Reposted by Max Haivenupstream @upstreampodcast.bsky.social · 06/10/2026NEW EP @maxhaiven.bsky.social joins us for a conversation on how the gamification of US society has led to a new form of 21st-century fascism that has transformed us all into players in an exhausting and unwinnable game 065
Max Haiven @maxhaiven.bsky.social · 04/10/2026The book, "The Player and the Played: From Gamed Capitalism to Twenty-First Century Fascism," is now available for free from MIT Press. direct.mit.edu/books/oa-mon... 074
Max Haiven @maxhaiven.bsky.social · 04/10/2026Meanwhile hucksters, scam artists, and grifters promise to sell us the "cheat codes" to win. 131
Max Haiven @maxhaiven.bsky.social · 04/10/2026Migrants who are said to be cheating the border; Benefits and welfare claimants who are cheating society of its wealth; Environmentalists who are cheating the nation of its prosperity; Women and minorities who are cheating men out of their entitlements and gaming the capitalist meritocracy... etc 121
Max Haiven @maxhaiven.bsky.social · 04/10/2026Fascist ideologues and politicians harness and harvest our anger: the cheated player, as the archetype of our age, can be easily convinced to redirect its vitriol downward on socioeconomic and racial hierarchies towards what I call "cheating others"... 122
Max Haiven @maxhaiven.bsky.social · 04/10/2026But if we are all players now, most of us play to lose. The system is obviously and irredeemably rigged against us in a million small and large ways. The very platforms we use to compete are like casinos: the house always wins. 132
Max Haiven @maxhaiven.bsky.social · 04/10/2026Hence our attraction to cinematic spectacles like The Hunger Games or Squid Game, which represent sympathetic characters caught up in an unwinnable and unescapable game. 131
Max Haiven @maxhaiven.bsky.social · 04/10/2026Think of the way that education, housing, dating, or fitness have all been recast as personal investments for future payoff. Everyone's got to hustle these days. Become an influencer; Become an entrepreneur; Flip houses; Invest in crypto; Snag a husband; Drive Uber; rent a room on AirBNB... 175
Max Haiven @maxhaiven.bsky.social · 04/10/2026THE CHEATED PLAYER: The core of the argument in my new book is fairly simple. Over the last 50 years of neoliberal financialized capitalism, individuals have been tasked with recasting ourselves as competitive speculative players, striving to make the most judicious investments in a merciless game. 2227
Reposted by Max Haivenupstream @upstreampodcast.bsky.social · 01/10/2026NEXT WEEK: gamified capitalism and 21st century fascism w/ @maxhaiven.bsky.social 083
Reposted by Max HaivenBSA Activism, Social Movements and Revolutions Study Group @bsa-asmr.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Billionaires & Guillotines Game Night with Max Haiven Join us to play Billionaires & Guillotines with the designer of the game, @maxhaiven.bsky.social! 21 Oct, Pelican House. Doors open at 6pm, game starts at 6:30pm. Free & open to all. Places are limited, please register: tinyurl.com/24m74w8etinyurl.comGame Night! Billionaires and Guillotines with Max Haiven 044
Reposted by Max Haivenkersplebedeb.bsky.social @kersplebedeb.bsky.social · 20/07/2026Billionaires & Guillotines: A Game leftwingbooks.net/products/billionaires-guillotines 2-5 players take on the roles of rival plutocrats, competing tooth and nail to accumulate the wealth of the world before their actions trigger a revolution. 022
Max Haiven @maxhaiven.bsky.social · 29/09/2026An incredible privilege and joy to edit the Vagabond series for @plutopress.bsky.social since 2020. Like the itinerant souls after whom the series is named, each book is a sweet tempestuous experiment in freedom. All are right now on sale until September 30th. www.plutobooks.com/product-cate... 042
Max Haiven @maxhaiven.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Listen here newbooksnetwork.com/the-player-a...newbooksnetwork.comThe Player and the Played: From Gamed Capitalism to 21st-Century Fascism with Max Haiven (MIT Press, 2026) - New Books Network 002
Max Haiven @maxhaiven.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Fascism is back and it's fun. The cheated players of gamed capitalism want revenge. The antifascist game is about more than slaying Nazis. It's a podcast interview with the @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social about my book The Player and the Played (now available open-access from @mitpress.bsky.social ) 2164
Max Haiven @maxhaiven.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Tomorrow I will be presenting my book "The player and the played: from game capitalism to 21st-century fascism" at my university. Even if, for some mysterious reason, you don't happen to be in Thunder Bay, Ontario, you can tune in online. 1pm EST. tinyurl.com/lu-played 142
Max Haiven @maxhaiven.bsky.social · 23/09/2026But the largest direct theft of labour in modern history is obviously the transatlantic slave trade. Millions died. Civilizations were erased. The consequences remain deadly. It shaped our world, including the very ideas of labour and intelligence and freedom at play in these questions around AI. 041
Max Haiven @maxhaiven.bsky.social · 22/09/2026"Cheating and the fascistic public pedagogy of gamed capitalism: Pyramid schemes, sexist advice, misogynist scams and the perfect perfect bastard" published in the Review of Education, Pedagogy and Cultural Studies - doi.org/10.1080/1071... (I can send you a PDF) 042
Max Haiven @maxhaiven.bsky.social · 21/09/2026This morning I gave a characteristically dire online talk about fascism. Then, depressed by the lake, I saw crows and seagulls (who usually hate each other) flock together to repel a huge hawk. And I saw a clumsy toddler plant a sapling in the stump of a storm-felled tree. And for just a moment... 061
Reposted by Max HaivenAdrian Hon @adrianhon.bsky.social · 17/09/2026Check out @maxhaiven.bsky.social's new book! "A provocative examination of the ways our economy has been rigged by financialization and the importance of games to our dangerous political moment ... it poses the urgent question: What is the antifascist game?" Out now in *open access*!mitpress.mit.eduThe Player and the PlayedIn an age when capitalism feels like an unwinnable game, extreme reactionary ideas and politics are on the rise. The Hunger Games, Game of Thrones, Squid Gam... 171
Reposted by Max HaivenMIT Press @mitpress.bsky.social · 15/09/2026In "The Player and the Played," @maxhaiven.bsky.social theorizes the connections between the financialization of the capitalist economy, the gamification of our lives, and the rising threat of a uniquely 21st-century form of fascistic politics: mitpress.mit.edu/978026205604... #OpenAccess 02918
Max Haiven @maxhaiven.bsky.social · 15/09/2026The book is open access and available from @mitpress.bsky.social at mitpress.mit.edu/978026205604...mitpress.mit.eduThe Player and the PlayedIn an age when capitalism feels like an unwinnable game, extreme reactionary ideas and politics are on the rise. The Hunger Games, Game of Thrones, Squid Gam... 073
Max Haiven @maxhaiven.bsky.social · 15/09/2026"How have we learned to love the cheats who have power but loathe the cheats without it? It unpacks the worldbuilding (and world-destroying) urge of Silicon Valley. And it poses the urgent question: What is the antifascist game?" 141
Max Haiven @maxhaiven.bsky.social · 15/09/2026"Max Haiven explores how “derivative fascisms” both repeat and reinvent the terrors of the past in a financialized form." 120
Max Haiven @maxhaiven.bsky.social · 15/09/2026"From vicious online swarmings to the QAnon conspiracy fantasy, from the siege of the US Capitol to the abuse of “free speech,” The Player and the Played analyzes the “playgrom” as a new form of extremist violence." 120
Max Haiven @maxhaiven.bsky.social · 15/09/2026"This book theorizes the connections between the financialization of the capitalist economy, the gamification of our lives, and the rising threat of a uniquely twenty-first century form of fascistic politics." 141
Max Haiven @maxhaiven.bsky.social · 15/09/2026"The Hunger Games and Squid Game are cultural reflections of a society of relentless, lonely competition, where each of us must become a player: a savvy risk-taker, a miniature corporation of one. But in a gamed economy we players feel played, and new forms of fascism promise revenge." 182
Max Haiven @maxhaiven.bsky.social · 15/09/2026"A provocative examination of the ways our economy has been rigged by financialization, and the importance of games to our dangerous political moment. In an age when capitalism feels like an unwinnable game, extreme reactionary ideas and politics are on the rise..." 141
Max Haiven @maxhaiven.bsky.social · 15/09/2026It's publication day for my new book, THE PLAYER AND THE PLAYED: From Gamed Capitalism to 21st Century Fascism, now out open access (free) from @mitpress.bsky.social 14817
Reposted by Max HaivenSarah Stein Lubrano @sarahsteinlubrano.bsky.social · 14/09/2026We're offering open registration to individual sessions of our super popular course, Fighting Fascist Feelings, this time around as it's likely the last time we'll run it for a little while. I'll put links below :) Price is flexible. With @maxhaiven.bsky.social 142
Max Haiven @maxhaiven.bsky.social · 28/08/2026See you tonight in Berlin? “Radical Imagination, Speculative Futures, and Economic Sci-Fi” Panel discussion with Max Haiven, Isabella Hermann, Alicja Rogalska, and Brett Scott. Moderated by Rok Kranjc. galerienord.berlin/events/count...galerienord.berlinRadical Imagination, Speculative Futures, and Economic Sci-Fi - Galerie NordPodiumsdiskussion mit Max Haiven, Isabella Hermann, Alicja Rogalska, und Brett Scott (in English). Moderiert von Rok Kranjc. Max Haiven ist Pädagoge und Organisator. Er nutzt Bücher, Vorträge, Spiele,... 070
Reposted by Max HaivenSarah Stein Lubrano @sarahsteinlubrano.bsky.social · 20/08/2026With @maxhaiven.bsky.social ! forms.gle/KZoDWpTgppys...forms.gleCommunicating radical ideas application formThank you for your interest in the Communicating Radical Ideas workshop. For more information, please refer to the CFP at https://senseandsolidarity.org/ If you'd prefer not to use this form, please... 023
Reposted by Max HaivenUntoldMag @untoldmag.org · 20/08/2026Game designer and scholar Max Haiven uses the term “playgrom” for violent mob actions against minorities that are deeply embedded in gaming cultures. GamerGate became a defining example - and a social media playbook for the alt-right. f.mtr.cool/uzeafomryb @maxhaiven.bsky.social 163
Reposted by Max HaivenGames Transformed @gamestransformed.bsky.social · 17/07/2026Call for Proposals 🔊 Help us shape the Games Transformed Festival by submitting your proposals for the festival programme or exhibition area! The deadline for submissions is July 31st, 2026. Submit now: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... 066
Reposted by Max HaivenAli Rıza Taşkale @alirizataskale.bsky.social · 15/07/2026Tech billionaires didn’t misread science fiction. They performed an edit: keeping the frontier, the visionary, the chrome; cutting the public institution, the collective, and the warning. Every. Single. Time. My new piece is now up in Aeon. 1120982
Max Haiven @maxhaiven.bsky.social · 13/07/2026Games Against Borders! A symposium (October 30) In partnership with London's @gamestransformed.bsky.social festival, we present a one-day symposium for game-makers, -players, -thinkers, and organizers. Join us! reimaginingvalue.ca/borders/reimaginingvalue.caGames Against Borders symposiumJoin us in London for a day of discussions about games, borders and resistance. In partnership with the Games Transformed 2026 festival, Oct 30 - Nov1 041
Reposted by Max HaivenMaterialist Game Labs @materialist-games.bsky.social · 12/07/2026New episode alert! @lagomhygge.bsky.social talks to @maxhaiven.bsky.social about antifascist games, games as tools for organizing, and the connection between play and radical imagination. You don't want to miss this one. soundcloud.com/materialistg...soundcloud.comMärklighetstroget - episode 26: The Antifascist GameThom talks to Max Haiven. Recorded at the Organize! Movement Meetup 2026: https://www.organizemovementmeetup.org/ There's a bit of namedropping and referencing in this one, so here's some links. — M 088
Reposted by Max HaivenThe Earthcare Fieldcast @earthcareradio.bsky.social · 06/07/2026World! We're back with some burning new episodes! 🔥 First up: @maxhaiven.bsky.social in conversation with @manuelaz.bsky.social about the latter's new book: The Plot is on Fire. A book in fierce metabolism with this podcast! ❤️🔥 Tune in, enjoy, get reading and plotting soundcloud.com/earthcarefie...soundcloud.com19. The Plot is on Fire: Care Struggles after Progress, Plantation and PatriarchyAs myths of progress and modernisation collapse in the relentless polycrisis of our time, how do we strengthen other plots—in community, practice and struggle? How do we come together as movements for 042
Max Haiven @maxhaiven.bsky.social · 02/07/2026The downloadable demo is ready, which can be printed and played at home, in public or on a commandeered yacht ourmove.itch.io/comradeorcaourmove.itch.ioComrade Orca (beta v.02) by Our MoveA cooperative board game about ramming billionaire yachts and wearing badass salmon hats 072
Max Haiven @maxhaiven.bsky.social · 27/06/2026in my #boardgame COMRADE ORCA you and your friends play a pod of vengeful killer #whales taking out billionaires' yachts. It's kind of like coop Battleship, but you can only use whale sounds to communicate! And yes, you get to wear a salmon on your head. it's in dev now, crowdfunding next year! 183
Max Haiven @maxhaiven.bsky.social · 16/06/2026A little bit. I'm a board game designer, so they're close to my heart. Actually, only the last chapter is really "about" games per se, the focus is how games and play in general offer an understanding of contemporary capitalism and fascism 110
Max Haiven @maxhaiven.bsky.social · 16/06/2026Thanks! I can't because i refuse to verify my age, which this website requires to use DMs. But email me? mxhvn at pm dot me 010
Max Haiven @maxhaiven.bsky.social · 15/06/2026My new book THE PLAYER AND THE PLAYED is out this September with @mitpress.bsky.social and it will be open access! Meanwhile, if you would like an advanced reader copy for the purposes of writing a review etc please get in touch. Also please share it with your favorite podcasts and publications. 3217
Max Haiven @maxhaiven.bsky.social · 29/05/2026An author can only dream of such deep and considered engagement with their work. It's quite moving to have one's writing addressed with such comradely rigour. I fear that the reviewer is justified in many of their critiques of Palm Oil: The Grease of Empire. The review thickens the discussion. 061
Reposted by Max HaivenMarijam Didžgalvytė @marijamdid.com · 29/05/2026There's now a recording of this great chat! youtu.be/aPch0SLtPhY?... Enormous thanks to @gamestransformed.bsky.social, @maxhaiven.bsky.social & Briar Dickey for organising. Was such a privilege to participate in this with the legendary @mark-bray.bsky.social 🖤 1105