Description
Book SynopsisIn the aftermath of the First World War, the poet Paul Valéry wrote of a crisis of spirit', brought about by the instrumentalization of knowledge and the destructive subordination of culture to profit. Recent events demonstrate all too clearly that that the stock of mind, or spirit, continues to fall. The economy is toxically organized around the pursuit of short-term gain, supported by an infantilizing, dumbed-down media. Advertising technologies make relentless demands on our attention, reducing us to idiotic beasts, no longer capable of living. Spiralling rates of mental illness show that the fragile life of the mind is at breaking point.
Underlying these multiple symptoms is consumer capitalism, which systematically immiserates those whom it purports to liberate. Returning to Marx's theory, Stiegler argues that consumerism marks a new stage in the history of proletarianization. It is no longer just labour that is exploited, pushed below the limits of subsistence, but
Trade Review"Stiegler's title is bold, but make no mistake: this book really is about what makes life worth living. We can neglect this dimension – disastrously – or we can act to sustain it. A survival manual for the twenty-first century, this is also contemporary philosophy as a call to arms."
Martin Crowley, University of Cambridge "This work, an excellent primer on the latest phase of Stiegler’s project and an excellent introduction to his writing, attempts to turn a thinking of the pharmakon from its resonance as poison to that of a cure to the pan-toxicity he finds in the robo-interiorities of the present and their link to eco-catastrophic outcomes. What this book also displays is that Stiegler has long been the most productive critical reader of Derrida's legacy today – and this at a time when anything like official 'deconstruction' gasps for relevance.’"
Tom Cohen, State University of New York at AlbanyTable of ContentsAcknowledgements viii
Introduction: A Continent on the Move 1
1 Myriad Challenges and Opportunities 5
2 A Demographic Dividend or Just More People? 21
3 Tropical Dilemmas: Disease, Water, and More 35
4 Educating Future Generations 55
5 To War Rather than to Prosper 69
6 Accountability and the Wages of Corrupt Behavior 91
7 The Infrastructural Imperative 116
8 Harnessing Mobile Telephone Capabilities 134
9 China Drives Growth 151
10 Strengthening Governance 173
11 Creating Responsible Leadership 189
Notes 216
Select Bibliography 244
Index 252
