UNLOCK 27.1 Communicative Capitalism vs. Instagram Activism

Following up on my conversations with Ciarra Jones and Leftie Jane by working through Jodi Dean's concept of communicative capitalism and what it means for those of us doing antifascist political work online.

I start with Marx's distinction between use value and exchange value, using my late mother's hand-knit sweater. Dean's framework pivots on this split between use and exchange, and she ties it to the contradictions of networked media: the contribution trap, reflexive communication, the fantasy of participation, and the way followership mimics solidarity without producing it.

And... what about my own Instagram account, which has grown from 3,000 to 50,000 followers since January? I ask: what that growth actually means, what it conceals, and what ethical questions I need to keep asking myself to avoid becoming part of the infrastructure.

Sources

Bluesky: matthewremski.bsky.social
Instagram: @matthew_remski
YouTube: @antifascistdad
TikTok: [@antifascistdad]
Patreon: antifascistdadpodcast
Pre-order Antifascist Dad

Chapters

(00:00:08) - Communicative Capitalism vs Instagram Activism
(00:09:40) - Jody Dean's Communication Capitalism
(00:19:41) - Instagram's Cult of Growth

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