Mark Fisher's Capitalist Realism (Reading Group) [Durham, NC]
**This course is in-person only. There is no virtual component. Participants must be age 21+
Full Tuition: $220 — Sliding-scale tuition options are available in the drop-down enrollment menu for you to self-select. To pay in installments, choose PayPal at check out.
Instructor: Lindsey Andrews | Mondays March 10-24 | 7:00-9:00 PM | In-Person, 719 N Mangum St, Durham, NC
“It’s easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.” Mark Fisher’s 2009 treatise, Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative, begins with this famous claim attributed to Marxist scholar Fredric Jameson. Fisher argues that since 1989, “capitalism has successfully presented itself as the only realistic political-economic system–a situation that the bank crisis of 2008, far from ending, actually compounded.” Why is it so hard to imagine an alternative? Why do our lives seem inextricably determined by and beholden to an economic system that exacerbates inequality while stealing our time, work, and energy for someone else’s profit? The book analyzes the development and principal features of “capitalist realism” as a lived ideological framework. Using examples from politics, films, fiction, work, and education, it argues that capitalist realism colors all areas of contemporary experience. But it will also show that, because of a number of inconsistencies and glitches internal to the capitalist reality program, capitalism in fact is anything but realistic. Over the course of three weeks, we will read this short but dense and powerful 90-page work, unpacking why we’ve come to perceive life under capitalism as the only possible reality, and ask what we can do about it.
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This class will take place in person at Night School Bar in Durham. Night School requires that students refrain from attending in-person classes when sick. For more on our class policies, see our FAQ. Instructors will also follow this policy. If your instructor is sick, class may be moved to online for a session or rescheduled to the week following the final scheduled session at the instructor’s discretion.
Sliding Scale: Night School Bar pays instructors and staff a living wage. We ask that people who make above the living wage threshold for their area strongly consider choosing the full- or mid-level tuition tier in order to support our own living wage program. For Durham, NC, where we are located, the living wage threshold is $49,000 for an individual. All sliding-scale needs are self-assessed, and we will never request or require proof of need.
Scholarships: We are currently able to offer three full scholarships per class. Our full scholarship tier is a nonrefundable offering, limited to one per student per month.Because our scholarship funding is limited, selecting multiple full scholarships in a single month will result in disenrollment from all classes. If the scholarship tier you need is sold out please email us directly, and we will add you to a waitlist and notify you if additional scholarships become available. Please see our FAQ for more information, including installment plans and refund policy.
**This course is in-person only. There is no virtual component. Participants must be age 21+
Full Tuition: $220 — Sliding-scale tuition options are available in the drop-down enrollment menu for you to self-select. To pay in installments, choose PayPal at check out.
Instructor: Lindsey Andrews | Mondays March 10-24 | 7:00-9:00 PM | In-Person, 719 N Mangum St, Durham, NC
“It’s easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.” Mark Fisher’s 2009 treatise, Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative, begins with this famous claim attributed to Marxist scholar Fredric Jameson. Fisher argues that since 1989, “capitalism has successfully presented itself as the only realistic political-economic system–a situation that the bank crisis of 2008, far from ending, actually compounded.” Why is it so hard to imagine an alternative? Why do our lives seem inextricably determined by and beholden to an economic system that exacerbates inequality while stealing our time, work, and energy for someone else’s profit? The book analyzes the development and principal features of “capitalist realism” as a lived ideological framework. Using examples from politics, films, fiction, work, and education, it argues that capitalist realism colors all areas of contemporary experience. But it will also show that, because of a number of inconsistencies and glitches internal to the capitalist reality program, capitalism in fact is anything but realistic. Over the course of three weeks, we will read this short but dense and powerful 90-page work, unpacking why we’ve come to perceive life under capitalism as the only possible reality, and ask what we can do about it.
—
This class will take place in person at Night School Bar in Durham. Night School requires that students refrain from attending in-person classes when sick. For more on our class policies, see our FAQ. Instructors will also follow this policy. If your instructor is sick, class may be moved to online for a session or rescheduled to the week following the final scheduled session at the instructor’s discretion.
Sliding Scale: Night School Bar pays instructors and staff a living wage. We ask that people who make above the living wage threshold for their area strongly consider choosing the full- or mid-level tuition tier in order to support our own living wage program. For Durham, NC, where we are located, the living wage threshold is $49,000 for an individual. All sliding-scale needs are self-assessed, and we will never request or require proof of need.
Scholarships: We are currently able to offer three full scholarships per class. Our full scholarship tier is a nonrefundable offering, limited to one per student per month.Because our scholarship funding is limited, selecting multiple full scholarships in a single month will result in disenrollment from all classes. If the scholarship tier you need is sold out please email us directly, and we will add you to a waitlist and notify you if additional scholarships become available. Please see our FAQ for more information, including installment plans and refund policy.
**This course is in-person only. There is no virtual component. Participants must be age 21+
Full Tuition: $220 — Sliding-scale tuition options are available in the drop-down enrollment menu for you to self-select. To pay in installments, choose PayPal at check out.
Instructor: Lindsey Andrews | Mondays March 10-24 | 7:00-9:00 PM | In-Person, 719 N Mangum St, Durham, NC
“It’s easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.” Mark Fisher’s 2009 treatise, Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative, begins with this famous claim attributed to Marxist scholar Fredric Jameson. Fisher argues that since 1989, “capitalism has successfully presented itself as the only realistic political-economic system–a situation that the bank crisis of 2008, far from ending, actually compounded.” Why is it so hard to imagine an alternative? Why do our lives seem inextricably determined by and beholden to an economic system that exacerbates inequality while stealing our time, work, and energy for someone else’s profit? The book analyzes the development and principal features of “capitalist realism” as a lived ideological framework. Using examples from politics, films, fiction, work, and education, it argues that capitalist realism colors all areas of contemporary experience. But it will also show that, because of a number of inconsistencies and glitches internal to the capitalist reality program, capitalism in fact is anything but realistic. Over the course of three weeks, we will read this short but dense and powerful 90-page work, unpacking why we’ve come to perceive life under capitalism as the only possible reality, and ask what we can do about it.
—
This class will take place in person at Night School Bar in Durham. Night School requires that students refrain from attending in-person classes when sick. For more on our class policies, see our FAQ. Instructors will also follow this policy. If your instructor is sick, class may be moved to online for a session or rescheduled to the week following the final scheduled session at the instructor’s discretion.
Sliding Scale: Night School Bar pays instructors and staff a living wage. We ask that people who make above the living wage threshold for their area strongly consider choosing the full- or mid-level tuition tier in order to support our own living wage program. For Durham, NC, where we are located, the living wage threshold is $49,000 for an individual. All sliding-scale needs are self-assessed, and we will never request or require proof of need.
Scholarships: We are currently able to offer three full scholarships per class. Our full scholarship tier is a nonrefundable offering, limited to one per student per month.Because our scholarship funding is limited, selecting multiple full scholarships in a single month will result in disenrollment from all classes. If the scholarship tier you need is sold out please email us directly, and we will add you to a waitlist and notify you if additional scholarships become available. Please see our FAQ for more information, including installment plans and refund policy.