@conference {3283,
	title = {Accelerationism and the Fluidity of Finance},
	booktitle = {Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts},
	year = {2014},
	address = {Dallas, TX},
	abstract = {The concept of "accelerationism" has recently entered into critical thought as a rethinking of the development of capital. Accelerationism suggests that rather than trying to slow down or detourn capitalist processes, one should move to accelerate their development, thereby hastening the downfall of capitalism through the exploitation of capitalism{\textquoteright}s internal contradictions. While latent in the works of Marx and Engels, and supported by suggestive comments by Lyotard and Deleuze, theorists have now begun to think of accelerationism as a viable strategy. Much debate has explored exactly what an accelerationist program would look like, with some suggesting that certain forms of actually-existing capitalism, such as digital rights management and intellectual property regimes, ultimately arrest the forward motion of capitalism. While provocative, I will argue that accelerationism is fundamentally flawed due to the fluidity of capital, namely the fact that capital is always a socio-technical assemblage of humans and machines. As such, accelerationism will fail due to unpredictable events that occur in even the most carefully-designed system. Looking to the realm of finance, and especially the practices of high frequency trading, I will critique the teleological tendency that underlies accelerationist thought, showing instead that chaotic, fluid actions are at the heart of contemporary modes of technological development, and suggest instead that any accelerationist program needs to take into account these fluid activities of bodies and machines.},
	keywords = {accelerationism, finance, high-frequency trading, noise},
	author = {Nicholas A. Knouf}
}
