The Illusion of the New Social Contract ---- The new social contract is
an idea that has gained momentum in recent years, promoted byorganizations such as the World Economic Forum (WEF), the UN, and the
IMF. The premise is clear: the world has changed, and the economic and
labor structures that once offered stability have become obsolete.
Digitalization, the precarization of work, and the climate crisis have
dismantled the old social pact, demanding new rules that guarantee
security and opportunity in a context of uncertainty and accelerated
transformation.
The WEF argues that businesses must take a more active role in building
an inclusive economy, while the IMF proposes the need for a model that
combines flexibility with stability, allowing markets to adapt without
completely sacrificing social protection. In academia, authors such as
Otero Iglesias and Paula Oliver Llorente have analyzed how this
transformation should be applied in European contexts, seeking to
balance competitiveness and social cohesion.
However, behind this progressive narrative lies a more uncomfortable
reality: the new social contract is nothing more than an adjustment
within the neoliberal framework, designed to preserve power structures
under a guise of modernization and equity. It is a strategy to manage
social discontent without truly challenging the foundations of
capitalism in crisis. This is where we must analyze it from a
revolutionary perspective: not as progress, but as a mechanism of
containment that, far from emancipating the working classes, reinforces
their subservience to the logic of the market and technocracy.
Technocracy, the Far Right, and the Alienation of the Working Class
One of the most revealing aspects of the current technocratic drift is
its close relationship with the rise of the far right and the
consolidation of corporate power in the political sphere. A clear
example was the recent presidential inauguration of Donald Trump in
2025, where key figures from the technocratic elite were present,
consolidating the union between business interests and state power. The
rise of billionaires like Elon Musk into political decision-making
circles reinforces this dynamic: Musk, far from being just a visionary
entrepreneur, has openly supported far-right parties such as Alternative
for Germany (AfD), Reform UK, the Rassemblement National (RN) in France,
and Vox in Spain. His influence is not accidental, but part of a broader
framework where large fortunes finance reactionary projects with the aim
of consolidating a governance model where politics responds exclusively
to the interests of capital.
The roots of this trend are not new. Elon Musk's grandfather, Joshua N.
Haldeman , was a prominent member of Technocracy Incorporated , a
movement in the 1930s and 1940s that advocated replacing representative
democracy with a system of central planning run by experts and
technocrats. This vision essentially stripped the population of any
capacity for self-determination, delegating all decision-making to an
enlightened elite. Today, this idea is resurfacing in a new guise: the
fusion of corporate power and the state, promoted by figures like Musk,
Jeff Bezos, and Peter Thiel, who seek to restructure world politics
under an authoritarian model where technology acts as the new tool of
control and social exclusion.
In this context, The Thiel Network , Peter Thiel's influence network,
has played a key role in the spread of ultra-liberal and authoritarian
ideas within Silicon Valley and beyond. Through his investments in data
companies like Palantir and his funding of far-right figures, Thiel has
promoted a governance model based on mass surveillance and the outright
privatization of public services. His worldview, in which large
corporations should replace states in the provision of basic goods and
services, aligns with the resurgence of a digital technocracy that
increasingly marginalizes the popular will.
Another worrying phenomenon is the rise of Argentine President Javier
Milei , who has embraced ultra-liberal and anti-state rhetoric,
promoting the idea that the market should be the sole regulator of
social and economic life. His government, characterized by a
radicalization of neoliberalism, has dismantled essential public
services, eliminated labor regulations, and deepened social inequality
under the guise of "economic freedom." However, his discourse, far from
representing a true alternative, reinforces the narrative that the only
way out of the crisis is the total surrender of power to the markets,
delegitimizing any possibility of a collective politics of resistance
and transformation.
Adding to this phenomenon is the cultural battle raging online,
especially in spaces like the Red Pill movement , the Alt-Right , and
reactionary forums that capitalize on the discontent of young people and
men to distance them from the class struggle and political mobilization.
These communities promote an extreme nihilism that reinforces the idea
that the system is immutable, encouraging individualism and resignation
instead of collective organization. Within this framework, a false
dichotomy is established between Homo sapiens , a social and political
being, and Homo economicus , an atomized individual whose sole function
is to survive within the market without aspiring to structural change.
This ideological construction is key to understanding how neoliberalism
has managed to empty the class struggle of its meaning, replacing it
with a logic of individual competition and fictitious meritocracy. If
the system is immutable and change impossible, then the only option is
to adapt or be marginalized. In this context, politics is reduced to a
question of consumption and status, and any attempt at transformation is
dismissed as naive or dangerous.
This panorama raises an urgent question: how can we counter this
alienation and recover a sense of collective struggle? The answer lies
not only in rejecting these narratives, but in building real
alternatives that allow workers and new generations to recognize
themselves as subjects of change. This leads us directly to the next
point: the redefinition of class struggle in the 21st century and the
need to rebuild a revolutionary class consciousness capable of
confronting the collapse of capitalism and the consolidation of a
technocratic and authoritarian model.
The Influence of Technocracy in Politics
Technocracy, characterized by decision-making based on experts and
technical data, has gained ground in public policymaking. While
expertise is valuable, its dominance can marginalize democratic
participation and favor agendas that prioritize corporate interests over
collective well-being. This trend is manifested in the growing influence
of technocrats in international organizations and national governments,
where decisions are often made without broad citizen consultation.
The Fragmentation of Labor and the Crisis of Class Consciousness
The advancing digitalization of labor, the liberalization of key
sectors, the uberization of services, and the expansion of the freelance
model have profoundly transformed the structure of labor under
contemporary capitalism. These dynamics have dismantled the traditional
notion of the working class, eroding its organizational capacity and
weakening collective class consciousness. As Lucien van der Walt
analyzes in Black Flame , the class struggle in revolutionary anarchism
has never been static, but has had to adapt to economic transformations,
something that digital capitalism has been able to fully exploit to
dissolve working-class solidarity in favor of neoliberal individualism.
Work is no longer configured around factories or collective production
centers, but around platforms that individualize exploitation. Amazon
Mechanical Turk , Uber , Fiverr , and other platform economies have
turned workers into forced entrepreneurs, without stability or labor
rights. As Zoé Baker points out, this transformation has not only made
employment precarious but has also stripped workers of a collective
identity, fragmenting resistance. Added to this is the increasing ease
with which certain workers access high wages without owning the means of
production, reinforcing alienation and promoting meritocratic ideology.
This false social mobility serves to discourage revolutionary
organizing, fueling the idea that individual success is achievable
without a structural transformation of the system.
The disappearance of traditional workplaces has changed people's
relationship with the economy and politics. In an environment where job
security is the exception and individual competition the norm, trust in
the state and the market has collapsed. This feeling of vulnerability
has been exploited by neoliberalism and the far right, which channel
discontent into reactionary and authoritarian responses. As Erich Mühsam
pointed out in his writings on the Bavarian uprising, the fragmentation
of the working class is a deliberate strategy of capital to prevent its
organization and collective struggle. For Mühsam, revolutionary
self-organization was the only viable path to breaking with the
alienation imposed by capitalism.
At the urban level, the platformization of everyday life has turned
every aspect of existence into a commodity regulated by algorithms. The
growing dependence on apps to access essential services reinforces
social fragmentation and corporate control, alienating workers and
stripping them of a sense of shared struggle. As Gabriel Kuhn warns,
capitalist domination is reproduced not only in factories or state
legislation, but also in culture, daily habits, and technological
dependence-elements that have become key to the modernization of
neoliberal capitalism.
From Fragmentation to Revolutionary Organization
To counter this tendency, it is necessary to transform spaces of
alienation into pre-revolutionary spaces that accumulate the social
force necessary for a break with the bourgeois and capitalist order. As
Bakunin explained, revolutionary organization must emerge at the very
heart of the system, undermining its stability from within. It is not
enough to create islands of autonomy; it is necessary to transform them
into structures that destabilize the system and generate real
possibilities for insurrection.
One of the most urgent battlegrounds is the digital space. Resistance
cannot be limited to external criticism of digital platforms; it is
crucial to deploy digital sabotage tactics, such as manipulating
algorithms to undermine their efficiency, generating internal costs for
companies that exploit workers, and the mass dissemination of
information that exposes their mechanisms of exploitation. Direct action
in cyberspace, combined with organizing in the real world, is essential
to delegitimize and collapse the infrastructure of digital capitalism.
From within these platforms, workers can implement subversive
strategies that go beyond simple protest. Clandestine resistance
networks can form within tech companies to leak information, slow down
production processes, and undermine the system's efficiency from within.
As Anton Pannekoek argued, workers' control should not be limited to
self-management in factories, but should extend to all sectors where
exploitation is hidden under the promise of flexibility and autonomy.
Adapting the Class Struggle to Contemporary Reality
The fragmentation of labor and the dissolution of class identity have
forced a rethinking of revolutionary strategy. If class struggle was
previously expressed in factories and unions, today it faces an
atomization that has dissolved the notion of a working-class community
and incentivized competition within the working class. This dispersion
has led to the replacement of class antagonism with a logic of
individualized survival, where exploitation hides behind the discourse
of flexibility and entrepreneurship. As Zoé Baker warns, digital
capitalism has been able to appropriate the language of autonomy to
deactivate the possibility of collective organization.
To overcome this barrier, it is essential to build new forms of
organization that integrate the reality of the dispersed and precarious
working class around a common revolutionary project. Labor self-defense
cannot be limited to demanding rights within the system, but must aim to
build networks of mutual support that enable self-sufficiency and
collective resistance. This means developing decentralized structures of
solidarity that facilitate subsistence without depending on the
conditions imposed by capital. The idea of traditional unions must
transform into federations of platform workers, cooperative networks of
freelancers , and alternative economy organizations that, through a
horizontal approach, weaken capital's control over everyday life.
Digital sabotage, more than a tool of resistance, must become an
offensive weapon against capitalist accumulation. The manipulation of
algorithms to undermine the profitability of large platforms, the
destabilization of systems that facilitate exploitation, and the leaking
of key information to expose the logic of exploitation can act as
attrition tactics that push capital into an internal crisis. As Gabriel
Kuhn points out, the struggle cannot be limited to reacting to
exploitation, but must go on the offensive, destabilizing the mechanisms
of control and accumulation.
Furthermore, the cultural struggle is fundamental to rebuilding class
consciousness. While neoliberalism has promoted hyper-individualization,
it is necessary to counteract it with the production of discourses and
spaces that revalue cooperation and collective action. This entails
challenging society's common sense through the creation of radical
content on digital platforms, the construction of alternative media
outlets, and the development of narratives that dismantle the ideology
of individual success. Nathan Jun points out that culture is not only a
reflection of the economic structure, but a battlefield where the
subjective conditions for revolution can be generated.
Ultimately, the central challenge is to coordinate all these strategies
within a coherent revolutionary action. Adapting the class struggle to
contemporary reality should not be an exercise in reformism, but rather
a process of accumulating forces that leads to the destruction of
capitalism. To achieve this, it is necessary to integrate digital
struggle with direct action in the real world, combining sabotage,
self-management, and grassroots organizing in a strategy that, far from
seeking concessions within the system, directly aims at its collapse.
This strategic adaptation leads us to the next point: Strategies to
Overcome Limitations and Counteract Capitalist Influences , where
concrete tactics for articulating an effective revolutionary struggle in
the context of digital capitalism and the fragmentation of labor will be
deepened.
Strategies to Overcome Limitations and Counteract Capitalist Influences
To confront the fragmentation of the working class and the new forms of
exploitation in digital capitalism, it is essential to develop a
revolutionary strategy that not only erodes the power of the state and
capitalism, but also surpasses and renders them irrelevant. The struggle
must go beyond passive resistance or the simple self-management of
autonomous spaces, translating tactics into actions that pave the way
for a profound structural transformation of society.
However, this strategy cannot be reduced solely to the digital economy.
Each sector has a distinct composition and context, requiring tactics
adapted to its specific reality. Some sectors, such as industry and
construction, depend more on physical infrastructure and material
production, while others, such as services and technology, have been
highly digitalized. The key is to find ways to radicalize demands in
each space of struggle, utilizing a combination of direct action,
organizing, and political pressure to transform partial demands into
platforms for revolutionary transformation.
Below are a number of key tactics within this broader strategy:
Organization and Federation of Workers in the Digital Economy and Key
Sectors
Traditional unionism may be insufficient to address job insecurity in
the digital economy and other strategic sectors. It is necessary to
organize decentralized workers' federations that operate openly,
whenever circumstances permit, facilitating the coordination of digital
strikes, structural sabotage, and blockades of business infrastructure.
The creation of self-managed technology cooperatives is also essential
to reduce dependence on capital in highly digitalized sectors.
Analysis of Key Sectors in the Spanish Economy for the Revolutionary
Class Struggle
To effectively direct the class struggle toward a profound structural
transformation of society, it is crucial to identify the most
influential economic sectors in the Spanish economy. According to recent
data, the sectors with the greatest impact on Spain's Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) are:
Services: They represent approximately 74.6% of GDP, with key subsectors
such as tourism, which alone contributes 12.3% to GDP. The importance of
the services sector suggests that actions directed toward workers in
hospitality, commerce, and transportation can have a significant impact.
Organizations in this sector should focus on radicalizing workers'
demands. The most important subsectors are:
Commerce: Includes wholesale and retail activities, playing a crucial
role in the distribution of goods and services throughout the country.
Transport and warehousing: This sub-sector covers land, sea and air
transport, as well as warehousing and logistics activities, facilitating
the efficient movement of goods and people.
Hospitality and tourism: This includes accommodation, catering, and
leisure and entertainment activities, and is essential to the Spanish
economy due to the constant influx of tourists.
Industry: Contributes 17.4% to GDP. The technology, pharmaceutical, and
transportation industries stand out, having shown resilience and growth.
Working-class organization in these sectors can directly impact the
production and distribution of essential goods, combining strikes with
internal pressure tactics to force structural changes.
Construction: Contributes 5.4% to GDP. Given its importance in
infrastructure development, mobilization in this sector can influence
key projects and the economy as a whole. Here, taking ownership and
self-managing community projects can become a viable strategy.
Agriculture: Although it represents 2.6% of GDP, it is fundamental to
food sovereignty. Actions in this sector can highlight the capitalist
system's dependence on natural resources and basic production.
Strategies such as land occupation and agrarian self-management can
serve as platforms for struggle.
Digital Sabotage and Disruption of Key Infrastructures
Sabotage is a powerful tool in the class struggle. In the digital
context, this involves tactics accessible to any worker, from those in
key sectors to small, risk-free individual actions:
Collective action within critical infrastructure: Telecommunications
workers can slow down the resolution of problems in strategic data
networks; employees of large technology corporations can leak key
information about their labor policies or monopolistic practices.
Interference in digital platforms: E-commerce workers can manipulate
reviews or ratings to undermine the public image of exploitative
companies. Campaigns of fake product or service requests can also be
organized to overload management systems.
Coordinated boycott of digital tools: Workers can refuse to use certain
software or applications essential to data accumulation and corporate
control. This can be complemented by the development and promotion of
open-source and self-managed alternatives.
Disruption of corporate logistics: Employees in distribution and
transportation centers can slow down order processing, causing financial
losses without exposing themselves to direct retaliation.
These tactics don't require a clandestine infrastructure or advanced
technical knowledge, but rather effective organization and the ability
to act strategically within digital companies and platforms.
2. Reappropriation of Resources and Construction of Alternative Economies
Combating capitalism requires building parallel structures that can
replace it. Digital expropriation , understood as the redistribution of
resources through the release of proprietary software and the creation
of autonomous exchange platforms, is a concrete way to weaken the market
and strengthen self-management. At the same time, the consolidation of
solidarity economy networks , such as time banks and cooperative
production systems, makes it possible to reduce dependence on wage labor.
3. Propaganda and Cultural Counterpower
The ideological control of capital is reinforced through media
propaganda and cultural hegemony. To counter this, it is necessary to
generate alternative media outlets , from digital publications to
decentralized information networks that disseminate a revolutionary
vision of class struggle. Infiltrating cultural spaces and subverting
the capitalist narrative within digital platforms themselves are tactics
that must be combined with the production of radical content that
challenges established common sense.
4. Direct Action and Economic Blockades
In addition to digital sabotage, direct action in the physical world
remains indispensable. Blockades of key infrastructure , disruptions to
supply to large corporations, and occupations of productive spaces can
paralyze capitalist accumulation and generate economic crises that
precipitate the need for self-managed alternatives. These tactics must
be coordinated with mutual support networks to ensure resistance to
state repression.
5. Collective Self-Defense and Resistance to Repression
The state and capital will likely respond with violence to any attempt
at destabilization. Therefore, it is essential to develop collective
self-defense strategies, ranging from digital security protocols to
physical protection structures in organizational spaces. Cybersecurity
training and the ability to anonymize revolutionary communication are
essential to ensure the continuity of the struggle without leaks or mass
surveillance.
A New Articulation of the Class Struggle
The "New Social Contract" is nothing more than a strategy to manage the
crisis of capitalism without transforming it. Beneath the rhetoric of
digital inclusion and modernization lies a growing precarization and
fragmentation of the working class, reinforcing individual competition
and demobilizing collective action.
Technocracy has shifted politics toward the domain of corporations and
experts, which the far right has exploited to divert discontent into
identity-based conflicts. The digitalization and uberization of work
have weakened traditional forms of organization, eroding class
consciousness. However, this fragmentation can become an opportunity to
rebuild the revolutionary struggle.
To overcome capitalism, it is necessary to combine organization,
sabotage, and self-management. The organization of workers in key
sectors, the radicalization of their demands, and the recovery of
resources must be integrated into a strategy that aims not only at
resistance, but also at the creation of an anarcho-communist society.
The key question remains: how do we move from resistance to revolution?
The answer lies in the ability to articulate the struggle on multiple
fronts, with direct action and the construction of real alternatives.
Don Diego de la Vega, member of Liza , Anarchist Platform of Madrid
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https://regeneracionlibertaria.org/2025/10/08/el-nuevo-contrato-social-en-la-era-digital/
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