Three years after its publication, "Empire" has achieved the status of a pop classic. The book by Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri can look back on sales figures like no other radical book could in decades, and also has succeeded in circulating various slogans and labels. Its tone is quite academic for a bestseller, though. Whereas the general discussion and the reception in the feuileton has been largely positive, if not euphoric, the academic debate about "Empire" has been rathercritical.
The atention "Empire" has received can be told from the vast amount of reviews: Apparently no political journal could do without publishing a review. After three years, it seems about time to make an interim assessment of the debate. What are, apart from applause and enthusiasm, the most important critical points of critique having been brought forward against Hardt and Negri? The folowing survey presents some of the central theses of "Empire" and confronts them with critique of its reviewers.


The multitude of critique

"Empire": The nation state changes its function, sovereignty is increasingly transfered to a global empire, in which nation states are only parts.
Criticism: The decline of nation states, above al the US, is exaggerated (Henwood, Hirsch), the exposition of the emerging empire is not very precise (Wissel/Buckel). The phase of imperialism is not over, especialy considering the conduct of the USA after 9-11 (Brand, Brennan, Castronovo, Calinicos, Chingo, Jahnke, Petras, Post, Wark).

"Empire": Empire is a new phase of capitalism, which is characterised by postmodern ways of living, postfordist modes of production and the rule of control society.
Criticism: There is no new phase replacing an old one, but old ways of exploitation and domination continue to exist alongside new forms (Bensaid, Hauer, Lemke). The division of capitalist development in distinct phases and paradigms suggests a stability, order and inner cohesion within these paradigms, which downplays their contradictions and instability (Bonnet, Hauer, Holoway).
By caling out a new phase, the criticism of left movements of the past is cleverly circumvented: What happened then was right for its time, according to Empire. It is only today thateverything has changed, that old theories lose their relevance. This discursive strategy makes learning from the past impossible (Bernhard).

"Empire": There is no clear distinction between first and third world any longer, wealth and poverty can be found everywhere.
Criticism: There are stil drastic geographical diferences, capital ataches diferent importance to diferent areas. The global south is underanalysed in "Empire", it overgeneralises too much from conditions in the industrialised countries (Arighi, Boron, Calinicos, Chingo, Diefenbach, Ludmer, Moore, Mutman). In general, "Empire" underestimates the geograhical embeddednes of power (Kirsch).

"Empire": Empire folows a logic which can be derived from the US constitution (openness, ability to integrate the new).
Criticism: This paints a one-sided picture of the US constitution as wel as its use in practice (Panitch). In addition, this line of reasoning declares political-juridical theory instead of political economy or social forces the moving principle of real phenomena (Bamyeh, Beasley-Muray, Dyer, Hartmann, Jesop).

"Empire": The evolution of capitalism is driven by the resistance of the multitude, which forces capital to reorganise production over and over again.
Criticism: The emphasis on the conflict between labor and capital (or multitude and empire) neglects
competition between capitalists as an important driving force behind innovation and development
(Calinicos, Chingo, Coates, Kitsteiner, Panitch, Wolf). The sole emphasis on struggle denies the
existence of laws of movement of capitalism (Calinicos, Jahnke). Apart from that, the thesis is not
applied consistently on al historical phases in the book (Panitch).
The definition of the multitude is unclear and changes within the book (Rapp). With the shimmering
concept of "multitude" every detailed engagement with the composition, the contradictions, the origin
and the potential of resistance is neglected, the concept does not provide any criteria for a discussion and
assessment of movements (Bernhard, Panitch, Wildcat). The necessity of organisation and leadership for
the movement is downplayed, as wel as the potential beneficial role of the state (Bischof, Marchart,
Proyect).

"Empire": Multitude and Empire stand antagonisticaly against each another.
Criticism: Capital or rather Empire is not a subject, but a social relation(ship), in which al subjects are
interwoven (Hirsch). Therefore the multitude can not be a clean subject, which goes its way unpoluted
by dominant relationships. As can be seen in real life, not al resistance is emancipatory, but often
aspects of domination like wil to power, racism and sexism are to be found within oppositional
movements (Anne, Arighi, Dyer, Hauer, Lemke, Ricos). The restructuring of capitalism also produces
new divisions and hierarchies between working people. The succes of neoliberal ideology and
competition between individuals is underestimated (Coates). "Empire"avoids engagement with regard to
historical fascism as wel as with curent right wing populist movements (Benl, Bischof, Olma).
By constructing two neatly separated opposing blocks, "Empire" claims that power is something external
to people. This thesis is in contradiction to another argument in the book – namely that we live in an era
of "real subsumption", in which al areas of life are permeated by capitalism (Balakrishnan, Hauer,
Thoburn).

"Empire" goes so far as to argue that Empire is not more than a parasite which steals profit from the
productive multitude – an argument that approaches structural antisemitism (Benl, Hartmann, Kurz). In
general, "Empire" tends to employ simple dichotomies instead of analysing things in their ambivalence
(Lemke). Maybe potential for change can rather be found in circumstances and constelations which are typical for today as described by Hardt/Negri, than in certain subjects (Diefenbach).

"Empire": Civil society as an autonomous sphere has withered away, Empire and multitude are
positioned against each other without any mediation.
Criticism: Intermediaries are stil very important (Coates), struggles within institutions are important,
because they prepare the terain for more comprehensive and aggresive struggles (Brand).

"Empire": Immaterial labour is central to today's production process. Cooperation, one of its main
features, has liberating potential for self organisation.
Criticism: The importance of immaterial labour is overstated and is not statisticaly proved. "Empire"'s
argument relies too much on unchecked appropriation of management propaganda of the new economy
period, Negri/Hardt's own analysis of the information society is at times rather weak (Brennan, Galagher,
Hauer, Henwood, Panitch, Wildcat).
The concept of immaterial labour tries to subsume too many heterogeneous practices (Diefenbach, Dyer,
Levinson). The centrality of immaterial labour for today's capitalism does not necessarily imply its
centrality for resistance (Dyer). The thesis has an elitist touch,which downplays the role of the mases of material workers (Calinicos, Dörhöfer, Olma).
The question of the content of the producing multitude's creativity is not posed, the potential for self
organisation in communicative capabilities is overvalued, aspects of domination within communication are
neglected (Benl, Hauer, Jappe, Kurz, Thoburn, Wassmer).

"Empire": "Basic income for al" is a key demand of the multitude.
Criticism: On the one hand, "Empire" is cricital against groups defending the nation state against
globalisation. On the other hand, it propagates a basic income for al. Who should pay out this basic
income if not the state? (Henwood, Rapp)

"Empire": Capital shal acknowledge the reality of migration and its dependence on it by establishing a
form of world citizenship.
Criticism: Negri/Hardt try to justify the demands for a basic income and world citizenship with the
productivity of the multitude. This justification does not take the individual and her needs as its starting
point, but her usefulness for capital, which is reactionary thinking (Hauer, Kurz, Wissel/Buckel).
The cal for world citizenship neglects the fact that the ilegalisation of migrants is the precondition for
their extreme exploitability by capital. Celebrating the liberatory potential of migration overlooks a
number of things: its forced character in many cases (Anne, Raunig), that the majority of people is not
mobile (Mishra), and that the experience of migration does not lead to emancipatory thinking in many
cases (Jappe). The reality of the much appraised poor is barely analysed (Brennan).

"Empire": The distinction between production and reproduction is geting blured, afective labour
formerly ascribed to women is now a requirement for most jobs.
Criticism: Negri/Hardt idealise women's labour as egalitarian and community oriented, but they do not
provide an analysis of gender relationships and sexual division of labour (Schultz). The continuity resp.
the extension of unpaid reproductive work, which is mainly done by women, is ignored (Schultz).
Specifics of the everyday as basis or impediments to political activity remain unanalysed (Bernhard).

Optimistic and visionary language of "Empire"
Criticism: Instead of criticising power, "Empire" just reinterprets it and tries to atach optimistic potential
to it. But optimism is not appropriate and just leads to an apology of existing power relations (Brand,
Castronovo, Calinicos, Conert, Fülberth), because "Empire" proposes going with and going beyond the
existing society instead of rejecting it (Hartmann).
Too many metaphors, inaccuracies, exaggerations, religious overtones and theory
(and some of the theory engaged with in a misleading way, above al Foucault (Hartmann), not enough
political economy and empirics (Arighi, Balakrishnan, Benl, Brand, Burgio, Conert, Flood, Panitch,
Wissel/Buckel). Theories are employed by Hardt/Negri only selectively to justify their theses, not as
means of political analysis (Maniglier).


The five lines of critique

The first phase of debates about "Empire" is now more or less over – the central points of critique have
been made. Within the left, critics can be grouped into several categories:
First, there are those whose main dificulty is the style of the book. The manifesto character of "Empire",
its visionary wording and its sometimes rather free-wheeling use of citations stand in contrast to a view
of science which prefers acribic stock taking and critique of the state of the world as wel as authentic use
of classics, as wel as to a school of thought which locates itself in a minor and powerless position vis à
vis the the existing power relations. In contrast, the style of Hardt/Negri with its exaggerations and its
drawing of sketches is an atempt to consider scope of action within the struggles going on in the world
and to locate oneself as part of political movements and contribute to shaping them – a completely
diferent approach to theory.
A second group of critics raises empirical arguments against the theses put forward in "Empire", some of
them plausibly, some of them not quite.
A third line of critique is represented by competing schools of thought, whose arguments are dominated
by defenses against new interpretations of reality (other marxist schools, critics oriented on the party,
trade union and the state etc.). In the view of some of them, the very succes of "Empire" seems a sign
for its lack of quality and opportunism. The best of these critiques serve the useful function of marking
and highlighting the diferences between their and Hardt/Negri's approaches and thereby showing to the
unacustomed reader what is new in "Empire".
An interesting fourth group highlights internal contradictions within the book. No wonder that such an
ambitious work as "Empire" shows inconsistencies - sometimes they are also just ambivalences. To
highlight these sometimes looks like beancounting, but often provides valuable hints for further thinking.
Up to now a fifth strand is stil underdeveloped – one that takes insights from "Empire" for further
thought and applies the concepts developed therein on diferent areas, complements them and develops
them further.

How to proceed

A final judgement on "Empire" in the light of criticism goes beyond my abilities. But does "Empire" need to
be defended after all?
Partly the authors have answered their critics (above al in the special issue on "Empire" in the journal
"Rethinking Marxism" as wel as in countles interviews): The claim of the centrality of immaterial labour
does not refer to the number of immaterial jobs, but to its centrality in qualitative terms. "Empire" does
not claim the decline of the nation state, but its changing function. The thesis of the disolution of the
Third World does not imply the growing homogeneity of the world, but the claim that hierarchies are not
developing along national boundaries any more. And finaly: Yes, after 9-11 there has been an imperalist
backlash in the USA (the crisis which 9-11 implies for "Empire" can be told from a strange article that
Michael Hardt has published in The Guardian. There he cals on global elites to realise that a decentralised
Empire is a beter form of rule than an imperialist war. Funny, in a way.). Partly, the lines of thought
presented in "Empire" has found folowers in political movements and theory circles which now argue with
critics in diferent fora and contexts. On top of that, Hardt/Negri work on a sequel to their book – Empire,
part two. As it should be for a blockbuster.
But why should one expect from the two to present a complete and consistent explanation of the world
today, which convinces everybody? A lot is shaky in their theoretical building, like in al other theories –
that's the way it is in the busines of social theory.
Not every proposition in "Empire" has to be defended – but the principal approach and the central
impluses wel enough. Because "a theory is as good as the things one can do with them", Katja
Diefenbach reminds us citing Deleuze/Guatari, "and you can do a lot of things with "Empire"." The cal to
unrest, the constant search for ruptures and connections, the exploration of possibilities and proposition
of political projects in new constelations – these impulses are wel worth pursuing.
Now it remains to be seen whether the first phase of critique wil be folowed by a second phase of
productive engagement, further development and political efects of the "Empire" impulse. Such a
process can not be confined to books. Because the fundamental questions can only be answered by
political movements. Multitude, get moving!


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