Description
Book SynopsisWith irrepressible humor, Slavoj iek dissects our current political and social climate, discussing everything from Jordan Peterson and sex “unicorns” to Greta Thunberg and Chairman Mao. Taking aim at his enemies on the Left, Right, and Center, he argues that contemporary society can only be properly understood from a communist standpoint.
Why communism? The greater the triumph of global capitalism, the more its dangerous antagonisms multiply: climate collapse, the digital manipulation of our lives, the explosion in refugee numbers – all need a radical solution. That solution is a Left that dares to speak its name, to get its hands dirty in the real world of contemporary politics, not to sling its insults from the sidelines or to fight a culture war that is merely a fig leaf covering its political and economic failures. As the crises caused by contemporary capitalism accumulate at an alarming rate, the Left finds itself in crisis too, beset with competing ideologies and prone to populism, racism, and conspiracy theories.
A Left that Dares to Speak Its Name is iek’s attempt to elucidate the major political issues of the day from a truly radical Leftist position. The first three parts explore the global political situation and the final part focuses on contemporary Western culture, as iek directs his polemic to topics such as wellness, Wikileaks, and the rights of sexbots. This wide-ranging collection of essays provides the perfect insight into the ideas of one of the most influential radical thinkers of our time.
Trade Review�The most dangerous philosopher in the West.�
Adam Kirsch, New Republic �iek leaves no social or cultural phenomenon untheorized, and is master of the counterintuitive observation.�
The New Yorker
Table of ContentsIntroduction: From the Communist Standpoint
The Global Mess
1 200 Years After: Is Marx Alive, Dead, or a Living Dead?
2 Why Secondary Contradictions Matter: A Maoist View
3 Nomadic // Proletarians
4 Should the Left’s Answer to Rightist Populism Really be a “Me Too”?
5 When Unfreedom Itself is Experienced as Freedom
6 Only Autistic Children Can Save Us!
7 They are Both Worse!
8 A Desperate Call for (T)Reason
The West…
9 Democratic Socialism and Its Discontents
10 Is Donald Trump a Frog Embracing a Bottle of Beer?
11 Better Dead than Red!
12 “There is Disorder Under Heaven, the Situation is Excellent”
13 Soyons realistes, demandons l’impossible!
14 Catalonia and the End of Europe
15 Which Idea of Europe is Worth Defending?
16 The Right to Tell the Public Bad News
…And The Rest
17 It’s the Same Struggle, Dummy!
18 The Real Anti-Semites and Their Zionist Friends
19 Yes, Racism is Alive and Well!
20 What is to be Done When Our Cupola is Leaking?
21 Is China Communist or Capitalist?
22 Venezuela and the Need for New Clichés
23 Welcome to the True New World Order!
24 A True Miracle in Bosnia
Ideology
25 For Active Solidarity, Against Guilt and Self-Reproach
26 Sherbsky Institute, APA
27 Welcome to the Brave New World of Consenticorns!
28 Do Sexbots have Rights?
29 Nipples, Penis, Vulva…and Maybe Shit
30 Cuaron’s Roma: The Trap of Goodness
31 Happiness? No, Thanks!
32 Assange has Only us to Help Him!
Appendix
33 Is Avital Ronell Really Toxic?
34 Jordan Peterson as a Symptom…of What?
Notes
