Living Through Capitalism

This book explores how capitalism uses and abuses life, and presents communities of life as a practical means of resistance. In particular, the book shows how capitalism exploits life's capacity for self-production across myriad species, enlists us in environmentally damaging behaviour, inflicts immense physical and mental suffering in unjust and avoidable ways, and undermines the ethical quality of life for all. The best chance to find meaning in this context, James A. Chamberlain argues, is resistance, and the affirmation of communities of life. The book proposes eight theses on communities of life, including: the orientation of communities of life to satisfy the needs of all beings that constitute them, and to the growth of life rather than economic growth; the abolition of private property in favour of various forms of shared ownership; post-work politics; and the need to recognize the interdependence of life to enact multi-species communities.

James A. Chamberlain is Associate Professor of Political Science at Mississippi State University. He is the author of Undoing Work, Rethinking Community: A Critique of the Social Function of Work (Cornell University Press, 2018) and co-editor, with Albena Azmanova, of Capitalism, Socialism, Democracy: Critical Debates (Springer, 2022). Also with Azmanova, he co-founded and co-edits the open access journal Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis. He has published several articles on borders, migration, and cosmopolitanism in journals such as Political Theory, Contemporary Political Theory, and Constellations.