Slavoj Žižek and radical politics
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Bibliographic Information
Slavoj Žižek and radical politics
Routledge, 2016
- : hbk
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Includes bibliographical references and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
In this book, Sean Homer addresses Slavoj Zizek's work in a specific political conjuncture, his political interventions in the Balkans. The charge of inconsistency and contradiction is frequently levelled at Zizek's politics, a charge he openly embraces in the name of "pragmatism." Homer argues that his interventions in the Balkans expose the dangers of this pragmatism for the renewal of the Leftist politics that he calls for. The book assesses Zizek's political interventions in so far as they advance his self-proclaimed "ruthlessly radical" aims about changing the world. Homer argues the Balkans can be seen as Zizek's symptom, that element which does not fit into the system, but speaks its truth and reveals what the system cannot acknowledge about itself.
In Part II Homer explores Zizek's radicalism through his critique of Alain Badiou, arguing that Badiou's "affirmationism" provides a firmer grounding for the renewal of the left than Zizek's negative gesture analyzed in Part I. What distinguishes Zizek from the majority of the contemporary Left today is his valorization of violence; Homer tackles this issue head-on in relation to political violence in Greece. Finally, Homer defends the utopian impulse on the radical left against its Lacanian critics.
Table of Contents
Part I: Zizek in the Balkans
Introduction: The Case of Kosovo
1. It's the Political Economy, Stupid! On Zizek's Marxism.
2. Nationalism, Ideology and Balkan Cinema.
3. To Begin at the Beginning Again: Zizek in the Former Yugoslavia.
Part II: Radicalising Zizek
Introduction: Thinking Through Zizek and Beyond
4. The Politics of Comradeship: Philosophical Construction and Commitment in Alain Badiou and Slavoj Zizek.
5. On "The Critique of Violence" and Revolutionary Suicide.
Conclusion: Resources of Hope: A Critique of Lacanian Anti-Utopianism.
by "Nielsen BookData"
