Apocalypse now? – The Last Generation in digital capital’s affective ecology
-
Max Kramer
Funded by the Volkswagen Stiftung as part of the project „The Populism of the Precarious“
Abstract
This essay situates the protest actions of the German environmentalist group Die letzte Generation (LG) within an environmental critique of digital capitalism. It specifically examines the temporality of LG’s activism at the intersection of the affective ecology of digital capital and certain aspects of an apocalyptic imagination. I propose a Spinozist approach to the media environment in which LG operates that may open a path toward an immanent critique of LG’s publicity-oriented practices.
About the author
Funded by the Volkswagen Stiftung as part of the project „The Populism of the Precarious“
Research funding: Funded by the Volkswagen Foundation as part of the project “The Populism of the Precarious”
References
Adkins, B. (2009). True freedom. Lexington Books.10.5771/9780739139417Search in Google Scholar
Bazaz, Abir. 2023. Nund Rishi: Poetry and politics in medieval Kashmir. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/978100911881110.1017/9781009118811Search in Google Scholar
Bonasera, L. (2023). Die Zeit für Mut ist jetzt!: Wie uns ziviler Widerstand aus Krisen führt | Von der Mitgründerin der Letzten Generation [The time for courage is now!: How civil resistance leads us out of crises], 1st ed. S. Fischer.Search in Google Scholar
Boyer, P. (2008). The foreordained future: Apocalyptic thought in the Abrahamic religions.” The Hedgehog Review, 10(1), 60–76.Search in Google Scholar
Dean, J. (2010). Blog theory: Feedback and capture in the circuits of drive, 1st ed. Polity.Search in Google Scholar
Deutschlandfunk. (2023). “Letzte Generation”: Nervig oder ziviler Ungehorsam [Annoying or civil disobedience]? Deutschlandfunk. Retrieved November 13, 2023, from https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/letzte-generation-klima-proteste-aktivisten-100.html.Search in Google Scholar
Fielitz, M., & Marcks, H. (2020). Digitaler Faschismus: Die sozialen Medien als Motor des Rechtsextremismus, [Digital fascism: Social media as a motor of right-wing extremism], 1st ed. Duden.Search in Google Scholar
Grimm, J. (2022, November 3). Haben radikale Proteste einen Nutzen? [Do radical protests have any benefit?] Deutschlandfunk Nova. https://www.deutschlandfunknova.de/beitrag/proteste-von-klimaaktivisten-ob-sie-dem-anliegen-helfen.Search in Google Scholar
Jakob, C. (2023). Endzeit: Die neue Angst vor dem Weltuntergang und der Kampf um unsere Zukunft [End times: The new fear of the end of the world and the fight for our future]. 1st ed. Berlin: Ch. Links Verlag, 2023.Search in Google Scholar
Jung, T. (2024). Carla Hinrichs, Sprecherin Der “Letzten Generation” [Carla Hinrichs, speaker of the “Last Generation”]. Jung Und Naiv. Retrieved February 29, 2024, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HreMrg1MHGg.Search in Google Scholar
Morton, T. (2019). Being ecological. MIT Press.10.7551/mitpress/11638.001.0001Search in Google Scholar
Mühlhoff, R. (2018). Immersive Macht: Affekttheorie nach Spinoza und Foucault [Immersive power: Affect theory after Spinoza and Foucault]. Campus.Search in Google Scholar
Mühlhoff, R., Slaby, J., & Breljak, A. (2019). Affekt Macht Netz: Auf dem Weg zu einer Sozialtheorie der Digitalen Gesellschaft [Affect-power-networks: Towards a social theory of digital society]. Transcript. https://doi.org/10.5555/978383944439910.1515/9783839444399Search in Google Scholar
Nimmerfroh, M.-C. (2023, May 25). Die ‘Letzte Generation’ treffen die Razzien extrem hart [The ‘Last Generation’ are hit extremely hard by the raids]. Deutschlandfunk Nova. https://www.deutschlandfunknova.de/beitrag/sozialpsychologin-ueber-klimaaktivist-innen-die-letzte-generation-treffen-die-razzien-sehr-hart.Search in Google Scholar
Pfund, J. (2023, August 17). Aktivisten wie die Letzte Generation sind anstrengend, aber nötig [Activists like the Last Generation are exhausting but necessary]. Süddeutsche Zeitung. https://www.sueddeutsche.de/meinung/letzte-generation-klima-protest-blockaden-kommentar-1.6136973.Search in Google Scholar
Rucht, D. (2023). Die Letzte Generation [The Last Generation]. ipb working papers.Search in Google Scholar
Saar, M. (2013). Die Immanenz der Macht: Politische Theorie nach Spinoza [The immanence of power: Political theory after Spinoza]. Suhrkamp Verlag.Search in Google Scholar
Schaflechner, J., & Kramer, M. (2024). Tactics for becoming visible. Dialectical Anthropology, 48(1), 5–20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10624-024-09719-x10.1007/s10624-024-09719-xSearch in Google Scholar
Singelnstein, T, & Obens, H. (2023, June 6). A climate of repression in Germany. Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung. https://www.rosalux.de/en/news/id/50463/a-climate-of-repression.Search in Google Scholar
Stegemann, P. & Musyal., S. (2020). Die Rechte Mobilmachung [Translation]. Econ.Search in Google Scholar
Spinoza, B. (1996). Ethics (E. Curley, Trans.). Penguin Classics.Search in Google Scholar
Stiegler, B. (2019). The age of disruption: Technology and madness in computational capitalism, 1st ed. Polity.Search in Google Scholar
Taubes, J. (2004). The political theology of Paul (D. Hollander, Trans.). Stanford University Press.Search in Google Scholar
© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
