It is easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism. Since 1989, capitalism has succeeded in presenting itself as the only realistic political-economic system. In this book, Mark Fisher describes how this ‘capitalist realism’ has developed and how it functions as an ideological framework. Drawing on examples from films, fiction and working life, Fisher discusses how capitalist realism today shapes our experiences in every conceivable sphere. But his analyses of the new bureaucratic systems and the growing mental ill-health also expose ideological cracks and inconsistencies that show that contemporary capitalism is, in fact, anything but realistic. ‘The long, dark night at the end of history must be seen as an enormous opportunity. The oppressive spread of capitalist realism means that even small glimpses of alternative political and economic possibilities can have a disproportionately large effect. The slightest event can tear holes in the grey curtain of reaction, which has constituted the horizon of possibility under capitalist realism. In a situation where nothing can happen, everything suddenly becomes possible again?”