Invisible Imperialism. Capitalism and the Origins of Anthropocene

The text critically responds to Frederic Jameson's thesis that the current crisis of the imagination manifests in the fact that "it is easier to imagine an end to the world than an end to capitalism." Poblocki situates the claim in historical and theoretical context, especially the twentieth-century theories that describe the modus operandi and genesis of capitalism. Following Amitav Ghosh and others, Poblocki simultaneously indicates that the inability to imagine the reality of the climate catastrophe (and the importance of imperialism's heritage) is the true symptom of the current crisis of the imagination. Next, Poblocki shows how a different conceptualization of capitalism - one departing from the consensus developed in the second half of the twentieth century - allows for connecting the theories of capitalism and the Anthropocene to differently conceptualize the possibility of change.