“No hay vida justa en lo falso”: la vida bajo el principio de la competencia y el antagonismo social en el capitalismo contemporáneo a través de la serie American Crime

Abstract

Capitalist societies imply intrinsically an impersonal, mediated and abstract form of domination –the rationality of capital accumulation, that implies class antagonism–. This form of domination, despite being socio-historical, imposes itself on individuals through their need to adapt to a social for their self-preservation. The heteronomy and social antagonism condition the form of existence of the living subject, subjected to impotence, competition and inequality. Thus, justice becomes impossible as an individual achievement. From this framework, this article approaches the television series in two ways. In the first part, the specific features of the relationship between the individual and society in neoliberal capitalism is analyzed, emphasizing the implications of the extension of the competitive imperative. Subsequently, the article tries to show how the series succeeds in illustrating the way in which concrete lives are affected by the capitalist social totality, specifically in its neoliberal determinations. The content of the series also serves to address the role of family and social class in relation to the competitive imperative under conditions of increasing social darwinism. Finally, the article attempts to examine the series as a cultural product on the basis of Th. W. Adorno's analysis of television and cinema.