From David Harvey’s “Limits of Capital”
“Marx will, in this vein, make much of the idea that productivity in relation to human wants and needs is very different from productivity in relation to the creation of surplus value. And finally, only when we fully comprehend the social meaning and social purpose will we be able to understand why certain technologies are chosen rather than others; why certain mental conceptions of the world take precedence over others. It is the relation between the productive forces, social relations of production and mental conceptions of the world, all expressed within a single unique labor process, that counts in the end.” – (p. 102)
I’m pulling this excerpt because the pursuit and realization of creative ambitions (i.e., productivity in relation to human wants and needs) occurs within our contemporary culture industries (the base and superstructure, so to speak) and is facilitated and shaped by digital media technologies. As such, I’m interested in how the more romanticized conception of art and music is maintained within an industrial environment and culture that is counter to those conceptions — what forms do those conceptions take? What modifications/rationalizations are necessary for its sustainability? I need to argue how this particular era or epoch is critically distinct from previous eras because capital and technology are not unique characteristics of it – but these forces evolve, and culture with it.
(refer to The Spotify Takedown when it discusses created “mood” playlists and how our relationship to music becomes task-oriented, as well as Hemondhalgh and Meier’s “What the digitalisation of music tells us about capitalism, culture and the power of the information technology sector” (2018).
fragile ambition 