Why Tech Hype Seduces Us Again and Again
Buried beneath the exploitative relationship of the scammer to the scammed is our alienated collective power to change the world with stories.
Cheating and the fascistic public pedagogy of gamed capitalism
How did cheats and cheating become so pivotal to the formation of 21st century fascistic cultural politics? This essay explores pyramid schemes, sexist advice, misogynist scams and wrestling’s perfect perfect bastard
Unwriting Amazon
The following short essay appears as part of Research and Teaching with Speculative Fiction: Transdisciplinary Readings and Methods, edited by Sarah E. Truman and available … Read more
From financialization to 21st century fascisms (For Magazine)
The following essay was published in June 2026 in the 13th issue of For Magazine. To understand the shocking and dangerous rise of extreme-right politics … Read more
The speculative imagination within, against and beyond Amazon (Distinktion)
The following essay has appeared in Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory. The speculative imagination within, against and beyond Amazon: the Worker as Futurist project in … Read more
Billionaires & Guillotines 2026 tour
Hi! My name is Max and I’m the designer of Billionaires & Guillotines, a new board game from Pluto Press, coming out early in 2026. … Read more
Capitalism Cheats (Finance & Society)
The following essay will appear in a forthcoming issue of Finance and Society Capitalism cheats: Three moments of normalized swindling Max HaivenCanada Research Chair in … Read more
What are antifascist games? (CFP)
In many places around the world, the fascist threat is rising. Far right, neonationalist and ultra-conservative parties, politicians, and pundits have taken advantage of growing … Read more
Towards a theory of the playgrom: Deep and dark playbor and the work of fascism (Media Theory)
An article for Media Theory about playgroms: “an idiom of fascistic mob violence that emerges within but that also exceeds a digitalized, financialized and gamified mode of capitalism”
It’s all a Game, and the Game is Deadly Real (Making & Breaking)
For the Spring 2025 issue of Making & Breaking, I’ve offered a snapshot of some of the ideas from my forthcoming book The Player and the Played: Gamification, Financialization and (anti-)Fascism.