Corona within Precarity Capitalism

in Context
October 2, 2020
online



Corona within Precarity Capitalism: Current Political Alternatives and the Role of Critique

Following the crisis of the health care systems and the social lockdown, the socio-economic consequences of the corona pandemic are now coming sharply to the surface. The crisis thereby encounters already existing social dynamics, problems and opportunities that condition which economic recovery will be possible and politically desired.

In her latest book Capitalism on Edge (Columbia University Press, 2020), Albena Azmanova has diagnosed the contemporary socio-economic constellation as ‘precarity capitalism’, arguing that generalized insecurity (precarity), rather than inequality, is the main social affliction of our times. This opens new avenues for emancipatory critique and radical politics.

With Albena Azmanova we discuss what the corona pandemic and its consequences mean in the framework of her analysis. What political alternatives exist currently with regard to socio-economic crisis management? What are the central contradictions and potentials for progressive social change within precarity capitalism – and how are these contradictions and potentials affected by corona? And what role should Critical Theory play in these times of important political choices and increasing social unrest?

 

Corona within Precarity Capitalism