Introduction

This introductory chapter gives an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The concept of social and cultural change that is put forward within it is inspired by a broad Hegelian idea of dialectical struggle and contradiction, but it is far from a study of Hegel and his philosophy. The book has emerged out of doctoral research begun in September 2010. It intends to build on Deleuze and Guattari's project by tracking the dynamic processes of desire through the development of anti-capitalism after the 1960s. It aims to demonstrate that anti-capitalist sentiments have been emerging as part of Western culture since the beginnings of Western capitalism in the Medieval period. The book argues that Deleuze and Guattari's and Hardt and Negri's philosophies of desiring struggle radicalise the liberal-humanist struggle for individual freedom or will-power, attempting to liberate the human organism – or the biological 'self' – from subordination to external power.