Conor McCabe
@conormccabe.bsky.social
200 followers 56 following 150 posts
Lost & Early Writings James Connolly - https://bit.ly/4h7I2r5 Money (UCC Press) - https://www.kennys.ie/shop/money-11 Sins of the Father - https://www.kennys.ie/business-finance/sins-of-the-father-tracing-the-decisions-that-shaped-the-irish-economy
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conormccabe.bsky.social
The character count here forbids a deeper analysis (which is what is needed when we get into abstractions such as these) so I'll leave it at that, but essentially, the operational logic of capitalism demands the privatisation of what is a collective resource: money, and its operational procedure,
conormccabe.bsky.social
The underlying logic in a capitalist system is to allocate collective resources for the continued valorization of capital - and not for the nuture, growth and sustainability of those societies. It does this through violence on a global scale.
conormccabe.bsky.social
I'll go more into it this evening but a concept that's worth considering is that money is a claim on resources and labour. It is the conduit by which collective societal energy is moved around and allocated to certain activities (and not others).
conormccabe.bsky.social
I like this slide for today's workshop on money. It's a follow-on from a question raised at last week's session on what does it mean to say that currency is a commons? This is an idea that is put forward quite clearly (I believe) by Mary Mellor in her book, The Future of Money.
conormccabe.bsky.social
It is not a "marketplace of ideas." You cannot use a neoliberal process to design progressive responses. This is about understanding economic class relations. It is about power, policy and the carnival of reaction.
conormccabe.bsky.social
But the top part is tough. It is work. It takes time, energy, and a certain committed stubbornness.
conormccabe.bsky.social
They shape institutions, policy, politics, culture, and society in general - in ways that are not going to be expressed by the Irish Times or the CSO or by Ireland's standing army of middle class public "intellectuals."
conormccabe.bsky.social
Those abstractions are class relations - and those relations have deep institutional forms.

Not all class relations are the same - they vary in nuance, impetus, and institutional expression from state to state.

The mutated colonial forms in Ireland have a deep-rooted energy and existence.
conormccabe.bsky.social
So a radical political economy is needed to ensure that when it comes to the formulation of objectives, strategy and tactics, a clearer picture as possible in order to ensure that the strategy meets the objectives of radical and progressive change.
conormccabe.bsky.social
But here's the rub. The theoretical apparatus they use to analyse those abstractions - in the main - is designed to justify the already-existing social relations, or to facilitate the ongoing capitalist extraction of value and resources that is the organisational objective of those abstractions.
conormccabe.bsky.social
The top part is work. It's a pain in the arse because the readily-available analysis of those abstract social relations usually comes from bodies and organisations that have the funds and time to do that research.
conormccabe.bsky.social
The top part - understanding the abstract social relations that shape and inform this thing called Ireland - is necessary for the bottom part - ongoing research and analysis that is needed to feed into objectives, strategy, and tactics.
conormccabe.bsky.social
Working on slides for the money classes and this is the schema I carry in my head for the role of radical political economy in any movement for progressive change.
conormccabe.bsky.social
I have a letter in the latest issue of History Ireland that delves into the forgotten names of the men in the (now iconic) photo of the ISRP in the Phoenix Park in 1901.
conormccabe.bsky.social
I asked DeepSeek to summarise my book, Money, just to see what it would say, and apparently my core argument relates to what I call the "credit-shelter complex"? All news to me but I still found myself checking to see if I did write about it EVEN THOUGH I'M THE AUTHOR!
Reposted by Conor McCabe
ipsc.bsky.social
Book Launch: Refaat Alareer’s ‘If I Must Die: Poetry and Prose’ with Yousef M. Aljamal. 8th October, Irish Writers' Centre.
A new collection of poetry and prose from the late Palestinian poet and professor, Refaat Alareer launched by his close friend and editor Yousef M. Alajamal #FreePalestine
Reposted by Conor McCabe
iskrabooks.bsky.social
📘Announcement!📘

We're excited to announce the upcoming release of

For Land - Capital as Extinction
By @Prolekult.bsky.social

📅Free PDF, and print edition out Nov 14th.

An annotated and expanded version of the script of the essential documentary on land (mis)use in contemporary capitalism.