The Art of Shrinking Heads: The New Servitude of the Liberated in the Era of Total Capitalism

by Dany-Robert Dufour

After the hell of the Nazis and the terror of Communism, it is possible that a new catastrophe has appeared on the horizon: this time it is neoliberalism that wants to create its own ‘new man’.

For two centuries, Kant’s critical subject and Freud’s neurotic subject provided us with philosophical templates for modernity, but today modern capitalism is systematically destroying these two subjects and replacing them with something new. The two subjects of modernity both presupposed some reference to a higher value or power (like Reason) which provided a symbolic guarantor, but neoliberalism, by emphasizing the exchange of commodities in the marketplace, destroys all transcendental references of this kind. Now human beings no longer look beyond themselves and no longer have to agree about symbolic values: they only have to get on with the circulation and consumption of goods. Deprived of his faculty of judgement and urged to enjoy himself without restraint, the ‘new man’ of neoliberalism takes centre stage in the era of global capitalism.

In this biting critique of our contemporary condition Dufour shows that the radical transformation of the subject brought about by neoliberalism – what he calls ‘the art of shrinking heads’ – contains a new kind of violence which has far-reaching consequences for our ways of living together.

Genres: Collections

200 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Dany-Robert Dufour is a French philosopher, professor of educational sciences at the university Paris-VIII. He teaches regularly abroad, particularly in Latin America. His main focus is symbolic processes (specially désymbolisation) with relevance to language philosophy, political philosophy and psychoanalysis. He is a frequent participant in cooperative artistic activities with music, literature or theatre. In his books a large portion is dedicated to neoteny and the human physical inability of becoming "full-grown". This has forced humans to invent culture.

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This provided a clear explanation of post-modernism for me and describes well how the various "liberation" movements since the second world war have led to what could be the greatest threat to humanity: total Capitalism.
I struggle with DuFour's absolute language. Every single act of amoral disregard for traditional values or every example of abject consumption is held as proof that all of humanity is engaged in the same way. I can view his examples as trends that are beginning or have potential to begin, but this may be the condition we always find ourselves in. There are always competing ideologies and values and, particularly in the 20th century, the worst is realized before humanity can return to a saner sense. I may have put that too simplistically. In discussing this with my wife, Lisa, she reminded me, when I was discussing DuFour's concept of "desymbolization", that if traditional symbols like money are being removed, there must be something replacing it. Nature abhors a vacuum. DuFour doesn't talk much about what is replacing the values and relationships that are eroding. I think "Shrinking Heads" would have been much more useful if the author proscribed a way to repel the deleterious changes rather than leave it at signaling that these changes are occurring. Anyway, this book was really demanding. I think all this nasty recalibration of our values and mores toward a more inhumane commodity driven existence could happen because the mechanism is so complicated and intricate, it's difficult to see it happening. I read this book on my new iPad as a PDF and I was buying apps to make it easier to read so I was fully engaged in the commodity capitalism DuFour was warning me of. It made me feel trapped. As I said, I mentioned many of arguments in this book to Lisa. She tends to grasp things more clearly and quicker than I do. These discussions were helpful. I guess this is to say: This is a great book about societal trends and threats (great to read in this election year). It is a book I think I will refer back to again and again. I suggest reading it with someone with whom you can discuss it.

[Matías Fleischmann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Versión erudita del "todo tiempo pasado fue mejor" pero en lacaniano. O sea, en difícil.

Es una crítica a la liquidez homogeneizante (desimbolizadora) de la ontología neoliberal, pero desde una lectura degeneracionista de los sujetos kantiano y freudiano. Desarrolla en profundidad una caracterización de estas subjetividades, así que hace un análisis bien sólido de la subjetividad moderna, pero a mi juicio no tanto de la posmoderna, que es su centro de atención. Se para sobre un conjunto de dicotomías que naturaliza: público/privado, hombre/mujer, símbolo/biología, civilizado/salvaje, profesor-depositador/alumno-depositario, sociedad compleja/sociedad simple, etc., y personalmente me distrajo, y me cuesta hacer una lectura emancipatoria o crítica.

Es una reacción explícita contra los franceses que reivindican las ontologías planas (que lee como pro-mercado), como Deleuze, y del anarquismo en general (reivindica a Arendt, cierto Kant, y cierto Descartes). Aún así, es un muy buen desarrollo de la tesis de que el neoliberalismo produce una forma particular de subjetividad, diferente a la subjetividad de los modelos capitalistas del siglo XIX y XX. Intenta distinguirla de las "sociedades simples" con el relato evolucionista del sujeto no moderno como homogéneo, monolítico.

Es un buen exponente de las tesis "el feminismo de la tercera ola es posmo", del "la tele es mala" y del infaltable "los jóvenes están perdidos y se matan entre ellos". De hecho, si bien no lo usa en ese sentido, es uno de los pocos casos en los que se puede oler el uso despectivo de "posmoderno" a cierta crítica post-estructuralista. No es sorprendente que de todas sus referencias, sólo cite a dos mujeres, una de las cuales nomás (Arendt) es realmente central en su discurso. Tampoco es sorprendente su rechazo al "salvajismo", la reivindicación explícita del proyecto civilizatorio europeo ni la perpetuación del mito racista de la sociedad simple.

Es una obra ambiciosa y difícil de leer sin una buena base en psicoanálisis, de preferencia francés. 80% del contenido tiene algún anclaje en Lacan y su concepción de lo simbólico. Usa el masculino universal genérico en la peor de sus formas, ya visible en el título: su sujeto es "el hombre". Gran ejemplo de "pensamiento abismal" occidental, o sea, de un hombre europeo peleando con la sombra de su propio ombligo.

[Hebdomeros · Rating 3 out of 5]

'The invisible hand of the market' is probably now feeling its way into the pants of the postmodern zouave. Watch out for the market's wandering hands.

[Fernanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me marcó un antes y un después intelectualmente