Multitudo vs. Gespenst: A Comparison of the Marxist Conceptions of Popular Power by Negri and Derrida

This article compares Antonio Negri’s and Jacques Derrida’s conceptions of popular power. First, I examine Negri’s reading of the Spinozist concept of multitudo and how it develops from his two conceptions of power: potentia as concrete power and potestas as authorized power. Then, I survey how the popular power of multitudo is organized or unified by sovereign power, the discontent within this unification due to potentia’s competitive nature, and the revolutionary possibilities it harbors. I will draw from Negri’s The Savage Anomaly (1991) and Multitude (Hardt and Negri 2004) to clarify these concepts. Next, I will examine Derrida’s conceptions of specter (Gespenst), spirit (Geist), and hauntology, challenging classical ontology and exploring conjuration as a principle for unifying popular power, along with its revolutionary potentials, as discussed in Specters of Marx (1994) and “Marx and Sons” (2008). Finally, I will compare these two conceptions of popular power by showing their juxtapositions and divergences through the examples of Romanism, Byzantinism, and autonomous Marxism. I ground this theoretical comparison in practical examples of the unification of popular power in Roman and Byzantine histories, as well as contemporary autonomous Marxist endeavors.