The CCRU (Cybernetic Culture Research Unit) was an interdisciplinary research group formed in the mid-1990s at Warwick University, England. It combined psychology, anthropology, and cybernetics, in order to analyse the production of culture at a time when technology was becoming increasingly pervasive.
The CCRU became well-known among academic circles that were eagerly awaiting the arrival of something new, of a school of thought that could explain the modern era and all its deeply rooted contradictions. The burgeoning rave scene, the development of artificial intelligence, the first signs of the latest economic crises, feminism, and universal basic income were all incorporated within a theoretical narrative that analysed the key social events following the collapse of the Soviet Union from a perspective which was both realistic and at the same time inclusive. The CCRU’s production, however, while narrating reality, made use of different analytical sources, such as science fiction, occultism, and speculative futurism. This provided a significant amount of raw material, which is highly useful in any kind of theoretical analysis.
Nick Land and Mark Fisher were among the collective’s founding members, and within a few years became leading protagonists in the accelerationist scene, a school of thought that aims to overthrow the current capitalist economy, and that sees technological development as a useful tool for emancipation.
Mark Fisher’s research focused on studying the shortcomings of the modern political landscape, and he found that the capitalist ideology poses one of the main obstacles to a representation that is able to express the real needs of ordinary citizens. His critical approach, however, differed significantly from the typical nostalgic view of the Marxist left, and aimed to identify potential solutions to make human beings the main focus of the issue. From this perspective, culture is the perfect field of analysis, as it provides valuable information on the state of humanity.