Yanis Varoufakis is not only a political activist I greatly admire – he has also a superb command of the English language to which he owes not so much his time in the UK (and US) but rather to his Greek upbringing which taught him the use of myths to help the narrative along. Most of his books – even his textbooks – are a delight to read. But I struggled with his latest book “Techno-Feudalism – what killed capitalism?” (2023) and have gone back to it thanks only to the discussion Chris Hedges had with Varoufakis on Youtube recently.
Efgeny Morozov has been a critic of the internet’s effect on society for more than a decade, with his most famous book being To Save Everything, click here – the folly of technological solutionism which appeared in 2013
but if you want to get a sense of what lies behind the talk of “techno-feudalism” I strongly advise you to read Morozov’s amazing overview of the subject in a recent issue of New Left Review viz Critique of Techno-feudal Reason – an extensive article which put the use of the term in an historical context.
The French writer, Cedric Durand, published How Silican Valley unleashed Techno-feudalism in 2020 although it appeared in English only in 2024 and had this reply to Morozov’s article.
Other Reading/Viewing
The Digital Citizen L Ceccarini (2021)
The Rise of Technosocialism brett king and richard perry (2021)
The Coming of Neo-Feudalism – a warning to the middle class Joel Kotkin (2020)
Varoufakis - overthrow the tech tyrants! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8xSGzqdKC8
