Disentangling belonging from Oedipus and Capital
Deleuze and Guattari, in “Capitalism and Schizophrenia” (a body of work I am still very much new to, so take my analysis with a grain of salt,) aim to develop and present a critique of psychoanalysis, particularly the seeming immutability of the Oedipal complex, the ‘daddy-mommy, and me’ triangle.
They argue and exemplify brilliantly how the family is part of a vast process of becoming and social formations and, therefore, not where the analysis of our subconscious and drives should start and end.
Instead, they present what they call schizoanalysis, which sees the unconscious, the individual, the family, and society as deeply entangled multiplicities and, therefore, put forth the orientation not towards a cure that keeps us in the infinite loop of Odeipus but towards liberating Desire from the shackles of representation, the familial triangle and the social machine.
This is, of course, a massive oversimplification of their work, but it provides a great point of departure toward exploring how our sense of belonging, value, and emotional regulation, all of which are crucial for our mutual thriving, have become stuck in the endless loop of “Daddy-mommy and me” so we may start finding strategies for their liberation.
Recently, I’ve experienced a pretty intense relational transition that revealed to me co-dependency patterns I was completely blinded to. I realized and was able to pull back and reflect on how, without noticing and slowly but surely, my ability to access a sense of inherent worth, grounded belonging, and emotional regulation have all been almost entirely invested in one person, in one relationship and in seeking relational intimacy in general.
The Oedipal complex, the triangle loop of Daddy-mommy-me, has been extended far beyond the personal subconscious to capture the entirety of modern society and all of its structures.
In the spirit of schizoanalysis, I asked myself, “Who and what processes organized me to Desire this predicament? To outsource the fulfillment of these needs to a person?”
D&G explore, and this is where the name “Capitalism and Schizophrenia” comes from, how the Oedipal complex traverses and serves the goals and aims of Capital by capturing all of our desires, all revolutionary and creative impulses, and investing them in the family.
But the familial triangle here goes far beyond the biological Daddy and Mommy, which also play a part in this process and extends towards the way humans do intimacy and interpersonal relationships as a whole under Capitalism.
Our sense of belonging, which was once bound to the very earth we emerged from, is now starting and ending with relational validation. Whether it’s from the biological family, as the end all be all of our existence, intimate romantic partners, people in general, or identifying with nationalism and the state.
Our readily available access to emotional regulation used to be integral to existing within social codes that emerged from the earth, and the biosphere we are entangled with is now directed, invested, and expected from a parent, a partner as a parent, or sky daddy as a parent or the state as a parent.
Our inherent sense of worth that used to simply and naturally emanate from being a creature among creatures in an ecosphere of aliveness is now attached and associated with what we do for others, accomplishments, and markers of success, all validated by the premises of capital.
This Oedipalization of our aliveness is, of course, part of an overall worldview and the premises of anthropomorphism, a human-centric way of being and thinking that is detached from primary satysfactors and the inherent connection to earth and her cycles.
Instead of this inseparable earthly existential context, we have a simulation, an image of an image of the father and the mother as the ultimate orientation of intimate connections and creative energy.
It’s a brilliant process of capital; I’ll give it that. In the same movement, robbing us of our real inherent connection while maintaining a perception of ultimate freedom. Silumultanously liberating our desire from social codes and plugging it towards capital.
Previous social machines had hard embedded codes. You are who and what and where you are born, and that is it. Your placement and function in the tribe are inscribed on your body with tattoos, rituals, and rites of passage. Your value, belonging, and emotional regulation are all part of the social machine and the context of your existence.
In Capital, on the other hand, you are liberated of all of these codes: “Be all you can be,” “chase your dreams,” live life to the fullest, and” date whomever you desire whenever you desire. if you want it, it must be pursued.” “you are the main actor and the creator of your own reality”
Of course, this sense of freedom is illusory. Only free as long as you stay inside the Oedipal triangle, as long as you desire that which serves Capital.
Out with being earthbound, in with infinite growth, colonizing Mars! Maybe with enough money and power and the right partner, I will finally belong! finally, be free! finally, be valuable!
As long as Daddy approves. Whoever that daddy happened to be at a given moment: God, the boss, the company, the nation, an intimate partner…
Capitalism doesn’t “do” anything or “is” anything. Like any social machine, Capitalism is made of all the collective energies of its parts, of bodies, partial objects, machines, and and conscious and unconscious forces that are plugged into each other.
I think that what D&G is pointing us towards, and again, I am a total newbie to their work and might project my existing worldview on them to a degree, is that we need a vision, a remembrance of a capacity to imagine outside of the self-replicating, triangular logics and premises of Capital.
A post-human access to Desire, to creative and revolutionary forces that traverse bodies, organs, and social formations in deeply interconnected, entangled ecological relationality
And perhaps a good start is right here: decentering the human as the beginning, end and sole source of our belonging, value and emotional thriving.
We belong to this earth, right here and right now.
Our value is inherent simply because “we” are but functions in an intricate biosphere.
Access to emotional regulation and thriving is always available all around us, far beyond human relations, in the creatures, animals, fungi, and soil.
This is not about negation. Neither the negation of Oedipus, the family, nor the human. By all means, have relationships, do work, and be part of a social machine. Perhaps consider and start exploring how to be part of and also go beyond and sideways.
How to relate without forgetting belonging, how to do work without it being captured in the ambiguous value of Capital, and how to emotionally regulate with all that is around us and that which we belong to.
A post-human intimacy in an animated world.
