Foreword _ Joy Fisher
Introduction _ Alex Niven

1.
It's easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.
2.
You organized the protest and everyone participated.
What will happen?
3.
Capitalism and Reality
4.
reflective apathy, stability orientation, liberal communism
5.
October 6, 1979: "Don't settle anywhere."
6.
Everything Solid Disappears in Propaganda: Market Stalinism and Bureaucratic Counter-Production
7.
“If You Could See One Reality Overlapping Another”: Dreamwork and Capitalist Realism as Memory Disorder
8.
“There is no central exchange.”
9.
Marxist Super Nanny

supplement.
We Can't Afford to Be Realists: A Conversation with Mark Fisher and Jodi Dean
Review _ Tariq Goddard
Translator's Note for the First Edition

Capitalism is the only sustainable system
Today's dominant ideology: 'capitalist realism'

Capitalism cannot keep its promises
Criticizing the failed system and moving beyond resignation and cynicism
Let's build a new political subject

Through original cultural analysis, he presents the concept of capitalist realism.
Capturing the cracks that capitalism inevitably exposes

[2nd edition book introduction]

The second edition of Capitalist Realism, translated in 2018 and imprinted on Korean readers by critic Mark Fisher, was published.
The second edition of the original book, published in the UK in 2022, includes a "Foreword" by Zoe Fisher, Mark Fisher's wife; an "Introduction" by fellow critic Alex Niven; and an "Afterword" by novelist Tariq Goddard, who co-founded Zero Books and Repeater Books with Fisher.
These articles were translated and included in this second Korean edition, and the translation and design of the text were slightly revised.


The writings of those who have closely observed Fisher for a long time vividly convey how Capitalist Realism was initially conceived, what process it went through before it was published, in what historical context it was published, what reactions it provoked, and how much these individuals and the intellectual community lost with Fisher's death.
Through their reflections, we will be able to see the significance of Capitalist Realism in Mark Fisher's intellectual journey, and furthermore, why the book remains a representative manifesto analyzing the deepening discontents unique to the 21st century.


With the concept of 'capitalist realism', Fisher dissected the sense of cultural and political barrenness and exhaustion that has become much more prevalent in the 21st century.
Now capital not only absorbs alternatives and resistance, but also ‘pre-constructs’ our desires themselves.
Accordingly, a resignation has taken hold in society that “it is impossible to even imagine a coherent alternative” to capitalism.
Capitalism, which flexibilizes all areas at a relentless pace, privileges the present and the immediate, while extreme social and economic instability creates a culture overly preoccupied with nostalgia.
The question that encapsulates Fisher's problem awareness is as follows.
"How long can a culture last without new things? What happens when young people can no longer create surprises?"

Fisher's claim that capital has a complete control over our hopes and imaginations has also given him the image of a pessimist.
But if you reread the book, the point where capitalist realism fails and the effort to politicize it will become even more apparent.
The ecological disasters, mental health problems, and bureaucracy he has targeted as strategic strongholds have revealed even more serious side effects over the past decade, pushing us to a point where we can no longer tolerate them.
Furthermore, it is significant that Fisher's primary analytical field is education, as this is one of the areas that most clearly reveals signs of polarization, discrimination, confusion, and powerlessness today.
Capitalist Realism, based primarily on his experiences in the educational field during the New Labor Party's rule, is a product of a specific time and space, but the issues he emphasized remain fresh and sharp, without losing their relevance.

"Capitalist Realism" is a very concise book, but it is by no means light.
This is because the arguments in this book encapsulate the problem awareness that Fisher has accumulated over the past 20 years.
Since the publication of the Korean edition of "Capitalist Realism," we have been able to see the full scope of his work, allowing us to grasp the depth of meaning and history contained in each of his sentences.
What has become increasingly clear as Fisher's other works have been translated is that his appeal extends not only to the content but also to the sentence level.
Fisher not only identified the core problems of modern capitalism, but he also wrote in a way that made readers feel they were truly important.
In the short format of a blog, he wrote about issues he truly believed were important, and his writing had the power to make his readers share those beliefs.
He did not want to simplify things, but he did not belabor them either, and he wanted to be clear without diminishing the complexity.


In this way, he took seriously the belief that writing could influence events.
And this belief gave his writing a kind of authenticity and engagement.
Readers who reread Capitalist Realism alongside his other translated works will perceive this unique and powerful force more clearly.
For these reasons, Capitalist Realism will remain a text we return to again and again.

[First edition book introduction]

“We can continue to freely engage in capitalist exchange while (truly) believing that capitalism is bad.” Many of us have been outraged by oppression and exploitation, and have been trying to correct inequality and injustice.
Although the struggle against capital and power is still actively unfolding, there seems to be a dimension missing from these rebellions.
There is no visible hope that the system of capitalism itself can be overcome.

This is the situation that Mark Fisher focuses on in Capitalist Realism.
Because capitalism has encroached not only on people's lives but also on their horizons of thought, today we cannot even imagine what a post-capitalist society will look like, or if such a society will ever come.
Fisher captures the current state of affairs, in which it is impossible to even imagine that there might be an alternative, with the concept of 'capitalist realism.'
Analyzing capitalist realism, particularly from a cultural perspective, this book diagnoses the ideological environment in which capitalism has permeated our subconscious, delves into the cracks that capitalism inevitably reveals, and suggests the possibility of strategies that can lead those cracks to rupture.

Mark Fisher is one of the most prominent critics to have emerged from the British discursive landscape in the 21st century.
In the early 2000s, when young intellectuals and critics were networking and creating fresh discourse in the new space of blogs, Fisher's blog k-punk was at the center of this process, activating critical knowledge.
Fellow music critic Simon Reynolds once described Fisher's blog as "a one-man magazine better than most magazines in Britain" and the central hub of a "blogging constellation" where popular culture, music, film, politics and abstract theory were discussed side by side by journalists, philosophers, friends and colleagues.
Published in 2009, Capitalist Realism was Fisher's debut work and gained him the support of a younger generation in Britain during the student protests that intensified in the wake of the global financial crisis, placing him among the most important theorists of his time.


After Capitalist Realism, Fisher published two books, Ghosts of My Life: Writings on Depression, Hauntology, and Lost Futures and The Weird and the Eerie, before taking his own life suddenly in early 2017.
He suffered from depression for a long time, and mental health issues such as depression are also one of the central issues in Capitalist Realism.
Although his personal life may have been filled with anxiety and depression, Fisher was a critical intellectual who, with tireless passion, sensitively read the changing times and tried to revive hope for the future.


“It's easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.”
Today's capitalism has even eroded the imagination to dream of a different society.

When the financial crisis of 2007-2008 erupted, it was diagnosed as the greatest crisis of capitalism and neoliberalism since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Catastrophe seemed imminent, and countless people were demanding a solution.
Since then, neoliberalism has taken a serious hit, but strangely enough, capitalism itself seems to be alive and well, and perhaps even holding an even stronger hold on our imagination.
This is the ideological situation created by what Fisher calls 'capitalist realism'.
In today's world of capitalist realism, there is a pervasive sense that "capitalism is not only the only viable political and economic system, but that it is now impossible to even imagine a coherent alternative to it."
“It’s more like a pervasive atmosphere.
Capitalist realism conditions not only the production of culture, but also the regulation of labor and education, and furthermore acts as a kind of invisible barrier that constrains thought and action.”

Fisher doesn't romanticize the past.
Yet, in the past, there were 'political alternatives' to capitalism.
But now, the possibilities for such alternatives seem much more limited.
Capitalist realism not only oppresses people through exploitation and oppression, but also creates the 'belief' that capitalism is the only desirable system.
Even our desires are pre-configured by capital, and it is nearly impossible to imagine an outside world outside of it.
As a result, a culture that is “obsessed with nostalgia and incapable of producing any genuine novelty” has become the dominant trend of our time.
Of course, many social movements are still actively resisting the injustice of capitalism.
However, these movements, too, lack the prospect of overcoming capitalism, remain preoccupied with local activities, and, somewhat in a state of resignation, make demands that they themselves believe will not be accepted.

“If capitalist realism is so flawed, and the current forms of resistance so hopeless and impotent, how can real resistance be achieved?” This is the question Fisher poses, and his goal is to explore the possibility of cracking the grip of capitalist realism.
Therefore, this book seeks to reveal that “there is no such thing as realism in the superficial ‘realism’ of capitalism.”
In other words, it seeks to expose and criticize capitalism as a failed system that can never deliver on its promises, let alone the only sustainable social system.

Capitalist realism is
Why it is destined to fail

The field that Fisher mainly examines while criticizing capitalist realism is the field of 'education'.
According to him, the education sector has been a kind of laboratory where ‘neoliberal reforms’ have been tested in Britain, and “it is therefore the perfect place to begin an analysis of the effects of capitalist realism”.
Along with this, he presents the issues of ‘individualized mental health’ and ‘new bureaucracy’ as examples that clearly show the ‘failure’ of capitalist realism.

As neoliberalism replaced the previous welfare state model, the public sphere was privatized, the 'long-term' was eradicated, and entire spheres of society were subordinated to the imperatives of 'individualization' and 'flexibility'.
These changes put unbearable pressures on individuals, and as a reflection of this, the rate of people suffering from mental illness has risen dramatically.
“Rather than accepting the widespread personalization of stress that has occurred over the past 30 years, we need to ask:
How can we accept that so many people, especially so many young people, are sick?” The significant increase in the number of people suffering mentally is one clear sign that capitalism is not working, and Fisher argues that mental health issues, which are often attributed to individual responsibility or chemical problems, must be politically addressed.

On the other hand, in today's capitalist world, where labor is becoming more flexible and individual creativity is valued, bureaucracy is paradoxically also expanding.
Because measuring forms of labor that are difficult to quantify requires additional management and bureaucracy.
So, while capitalism cries out to "work smart," it also demands endless "showy" data that has nothing to do with actual performance.
Moreover, the expansion of bureaucracy creates a culture of evasion of responsibility, and accordingly, bureaucratic procedures become stubbornly resistant to any improvement or questioning.
This kind of 'new bureaucracy' and 'market Stalinism' not only function as obstacles that prevent the production of practically meaningful results, but also internalize surveillance among workers through frequent management and evaluation.


Education is an area where the problems of capitalist realism are clearly revealed.
Students are feeling lethargic and depressed.
Depression is usually characterized by a state of anhedonia, but today's students' depression consists of an inability to do anything other than pursue pleasure.
Furthermore, education that is focused solely on passing exams prevents students from pursuing meaningful goals and leads them to passively repeat and learn only the given process.
On the other hand, teachers are caught between the roles of facilitator and disciplinarian.
Furthermore, due to the performance-oriented bureaucracy, teachers are unable to consider practical teaching methods and are trapped in a maze of matrices where they must constantly evaluate not only their students but also themselves.
Just as it is easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism, improving this situation seems impossible.
“Such fatalism can be overcome only when a new (collective) political subject emerges.”

How to overcome resignation and cynicism
Will we intervene in the dominance of capitalist realism?

Fisher argues that today, more than ever before, when we appeal to 'individual responsibility', it is precisely at this time that we must place our bets on 'the most holistic structure'.
For example, in the case of waste disposal, it is assumed that 'all individuals' should recycle, but what is hidden is the fact that 'structures' do not recycle.
“When recycling becomes everyone’s responsibility, the structure naturally retreats into obscurity, shifting its responsibility to consumers.” The same holds true for environmental disasters, and therefore, structures must be addressed wherever social spheres are being devastated under capitalism.
And to respond to the dominance of capitalism and the crises it causes, a collective subject appropriate to it must be established.

Although neoliberalism has not been completely weakened since 2007-2008, its legitimacy has been significantly undermined.
But even if neoliberalism disappears, capitalist realism may continue to dominate in other ways.
“Without a coherent and credible alternative to capitalism, capitalist realism will continue to dominate the political and economic unconscious.”

Therefore, to revitalize the response to capitalist realism, it must be “based on the desires that neoliberalism created but failed to satisfy.”
One such example is the reduction of bureaucracy, a key example of neoliberal failure, and the need for struggles aimed at freeing workers from surveillance and empowering them to manage themselves.
We must also politicize the widespread mental health issues and target the real causes – capital – rather than the psychological factors of each individual.


From "Children of Men" and "WALL-E" to "Heat" and "The Bourne Identity"
A classic example of cultural analysis that finds elements of capitalist realism in various works.

Fisher, a cultural critic in a broad sense, analyzes the dominance of capitalist realism from various angles across film, music, and literature.
One of the book's main appeals is that it uses abstract philosophical theories to appropriately explain concrete realities, and persuasively interprets the main sentiments of modern capitalism through various cultural products.

For example, in the film Children of Men, the theme of 'infertility' is connected to the anxiety of today's culture that 'newness' may no longer be possible, and 'Wall-E', which at first glance seems to criticize the capitalism that is devastating the Earth, "performs our anti-capitalism on our behalf, so that we can continue to consume without a guilty conscience."
Additionally, the gangsters appearing in the 90s film "Heat" are interpreted as characters who embody the new flexibility of capitalism, in contrast to the mafia in films like "The Godfather" from the 70s.


What stands out most is Fisher's reflection on 'temporality'.
In this book, works such as "Memento," "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," and the Bourne series are presented as striking examples of postmodern temporality plagued by memory impairment.
According to him, in today's capitalist realist culture, time is counterproductive.
On the one hand, this culture privileges only the present and the immediate, while on the other hand it is constantly mired in nostalgia.


This cultural analysis of 'capitalist realism' primarily focuses on Britain, where Fisher lived.
However, these insights are not at all inadequate as a means of understanding our society.
Mental health issues are increasingly becoming a hot topic in Korea, too, and what Fisher calls "hedonistic depression" is gripping all generations, including young people.
Furthermore, bureaucratic administration based on performance measurement is at an even more serious level, and the problem of external surveillance and internalization of surveillance of workers is also in dire need of politicization.
Moreover, the analysis of a culture that is both overly preoccupied with retrospection and fixated on the immediate moment provides a compelling explanation for many phenomena in our society today.

As Fisher said about Britain, intervention in these matters in Korea is still minimal.
Capitalist Realism urges the politicization of areas where the cultural discontents of the 'present' are concentrated, arguing that only then can anti-capitalism unite people and achieve effective results.
“Even the most trivial incidents can puncture the gray curtain of reaction that has marked the horizon of possibility under capitalist realism.
“In a situation where nothing could happen, suddenly anything becomes possible again.” We too must begin to engage in our own critique of capitalist realism, and perhaps this book will inspire us to do so.