The Acceleration of Inertia: The Political Economy of Speed
Date
2009-06-06
Authors
Glezos, Simon
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Pacific Centre for Technology and Culture
Abstract
This paper consists of a Deleuzian reading of Schumpeter’s account of technological innovation within capitalism. It describes the tension in Schumpeter between creative destruction (the drive to innovate), and what he calls restrictive practices (the drive to conserve and forestall change). In Deleuzian terms this becomes modeled in the tension between capitalism as a deterritorializing machine and an apparatus of capture. I then use this theoretical framework to investigate the digitization of information, noting how capitalism seeks to accelerate information processes to improve efficiency, but in doing so, runs the risk of losing control of that information (the rise of piracy, creative commons projects, consumer created content, remixing, etc.). It involves a discussion of the interplay of technological and legal restraints on information (DRM as well as Patents) to attempt to control access to information, and technological, social and legal attempts to circumvent them.
Description
Keywords
Gilles Deleuze, acceleration, political economy of speed, digital capitalism, information control, deterritorialization, Joseph Schumpeter
Citation
Glezos, Simon. "The Acceleration of Inertia: The Political Economy of Speed." Pacific Centre for Technology and Culture, Victoria, B.C. 6 June 2009. Presentation.