What is accelerationism ?

Accelerationism is a radical school of thought, seeking to bring about a postcapitalist society. Accelerationists believe that this aim can be achieved by pushing capitalism past its limits, mainly through technological advances.

Contemporary accelerationists include Nick Srnicek and Alex Williams, who created their accelerationist manifesto in 2013. This publication generated a lot of attention and debate in political spheres. In 2015, Srnicek and Williams expanded their manifesto into a monograph entitled “Inventing the Future”.   

So what makes this new theory any different from other leftist philosophies?

Accelerationists believe that traditional left-wing parties are going down the wrong path, continuing to advocate increases to the welfare state. They say the economy is not able to sustain such a policy in the long term. Accelerationists also oppose the ideas of the degrowth movement, which is all about downscaling production and consumption. As the name suggests, accelerationism is about accelerating. Accelerating and going faster than capitalism, in order to overtake it.

The theory puts technological advances a t the heart of its political project. We’re talking about artificial intelligence which can limit pollution, robots enabling humans to reduce their time spent working and therefore become emancipated. Technology should therefore not be left in the hands of capitalists, but appropriated and used to increase social justice.

Accelerationists therefore don’t see new technologies as being inherently bad. Big data, algorithms and robots can all be adapted to create a new postcapitalist society.

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