has no center and almost any portion can operate as an autonomous whole, the network can continue to function even when part of it has been destroyed. The same design element that ensures survival, the decentralization, is also makes control of the network so difficult." (299)


 * On page 300, he warns of the risks of new "unification"

Part of At Cambridge