A Thousand Plateaus V, The State Apparatus and the War Machine, Lecture 12, 18 March 1980

<p><em>The Deleuze Seminars</em> is a collection of audio recordings, transcriptions, and English translations of, and supplemental materials from, the lectures French philosopher Gilles Deleuze gave during his career at the University of Paris 8.</p>

<p>Following publication of <em>Anti-Oedipus</em> in 1972, Deleuze continues to develop the proliferation of concepts that his collaboration with Guattari had yielded. As part of this process of expanding concepts in order to produce the sequel of <em>Capitalism & Schizophrenia</em>, <em>A Thousand Plateaus</em>, this series of 13 lectures on “The State Apparatus and War Machines” constitutes the major seminar of 1979-80 and Deleuze’s penultimate consideration of these concepts. Deleuze first considers material begun during the previous year’s seminar, material corresponding to plateaus 12 (1227: Treatise on Nomadology – The War Machine), 13 (7000 B.C.: Apparatus of Capture), and 14 (1440: The Smooth and the Striated). [The final consideration of these concepts will take place in the May-June 1980 two-session seminar on “Anti-Oedipus and Other Reflections”.</p>

<p>In session 12, 18 March 1980, based analysis of two of the four axiomatic criteria -- adjunction or withdrawal of axioms; saturation or limit of axioms --, Deleuze develops these with concrete examples regarding the assimilation of politics and the axiomatic. Referring to works by Robert Linhart and Samir Amin, he discusses contemporary Brazil at length (and several other countries) to illustrate these overlapping topics, particularly the immanent limit. Considering the third criterion, the axiomatic of politics or models of realization, he develops two notions, homogeneity and isomorphy in terms of modern States. Suggesting a second bipolarity (East-West), then a third (North-South), Deleuze distinguishes the “mode of production”, linked to the status of variable capital, from the “relation of production”, and then he develops a typology (and examples) of States in relation to capital: central States (wealth security in capital) in contrast to social-bureaucratic States (wealth security in the economic plan); Third World States in terms of their affinity regarding capital (to either of the two preceding models), outlining the characteristics for these peripheral States and the complex interrelations between States with higher development; zones of true periphery, possible “Fourth Worlds”, i.e., Third Worlds constituted in the center of old territories. He summarizes these points of the third criterion, particularly isomorphic relations between central States and more peripheral ones, with the axiomatic sustaining a certain polymorphy, distinct axiom layers and transfer of types of axioms from one point to another.</p>

<p>This dataset includes four files: an aggregate version of the audio recordings into a single mp3, the complete French transcription and English translation of the recorded lecture in odt format, and the original Web Deleuze French transcription. [WebDeleuze was founded by Richard Pinhas -- a student in Deleuze's seminars -- who, with the Deleuze family's support, developed transcripts and translations of many of the seminars.]</p>

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<p><em>Les Séminaires de Deleuze</em> sont une collection d'enregistrements audio, de transcriptions et de traductions en anglais et de documents complémentaires des conférences que le philosophe français Gilles Deleuze a donné lors de sa carrière à l'Université de Paris 8.</p>

<p>A la suite de la publication de <em>L’Anti-Œdipe</em> en 1972, Deleuze continue de développer la prolifération de concepts que sa collaboration avec Guattari avait fait naître. Dans le cadre de ce processus d’élargissement des concepts en vue de produire la suite de <em>Capitalisme et schizophrénie</em>, <em>Mille plateaux</em>, ce séminaire de 13 séance sur « L’appareil d’État et les machines de guerre » constitue le séminaire majeur de 1979-80 et l’avant-dernière réflexion de Deleuze sur ces concepts. La dernière réflexion aura lieu en mai-juin 1980, un mini-séminaire de deux séances sur « L’Anti-Œdipe et d’autres réflexions ».</p>

<p>Sur la base de l’analyse des quatre critères axiomatiques lors de la séance précédente, — adjonction ou retrait d’axiomes ; saturation ou limite des axiomes — Deleuze continue de les développer avec des exemples concrets. Il s’agit notamment d’une section du <em>Capital</em> de Marx (livre III) et des travaux de Robert Linhart, Samir Amin et James Burnham afin de parler du Brésil contemporain, ainsi que d’autres régions du monde, en termes des vicissitudes du capital, en particulier la production pour le capital par opposition à la production pour elle-même.</p>