Historical Specificity and Immanent Critique: Postone's and Deleuze/Guattari's Theories of Capitalism

Abstract

The article presents a comparative analysis of the theories of capitalism of Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari's Anti-Oedipus and Moishe Postone's Time, Labor, and Social Domination. What Postone calls abstract domination is similar to the capitalist axiomatic of the French philosophers. These works introduce theories concerning the historical specificity of capitalism, which, at the same time, make possible an immanent critique of this particular social form. The authors of these works agree on highlighting the historically specific aspects of capitalism that make the latter different from other social forms. Likewise, they maintain a partially affirmative relation to this social form, in which contradictory historical emancipatory possibilities are developed. Therefore, the article draws a parallel (unexplored in the secondary sources) between Postone's idea of abstract social domination and Deleuze and Guattari's capitalist axiomatic. It also aims at showing that the three authors introduce a critique of capitalism, which is based on their own historical and social developments, and which work in an immanent way and not with abstract normative standards.