Synopses & Reviews
Good theory; bad politics - this is how Zizek's works have been described. Now Chris McMillan argues that Zizek's reading of global capitalism could reinvent political subversion. He highlights the political consequences of Zizek's fundamental concepts, such as the Lacanian Real, universality and the communist hypothesis. He argues that Zizek's turn to Communism represents the ultimate significance of Zizek's work for the 21st century and a marked new direction for Zizekian theory.
While Zizek's work attracts a lot of labels, most of them pejorative - communist, conservative, anti-semantic - Chris McMillan identifies Zizek's unique and productive contribution to social and political theory, constructing his work as a response to the difficulties of contemporary social theory and the political deadlock of global capitalism.
Synopsis
Communist, conservative, anti-semantic - Slavoj Zizek's work attracts a lot of labels, most of them pejorative. Chris McMillan seeks to identify Zizek's unique and productive contribution to social and political theory, constructing a response to the difficulties of contemporary social theory and the political deadlock of global capitalism.
Synopsis
Zizek's communism: revolutionary terror or Utopian
jouissance?
Good theory; bad politics - this is how Zizek's works have been described. Now Chris McMillan argues that Zizek's reading of global capitalism could reinvent political subversion. He highlights the political consequences of Zizek's fundamental concepts, such as the Lacanian Real, universality and the communist hypothesis. He argues that Zizek's turn to Communism represents the ultimate significance of Zizek's work for the 21st century and a marked new direction for Zizekian theory.
While Zizek's work attracts a lot of labels, most of them pejorative - communist, conservative, anti-semantic - Chris McMillan identifies Zizek's unique and productive contribution to social and political theory, constructing his work as a response to the difficulties of contemporary social theory and the political deadlock of global capitalism.
Key Features
- Summarises key applications of psychoanalytic theory to politics and shared social life
- Produces a sustained reading of Zizek's understanding of the economy and capitalism
- Contextualises Zizek's in relation to the difficulties of contemporary social theory and the political deadlock of global capitalism
- Responds to Zizek's recent reference to the communist hypothesis and 'egalitarian justice'
About the Author
Chris McMillan is Academic Skills Adviser at the Brunel University, having been formerly based at Massey University in New Zealand. He has previously published in the
International Journal of Zizek Studies, as well as acting as a guest editor.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements 1. Introduction
2. Marxism after the Discursive Turn
3. Jouissance and Politics
4. Universality and the Trauma of the Real
5. Zizek's Capitalism: What Can Sexual Difference Tell Us about New Forms of Apartheid?
6. Zizek's Realpolitics
7. The Communist Hypothesis: Zizekian Utopia or Utopian Fantasy?
8. Conclusion
References
Index