Node Theory

7.81
Price in points: 10 points
SKU2072
In stock
 

Subtitled -- An Anarchist Analysis of Cybernetic Control Society, and Proposals to Resist it, this is an in-depth look at a variety of ways that society has become modeled on cybernetic thinking, what and how that is a problem, and some ways to respond.


If someone does not fit into a rigid system or receive signals as intended, the problem is assumed to be with the individual, not the system. If people are not producing measurable results on demand, the problem is assumed to be with the person, not with the system or the demand. The system is barely recognised as existing and (if recognised at all) is viewed as virtuous. It is generally impossible within node theory to blame the system for anything; blame always falls on individuals or micro-level groups. Node theory tends to disguise and downplay the social role of elites an the functioning of authoritarianism, which is often disguised as democratic, libertarian, or anarchic. People are increasingly unable, or unwilling, to call it what it is: an authoritarian system.

People who implement node theory as a totalitarian ideology generally conceal it, even from themselves. Dissenters are accused either of paranoia and hate, of idealism and reality-denying optimism, of undermining the common effort and failing the test of History, or of being a node actor themselves, with malicious intent (identity politicians, for example, typically assume that any opponent is motivated by unconscious or conscious racism, sexism, etc., and not by objections to node theory).