Synopses & Reviews
Compelling analysis of how capitalism has given birth to the new body.In this startling new work, Hervé Juvin argues that the demographic transformation of the West, with the spectacular extension of life expectancy over the twentieth century, has given birth to a new bodya machine for pleasure that is an end to itself, conquering need, suffering and time; overcoming also the world of nature, which was once destiny. In the rich part of the world, an "industry of life" has sprung up promoting plastic surgery, sex-free reproduction, fitness crazes and dietetics and tending towards both eugenics and euthanasia whilst it dreams of immortality just around the corner. As generational ties snap, young people increasingly inhabit a virtual universe of digitization, erasing the boundaries between the real and the simulacrum, and money dethrones all traditional values, leaving only ersatz versions of belief in religion and nature.
Juvin's central message is a sinister paradox: what communism set out to do, and disastrously failed to achieve, capitalism is in the process of realizingand democracy will offer no protection. The wildest of all the utopian dreams of revolutions gone by is now taking shape, before our eyes, for the discredited messianic conception of a transfiguration of humanity is at length coming to pass. The economy of free enterprise has succeeded in delivering what the various socialisms promised and what they pursued with all the means at the disposal of a virtually unlimited power: it has given birth to the new human.
Review
Offers much food for thought.
Review
"Mr. Juvin's book is being read attentively by philosophers and politicians, because it warns that pretty much all the values we consider human or humanist are collapsing ... If we accept Mr. Juvin's argument, the trinity of western ideals ('liberty, equality, fraternity') is in the course of being replaced by another one ('health, security, pleasure')." Christopher Caldwell
Review
"The Coming of the Body belongs to another genre: the philosophical essay, illustrated with an abundance of striking data, and delivered with an intellectual mordancy and crisp literary éclat that remain, even today, peculiarly French." Financial Times
Review
"Offers much food for thought." Perry Anderson New Left Review
Synopsis
A compelling analysis of how capitalism has given birth to the new sculpted, engineered and pleasure-seeking body.
Synopsis
A compelling analysis of how capitalism has given birth to the new sculpted, engineered and pleasure-seeking body.
Synopsis
In this startling new work, Hervé Juvin argues that developments in medicine and science are redefining what it means to be human. Living longer than ever before, and yet increasingly obsessed with longevity and youth, the people of the Western world face an existence disconnected from need, suffering and time--and they are losing their moral compass in the process.
New industries have sprung up to promote plastic surgery, sex-free reproduction, fitness fads and bizarre diets. Behind this commercial activity is an ideology sympathetic to both eugenics and euthanasia, and dreaming of immortality. In this radically changed world, young people inhabit a digitalized, virtual environment at a far remove from the vital experiences of the body.
Juvin's central message is a sinister paradox: what communism set out to do, and disastrously failed to achieve, capitalism is in the process of realizing--the discredited messianic goal of reinventing humanity.
Synopsis
In this startling new work, Herve∞ Juvin argues that the demographic transformation of the West, with the spectacular extension of life expectancy over the twentieth century, has given birth to a new body'"a machine for pleasure that is an end to itself, conquering need, suffering and time. But Juvin"s central message turns on a sinister paradox: what communism set out to do, and disastrously failed to achieve, capitalism is in the process of realizing'"and democracy will offer no protection. The wildest of all the utopian dreams of past revolutions is now taking shape before our eyes: the discredited messianic notion that humanity can be recreated in a new form is finally being realized.
About the Author
Hervé Juvin is President and founder of Eurogroup Institute and is the author of a number of books on economics, finance and management. He was a columnist for Le Monde and now regularly contributes to L'Expansion and Enjeux/Les Echos. His books include La Production du Monde and The Coming of the Body.