Uploaded February 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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What do we want communism to look like? Søren Mau discusses communist modes of production, Left utopian ideas, the transcendental power of capitalism, and his book, Mute Compulsion: A Marxist Theory of the Economic Power of Capital. He is interviewed by Richard Hames, audio producer at Novara Media.

Read his essay on the Verso blog, referenced in the interview: Communism is Freedom versobooks.com/blogs/news/communism-is-freedom?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=verso_video
Mute Compulsion: A Marxist Theory of the Economic Power of Capital is out now: versobooks.com/products/2759-mute-compulsion?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=verso_video

Søren Mau is a communist philosopher and postdoctoral researcher based in Copenhagen, Denmark. He is an editor of the journal Historical Materialism and a member of the board of the Danish Society for Marxist Studies.

00:00 Intro
01:38 Søren’s blog: Communism is Freedom
09:13 Capitalism isn’t natural
12:38 What is Mute Compulsion
18:38 Proletarianisation
21:36 Why Social Democracy/UBI isn’t enough
28:01 The Transcendental Power of Capitalism
32.24 Proletarianisation pt2
34:18 Why can’t I plant my own crops in the local park?
38:23 Capitalist food production
47:36 Does Capitalism undermine itself?
52:07 Søren’s next book - a Marxist theory of human nature