Rescuing the Left From Its Obsession With Culture — Vivek Chibber

Jen Pan interviews Vivek Chibber about his new book, The Class Matrix: Social Theory After the Cultural Turn. Chibber argues that to truly explain why workers do not always revolt, or even why they appear to “vote against their interests,” it is not necessary to point directly to “culture.” In fact, class structure in capitalism always tips the scales against collective worker action, allowing it to underwrite its own stability: it is much easier, and in many cases more rational, for workers to pursue individual as opposed to collective solutions. Culture plays a role in class formation, but a positive one: to sustain solidarity and provide conditions where collective action appears feasible. Find Chibber’s books here: Subscribe to the channel and hit the like button! Subscribe to Jacobin in print for just $10: