hyperpolitics (anton jäger)

Jäger’s lauded book is a plausible interpretation of the way in which political engagement has morphed over the course of the past century and more. It takes in the rise and fall of the unions, the rise (and fall?) of fascism, and the rise of 21st century micro movements, such as Brexit or Black Lives Matter, movements which appear in a kind of suspended animation, at a remove from established political discourse, yet provoking a commitment which the day-to-day of political engagement struggles to emulate. It’s perhaps his concluding pages which are the most disheartening. Removed from any kind of social cohesion, capitalism’s children are increasingly atomised, cut off from even the possibility of contemplating fixity or a  long-term vision. Jäger cites Houellebecq, Baudrillard and Ernaux in his analysis of a society fraying at the seams, desperate for some kind of anchor, reduced to following the platitudes of witch doctors, spin doctors or snake-oil salesmen.