Una avanguardia culturale? Realismo capitalista e accelerazionismo di sinistra: concetti chiave e immaginazione sociologica

This paper examines the emergence of left-wing accelerationism as an alternative to neoliberal capitalism, analysing its theoretical roots and the central role of imagination in processes of social transformation. Drawing on Charles Wright Mills’ concept of sociological imagination and Mark Fisher’s notion of capitalist realism, the study explores how left-wing accelerationism seeks to transcend advanced capitalism through a critical engagement with technology. Left-wing accelerationism is approached as an evolving cultural sensibility, characterised by a plurality of perspectives and practices, which emerged forcefully during the Second Translocal Meeting of the Accelerationist Left held in Bologna in January 2024. It appears as a constellation of ideas ranging from continental philosophy to transhumanism, cyberpunk to magical esotericism, transfeminism to radical ecology. At its core lies imagination, understood as an emotional and affective practice capable of generating alternative visions to capitalist realism through creative dissent, hybrid practices, collective rituals, memetic languages, and speculative projects.