Refeudalization

The spectre of refeudalization has hovered over contemporary societies for decades. Throughout the postwar period, it has circulated in the margins of both liberalism and Marxism, signaling a danger that mainstream culture has stubbornly ignored. The risk is that public authority may merge with the most powerful private interests, reviving the extreme inequalities, despotism, and privileges that modern civilization believed it had left behind when it destroyed the feudal regime.Today, on the brink of an unprecedented global crisis of institutions, the prospect of refeudalization appears less as a vague threat and more as an unfolding reality. Wealth and power are being concentrated in very few hands, and their symbiosis is hollowing out democracy, the market, and the rule of law. The institutional order as a whole is becoming a tool in the hands of the strongest and most organized private interests. As refeudalizaton advances, the circulation of money and power overlap and merge to the point where the dominance of private interests and public authority become indistinguishable.  The consequence is a widening of the gap between the top and the bottom of society, as those at the top use their growing power to accumulate even more while those at the bottom are left with little choice but voluntary servitude in exchange for benefits that are more apparent than real. Relationships based on equality give way to those founded on vassalage.Massimo De Carolis explores the various aspects of this transformation, tracing its deepest roots to the heart of Western modernization. Sooner or later, it seems likely that the system will break down, and at that point the straightforward defence of privilege will have to give some room to caring for the world as a whole. This will not be without its costs, but the sooner we recognise that this is necessary, the lower the cost will be.