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Insurrections: Critical Studies in Religion, Politics, and Culture
Que Veut L'europe ?: Réflexions Sur Une Nécessaire Réappropriation
Réflexion sur le rôle que peut jouer la politique européenne face aux risques de remise en cause des libertés à la lumière de l'histoire de l'Europe. Propose une remise en cause de l'idée d'Europe afin d'éviter de sombrer dans une politique arrogante à l'américaine.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
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About the author
Slavoj Žižek
653 books7,625 followersSlavoj Žižek is a Slovene sociologist, philosopher, and cultural critic.
He was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia (then part of SFR Yugoslavia). He received a Doctor of Arts in Philosophy from the University of Ljubljana and studied psychoanalysis at the University of Paris VIII with Jacques-Alain Miller and François Regnault. In 1990 he was a candidate with the party Liberal Democracy of Slovenia for Presidency of the Republic of Slovenia (an auxiliary institution, abolished in 1992).
Since 2005, Žižek has been a member of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts.
Žižek is well known for his use of the works of 20th century French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan in a new reading of popular culture. He writes on many topics including the Iraq War, fundamentalism, capitalism, tolerance, political correctness, globalization, subjectivity, human rights, Lenin, myth, cyberspace, postmodernism, multiculturalism, post-marxism, David Lynch, and Alfred Hitchcock.
In an interview with the Spanish newspaper El País he jokingly described himself as an "orthodox Lacanian Stalinist". In an interview with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now! he described himself as a "Marxist" and a "Communist."
He was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia (then part of SFR Yugoslavia). He received a Doctor of Arts in Philosophy from the University of Ljubljana and studied psychoanalysis at the University of Paris VIII with Jacques-Alain Miller and François Regnault. In 1990 he was a candidate with the party Liberal Democracy of Slovenia for Presidency of the Republic of Slovenia (an auxiliary institution, abolished in 1992).
Since 2005, Žižek has been a member of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts.
Žižek is well known for his use of the works of 20th century French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan in a new reading of popular culture. He writes on many topics including the Iraq War, fundamentalism, capitalism, tolerance, political correctness, globalization, subjectivity, human rights, Lenin, myth, cyberspace, postmodernism, multiculturalism, post-marxism, David Lynch, and Alfred Hitchcock.
In an interview with the Spanish newspaper El País he jokingly described himself as an "orthodox Lacanian Stalinist". In an interview with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now! he described himself as a "Marxist" and a "Communist."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
May 8, 2022
Prva zanimljiva stvar vezana za ovu knjigu je da mi je poklonio Milo Lompar. S obzirom na nepremostive političke razlike između filozofskog dvojca i Lompara, dar deluje neočekivano. Ali ovako je to bilo. Milo, prirodom svog posla, neprestano dobija knjige. Među njima, naravno, ima koječega, a kad se gomile posebno umnože, Milo ih razdeljuje studentima. I svima lepo! Profesoru više prostora, studentariji štivo za dž. A otkud Žižek? Milo je pošalno pitao da li ima u slušaonici kojim slučajem neko ko se interesuje za Žižeka? Bio je ubeđen da se niko neće javiti, ali...
No, nije to ni bitno. Samo je možda malo smešno. Bitna je druga zanimljiva stvar. Ova knjiga je manje obajatila nego što sam mislio. Dobro, svakako jeste u izvesnoj meri, naročito imajući u vidu da je nastala na talasu (neopravdanog, nažalost) oduševljena Sirizom (autor jednog teksta u knjizi je ni manje ni više nego Aleksis Cipras lično), a svi znamo kako se mlako ta priča završila. Umesto obećanja velikog reformskog levog talasa, desilo se nešto sasvim suprotno. Desnica pupi po Evropi kao pečurke nakon kiše. I taman kada se čini da će doći kraj izazovima, nešto novo isksne. Od globalne finansijske krize 2008. godine, preko Bregzita, sve do migracija, pandemije i Ukrajine. Kriza je, izgleda, motor Evrope. Ali da ne bude zabune – nisu ni Žižek ni Horvat površni i dokoni navijači, podgrevači dnevnopolitičkih mlaćenja, već pronicljivi i pokatkad duhoviti pratioci zbivanja. Ipak, kome su već poznate Žižekove fore i fazoni, neće ovde naći nešto novo, štaviše, pronaći će da se najmanje tri puta ponavlja identičan citat T. S. Eliota i to u prilično sličnom kontekstu. Srećko Horvat me je prijatno iznenadio i to je verovatno jer sam površno upoznat sa njegovim radom.
Moje znanje iz ekonomije je vrlo slabo i znači mi svaka prilika da to popravim. Opservacije Žižeka i Horvata o štednji, dugu i svetskom tržištu, bile su vrlo od pomoći. U moru interesantnih podataka, izdvojio bih koncept „semiokapitalizma” Franka Berardija, „koji označava način proizvodnje u kojoj se akumulacija kapitala postiže uglavnom kroz proizvodnju i akumulaciju znakova” (148). Znakovi, dakle, proizvode vrednost. Pogledajte samo Ilona Maska! Čitava fama oko njegovog lika i dela je vrlo sračunata predstava, u kojoj uvek profitira sam Mask. Ko poseduje medije, poseduje sve – pa i samu ideju vrednosti.
No, nije to ni bitno. Samo je možda malo smešno. Bitna je druga zanimljiva stvar. Ova knjiga je manje obajatila nego što sam mislio. Dobro, svakako jeste u izvesnoj meri, naročito imajući u vidu da je nastala na talasu (neopravdanog, nažalost) oduševljena Sirizom (autor jednog teksta u knjizi je ni manje ni više nego Aleksis Cipras lično), a svi znamo kako se mlako ta priča završila. Umesto obećanja velikog reformskog levog talasa, desilo se nešto sasvim suprotno. Desnica pupi po Evropi kao pečurke nakon kiše. I taman kada se čini da će doći kraj izazovima, nešto novo isksne. Od globalne finansijske krize 2008. godine, preko Bregzita, sve do migracija, pandemije i Ukrajine. Kriza je, izgleda, motor Evrope. Ali da ne bude zabune – nisu ni Žižek ni Horvat površni i dokoni navijači, podgrevači dnevnopolitičkih mlaćenja, već pronicljivi i pokatkad duhoviti pratioci zbivanja. Ipak, kome su već poznate Žižekove fore i fazoni, neće ovde naći nešto novo, štaviše, pronaći će da se najmanje tri puta ponavlja identičan citat T. S. Eliota i to u prilično sličnom kontekstu. Srećko Horvat me je prijatno iznenadio i to je verovatno jer sam površno upoznat sa njegovim radom.
Moje znanje iz ekonomije je vrlo slabo i znači mi svaka prilika da to popravim. Opservacije Žižeka i Horvata o štednji, dugu i svetskom tržištu, bile su vrlo od pomoći. U moru interesantnih podataka, izdvojio bih koncept „semiokapitalizma” Franka Berardija, „koji označava način proizvodnje u kojoj se akumulacija kapitala postiže uglavnom kroz proizvodnju i akumulaciju znakova” (148). Znakovi, dakle, proizvode vrednost. Pogledajte samo Ilona Maska! Čitava fama oko njegovog lika i dela je vrlo sračunata predstava, u kojoj uvek profitira sam Mask. Ko poseduje medije, poseduje sve – pa i samu ideju vrednosti.
June 28, 2014
This book raises some fascinating issues about what is happening in the EU, particularly austerity measures, the privatisation of health, education, etc. Although many of the examples are from Greece, Slovenia, and Croatia, it is not hard to see them in the UK as well.
One problem with this book, though, it is very repetitive - not just the broad themes but even detailed examples and specific sentences.
An even bigger problem is the lack of information about how these problems can be resolved; in particular, what can and should a concerned European be doing?
One problem with this book, though, it is very repetitive - not just the broad themes but even detailed examples and specific sentences.
An even bigger problem is the lack of information about how these problems can be resolved; in particular, what can and should a concerned European be doing?
Read
June 19, 2018 "İnsanlar 'işler gerçekten kötü olduğu zaman değil' beklentilerinde hayal kırıklığına uğradıkları zaman ayaklanırlar." Sf:22
"Eğer Godot, ki 90'larda Clinton ya da Avrupa Birliği olarak düşünülüyordu, onlara yardıma gelmediyse, tek bir çözüm olabilir - beklediğimiz Godot biziz." Sf:201
"Eğer Godot, ki 90'larda Clinton ya da Avrupa Birliği olarak düşünülüyordu, onlara yardıma gelmediyse, tek bir çözüm olabilir - beklediğimiz Godot biziz." Sf:201
August 3, 2019
Zizek’in en hafif metinleri.
July 17, 2020
Neoliberal politikaların ve yükselen sağın Avrupa'nın özüne zarar vereceği, Yunanistan'da yaşananların birlik için öneminin anlatıldığı bir kitap. Başta Tsipras'ın ne gibi bir katılımı olabilir diye düşündüğümü itiraf etmeliyim (oldukça saçma bir düşünceymiş) ama kitabın ana noktası SYRIZA ve onun verdiği umut diyebilirim. Merkel öncülüğünde Yunanistan'a uygulanan kemer sıkma politikaları ve SYRIZA buna bir alternatif getirme iddiasıyla o dalgayı yakalamıştı. Horvat ve Zizek, SYRIZA'yı umut olarak görüyorlar çünkü AB'nin Yunanistan'ı bu gibi kriz durumlarında uygulanabilecek ekonomi politikaları için kobay olarak seçtiklerini, ülkelerin bu baskılar yerine insanlar için alternatif bir gelecek politikası inşa edip edemeyeceğini görmek istiyorlar.
Tsipras'ın başbakan olduğu dönem ben de çok heyecanlanmıştım. Yunanistan siyasetine çok hakim olmasam bile gelinen nokta sonrası yazarlar ne düşünür merak ettim.
Kitabın ana fikri bu alıntıda açıkça görülebilir.
"SYRIZA'nın verdiği savaş Avrupa'nın ruhu için verilen savaştır. Ve bu noktada utanmaksızın bir Avrupa merkezciyim. Tamam, kimseyi incitmemek adına Avrupa'yı her şey için suçlamak hoş -emperyalizm, sömürgecilik, kölelik- ama Tanrı'm gurur duymalıyız ki Avrupa, insanlığa harikulade bir şey vermiştir: radikal eşitlik fikri, demokrasi fikri, feminizm vs. Avrupalı kimliğinin özünde bu var; ve bugün söz konusu olan da bu. Yani Aleksis'in de söylediği gibi -tehlike kim?- Avrupa'nın bugünkü savunucuları, Brüksel'in teknokratları ya da göçmen karşıtı milliyetçileri, Avrupa mirasında uğruna savaşmaya değer olan şeylere tehdit oluşturanlar onlar. SYRIZA bir Yunan meselesi değildir; SYRIZA Avrupa'nın tamamı için pek az olan umut ışıklarından biridir..." -Zizek
"Güç sizi bir realist yapar ve en sonunda prensiplerinizin ötesinde ödün ve tavizler vermeye yönlendirir." -Tsipras
Tsipras'ın başbakan olduğu dönem ben de çok heyecanlanmıştım. Yunanistan siyasetine çok hakim olmasam bile gelinen nokta sonrası yazarlar ne düşünür merak ettim.
Kitabın ana fikri bu alıntıda açıkça görülebilir.
"SYRIZA'nın verdiği savaş Avrupa'nın ruhu için verilen savaştır. Ve bu noktada utanmaksızın bir Avrupa merkezciyim. Tamam, kimseyi incitmemek adına Avrupa'yı her şey için suçlamak hoş -emperyalizm, sömürgecilik, kölelik- ama Tanrı'm gurur duymalıyız ki Avrupa, insanlığa harikulade bir şey vermiştir: radikal eşitlik fikri, demokrasi fikri, feminizm vs. Avrupalı kimliğinin özünde bu var; ve bugün söz konusu olan da bu. Yani Aleksis'in de söylediği gibi -tehlike kim?- Avrupa'nın bugünkü savunucuları, Brüksel'in teknokratları ya da göçmen karşıtı milliyetçileri, Avrupa mirasında uğruna savaşmaya değer olan şeylere tehdit oluşturanlar onlar. SYRIZA bir Yunan meselesi değildir; SYRIZA Avrupa'nın tamamı için pek az olan umut ışıklarından biridir..." -Zizek
"Güç sizi bir realist yapar ve en sonunda prensiplerinizin ötesinde ödün ve tavizler vermeye yönlendirir." -Tsipras
January 13, 2015
Žižekove knjige u poslednje vreme sve više podsećaju na Šešeljeve, u njima se pabirče razni fragmenti njegovih intervjua, kolumne, eseji, tako da zapravo nemaju celovitost pa čak ni konzistentnost teme. U slučaju ŠTA EVROPA ŽELI, međutim, imamo sve loše osobine aktuelnog Žižekovog rada koje zapravo daju dobar rezultat. Prvo, ovo je slučaj knjige koja je izdata za Lagunu, dakle do sada je najmasovnije dostupan Žižekov rad, i u tom smislu raznovrsnost izvora iz kojih se crpe Žižekovi "rukopisi" zapravo nije loš jer može da ga predstavi u svim formama u kojima se izražava. U knjizi se smenjuju članci Slavoja Žižeka i Srećka Horvata, i nivo pisanja je prilagođen Horvatu, dakle sve je dosta pojednostavljeno, pitko i prijemčivo, i to je takođe dobar adut za ovo masovno i dostupno izdanje. Iako se ono što piše Žižek u ovoj knjizi ne može smatrati ni približno ključnim delom njegovog opusa, ni po supstanci ni po stilu, smatram da je dobro što je ovaj rukopis došao u poziciju da popularizuje njegov rad.
Konačno, ova knjiga je izennađujuće tematski konzistentna, grčka Siriza i Aleksis Cipras lebde kao duhovi nad ovom knjigom a grčki političar se javlja i kao njen ko-autor. Međutim, i kada odstupe od grčkog slučaja, Žižek i Horvat ostaju posvećeni problemima EU, tako da je knjiga aktuelna i dopunski intrigantna za one koji tek treba da se upoznaju sa ovom vrstom literature.
Žižek je učinio dosta da se popularizuje teorija. Ova knjiga pomaže da taj proces ode korak dalje, i Laguna je u tom pogledu napravila pravi potez.
Konačno, ova knjiga je izennađujuće tematski konzistentna, grčka Siriza i Aleksis Cipras lebde kao duhovi nad ovom knjigom a grčki političar se javlja i kao njen ko-autor. Međutim, i kada odstupe od grčkog slučaja, Žižek i Horvat ostaju posvećeni problemima EU, tako da je knjiga aktuelna i dopunski intrigantna za one koji tek treba da se upoznaju sa ovom vrstom literature.
Žižek je učinio dosta da se popularizuje teorija. Ova knjiga pomaže da taj proces ode korak dalje, i Laguna je u tom pogledu napravila pravi potez.
July 24, 2017
With all that has happened in Europe in the last five or so years – Orbán, Le Pen, Wilders; Brexit, refugees – it is easy to forget all the talk of sovereign debt crises, of the collapse of the Euro and the dangers of a global economic crisis to the integrity of the European Union. For this reason, if nothing else, it is refreshing to read this collection of essays from three of Europe’s most interesting left wing thinkers. Doing so revived for me the heated debates over the state of Greece, the Croatian accession decision and process (less heated, to be sure, but an issue in some of my circles) and the questions of border walls and fortress Europe as the global economic crisis seemed here to stay (it still does) and conflicts intensified (Syria was in the early days of its self-destruction) and the flow of refugees from the West’s wars was beginning to pick up.
The collection is dominated by essays by Žižek and Horvat, playing off each other, picking at the issues of the relations between the former Yugoslavia – they are Slovene and Croat respectively – and the EU, but more significantly picking at the questions of neo-liberal and ‘social’ Europe. Tsipras appears in the preface and two interviews/discussions at the end of the collection. This is, of course, before the days of Corbyn’s Labour or the Podemos victories in Spain, at a time when Occupy and the Indignados offered a space for dissent but little in the way of options – as exciting as gathering to oppose was at the time, alternatives remain slow to emerge.
The essays are fairly light and engaging, and I recognise some of Žižek’s as previously published (whoever chose the pieces managed to avoid much of his more irritating efflorescence/pyrotechnic language) – they feel freshly topical and I assume all were previously published, but there are no acknowledgements. That doesn’t matter too much: they have been well chosen and arranged in alternating form to appear to be a discussion – although a little editing minimise repetition would have helped – both have a tendency to repeat phrases and bits of text (Horvat less so than Žižek).
As refreshing as they are, the essays are also a reminder of the power of the dominant neo-liberal model. Throughout, there is high praise for Syriza – at the time, the most promising of Europe’s left dissident parties which subsequently became government and found the power of even the weakened, less united, troika – the EU, the European central bank and the IMF – difficult to resist: much like the Palestinian Authority they seem to have become the agents of their own oppression. But still, we have hope.
Some of the pieces have stood up well – it has only been 4 years – but more importantly these essay remind us that even with all the other things going on, the imposed austerity of the EU’s dominant neo-liberal model has not gone away; it continues to wreak havoc in Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Ireland, and the corporate response to the 2008 crisis (that we’d not done neo-liberal austerity properly) remains a force. Whether rhetorical shifts away from ‘austerity’ in early and mid-2017 will have much of an effect remains to be seen.
The collection is dominated by essays by Žižek and Horvat, playing off each other, picking at the issues of the relations between the former Yugoslavia – they are Slovene and Croat respectively – and the EU, but more significantly picking at the questions of neo-liberal and ‘social’ Europe. Tsipras appears in the preface and two interviews/discussions at the end of the collection. This is, of course, before the days of Corbyn’s Labour or the Podemos victories in Spain, at a time when Occupy and the Indignados offered a space for dissent but little in the way of options – as exciting as gathering to oppose was at the time, alternatives remain slow to emerge.
The essays are fairly light and engaging, and I recognise some of Žižek’s as previously published (whoever chose the pieces managed to avoid much of his more irritating efflorescence/pyrotechnic language) – they feel freshly topical and I assume all were previously published, but there are no acknowledgements. That doesn’t matter too much: they have been well chosen and arranged in alternating form to appear to be a discussion – although a little editing minimise repetition would have helped – both have a tendency to repeat phrases and bits of text (Horvat less so than Žižek).
As refreshing as they are, the essays are also a reminder of the power of the dominant neo-liberal model. Throughout, there is high praise for Syriza – at the time, the most promising of Europe’s left dissident parties which subsequently became government and found the power of even the weakened, less united, troika – the EU, the European central bank and the IMF – difficult to resist: much like the Palestinian Authority they seem to have become the agents of their own oppression. But still, we have hope.
Some of the pieces have stood up well – it has only been 4 years – but more importantly these essay remind us that even with all the other things going on, the imposed austerity of the EU’s dominant neo-liberal model has not gone away; it continues to wreak havoc in Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Ireland, and the corporate response to the 2008 crisis (that we’d not done neo-liberal austerity properly) remains a force. Whether rhetorical shifts away from ‘austerity’ in early and mid-2017 will have much of an effect remains to be seen.
January 12, 2022
Importante livro que deu a conhecer uma visão interessante sobre o projeto europeu, as suas qualidades e as suas falácias - no seguimento de uma gigante crise económica de 2008 e suas consequências, com especial destaque para a Grécia. Uma boa introdução às falácias do neoliberalismo e aos erros económicos que se têm propagado como curas milagrosas - o problema está na receita ou na dose? Como implementar a alternativa?
January 23, 2025
Although the essays revolve around the year 2012, the thoughts and warnings are still highly relevant.
August 14, 2014
The authors can be characterised as continental leftist intellectuals, presumably post-... something, modernist, structuralist, I don't know.
They're like a little gang (3 including the introducer, who reappears at the end in a 3-way circle-chat) of students, bright, witty(ish) well-meaning, radical - but too excitable to sit down and pursue any single argument or exposition through from start to finish. After a while, this makes it all a bit unrewarding.
There are all sorts of interesting fragments in here: various snippets of recent Croatian and Slovenian history that were news to me, as well as a lot of discussion of Greece.
This is interspersed with numerous cameos from the post-whatever pantheon: Derrida, Heidegger, Freud, Thatcher, Humpty Dumpty...
[Parenthesis: Humpty reminds me of a(nother) flaw of the book, which would be more forgivable if the work as a whole were better executed: the translation and editing are very poor. For instance the same (rather overfamiliar) Humpty quote appears twice, but with two different renderings, one correct, the other ending: "The question is who is the Lord, and that's all", which seems to belong in a quite different discussion. So all that doesn't help.]
Then a plethora of rhetorical questions, a smattering of doubtful analogies, a heap of suggestive, provocative anecdotes, and so on. Why - to take my turn with the rhet. qq. - didn't they put a bit more work into making something cogent, clear, applicable at least in principle?
As I said, it all comes off a bit like brainy but rambling students trying to sell you their radical paper at the door to the cafeteria.
Must try harder - if you want to change Europe for the better (as we do).
August 4, 2014
For the record, the version of the book I read was published by v|b|z publishers in Zagreb. The version I have is Croatian translated into English with 188 pages. If this version is in Goodreads, please let me know. thanks.
After reading Judah, then Grubačić, I found a book for the plane ride home from Croatia. "What does Europe want?" was a terrific read. Both Slavoj Žižek & Srećko Horvat write impressive and interesting essays. This dialogue between these two minds was well edited and put together. In some ways it is not a direct conversation, but they ebb and flow anticipating the nuances of each others' positions and it leads to a really compelling look at the neoliberal agenda, racism and immigration, the legacies of WWII and Yugoslavia, "transitioning," imperial aspirations of Western Europe and the US for what was once Yugoslavia--aka the Balkans.
A quick read, insightful analysis, wonderful allusions that I'll need to now read, and a sharp criticism of everything wrong with the "new Europe" and the madness of neoliberalism.
I highly recommend.
After reading Judah, then Grubačić, I found a book for the plane ride home from Croatia. "What does Europe want?" was a terrific read. Both Slavoj Žižek & Srećko Horvat write impressive and interesting essays. This dialogue between these two minds was well edited and put together. In some ways it is not a direct conversation, but they ebb and flow anticipating the nuances of each others' positions and it leads to a really compelling look at the neoliberal agenda, racism and immigration, the legacies of WWII and Yugoslavia, "transitioning," imperial aspirations of Western Europe and the US for what was once Yugoslavia--aka the Balkans.
A quick read, insightful analysis, wonderful allusions that I'll need to now read, and a sharp criticism of everything wrong with the "new Europe" and the madness of neoliberalism.
I highly recommend.
April 2, 2015
This book is great and I really think all those who demonise Alexis Tsipras should read it. Syriza is not the greatest threat to the European project - that prize goes to the technocrats in Brussels. The greatest fear for them is the rise of popular democracy as their power stands upon the general apathy of the voting public. I support a European union and I would recommend this book for all those who feel the same
September 8, 2017
It may not be clear what Europe wants, but it is all too clear what these unreconstructed Communists want, and that is an end to European neo-liberalism pushed by Germany and a return to good old Soviet hegemony. I wish I was joking as I wrote that, but this book--mercifully short at only around 220 pages including its lengthy intro--makes it pretty clear that the authors, an openly socialist Balkan lot including at least one Slovene and one Croat among them, have a variety of agendas to deal with our social woes to bring a worker's paradise into being with big government and an end to corruption. Stop me if you've heard that before [1]. If this book deserves to be read at all, it is for the breathtaking hypocrisy of the authors, which is the sort of hypocrisy one gets from the left in general. The authors claim that they have no hostility to people by class or religious faith--unlike the nationalists/right-wing populists they oppose, only to immediately engage in libelous anti-Christian (and especially anti-Catholic) rhetoric and show hatred for people because they belong to a banker class or something of that kind. Pot, meet kettle.
In terms of its contents and structure, this book is a pretty rambling and repetitive series of essays that largely repeats leftist talking points from a Balkan point of view. The authors clearly believe that they are writing to people who are in fundamental agreement with them, as they save their harshest rhetoric for mainstream politicians, bankers with human faces, Catholic priests as pedophiles, the Judeo-Christian God and both law and grace, and those who destroy Communist statues. Considering that I identify far more with most of those who the authors are attacking than with Occupy activists and Communists and others of that ilk, this book was definitely not calculated to appeal to me. When it comes to what the writers suggest, this book offers more of the same discredited policies of the left--support unrestricted immigration to destabilize existing regimes, support a powerful Russia, increase bankrupt policies of social welfare, default on debts, and so on. Over and over again the authors point to Venezuela and other South American kerplunkistans as a hope for European socialists faced with a rising tide of discontent over austerity but unable to channel it into electoral victory.
Personally, I find books like this, as tedious and as bad as they are, to be far more worthwhile than books written by leftists to those who are of other worldviews. There is something refreshingly brazen about the hypocrisy here, something that demonstrates just how little unrepentant former Communists and their acolytes have learned from the catastrophic failure of socialism and Communism wherever it is tried. While the authors argue that the left needs a certain confidence in order to recover its power, and looks in contemporary hard times as as way of gaining power, there is perhaps more cause to suspect that the politics of the left remain discredited and the refusal to admit the failure is keeping them from moving forward. The fact that the writers show a great deal of scorn for moderate leftists of the kind of Labor's third way or Obama suggests that these are people who don't want to be a part of a mainstream and certainly do not want anything approaching a Christian mindset, but want to continue the Cold War in a new phase. Lacking powerful state sponsors, they write books and whine about it. This way only readers, and not the populations of nations, suffer as a result.
[1] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2012...
In terms of its contents and structure, this book is a pretty rambling and repetitive series of essays that largely repeats leftist talking points from a Balkan point of view. The authors clearly believe that they are writing to people who are in fundamental agreement with them, as they save their harshest rhetoric for mainstream politicians, bankers with human faces, Catholic priests as pedophiles, the Judeo-Christian God and both law and grace, and those who destroy Communist statues. Considering that I identify far more with most of those who the authors are attacking than with Occupy activists and Communists and others of that ilk, this book was definitely not calculated to appeal to me. When it comes to what the writers suggest, this book offers more of the same discredited policies of the left--support unrestricted immigration to destabilize existing regimes, support a powerful Russia, increase bankrupt policies of social welfare, default on debts, and so on. Over and over again the authors point to Venezuela and other South American kerplunkistans as a hope for European socialists faced with a rising tide of discontent over austerity but unable to channel it into electoral victory.
Personally, I find books like this, as tedious and as bad as they are, to be far more worthwhile than books written by leftists to those who are of other worldviews. There is something refreshingly brazen about the hypocrisy here, something that demonstrates just how little unrepentant former Communists and their acolytes have learned from the catastrophic failure of socialism and Communism wherever it is tried. While the authors argue that the left needs a certain confidence in order to recover its power, and looks in contemporary hard times as as way of gaining power, there is perhaps more cause to suspect that the politics of the left remain discredited and the refusal to admit the failure is keeping them from moving forward. The fact that the writers show a great deal of scorn for moderate leftists of the kind of Labor's third way or Obama suggests that these are people who don't want to be a part of a mainstream and certainly do not want anything approaching a Christian mindset, but want to continue the Cold War in a new phase. Lacking powerful state sponsors, they write books and whine about it. This way only readers, and not the populations of nations, suffer as a result.
[1] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2012...
July 23, 2015
Already outdated by events, this collection of somewhat repetitive essays by two Balkan intellectuals - Slavoj Zizek and Srecko Horvat - tell us something about the tensions at the edge of the European Project as they appeared to Leftists in 2013.
Although by no means foolish, Zizek does irritate with his facile clowning around - fun perhaps for a certain type of cerebral individual when there was no hope of change but part of the problem of the political fantastic when faced by real world problems.
As dear old Marx put it, the point is to change the world and not just understand it. Zizek understands a lot but not the world of pragmatic action and actual power relations. One tires of the jokes.
Horvat is more embedded in Croatian politics so his essays and articles seem somewhat parochial at times but he does have the virtue of being able to give us material examples of the corrupt self-delusion of the advocates of neo-liberalism in the satrapies.
The introduction by Alexis Tsipras and the interview with him at the end of the book both position this as part of the creation of what would be Syriza's challenge to the European Establishment - essentially one of revolution from within under the command of intellectuals.
Right up until a few weeks ago, we might have taken this all very seriously but we have recently had the complete collapse of the stout party in Tsipras' enforced acceptance of radical austerity as the only alternative to the utter destruction of the Greek economy.
As it is, the essays now look like posturing by people who lack realism whether it be realism about the sheer weight of capitalist power within the liberal European Union or realism about how interdependent modern economies actually work.
To some extent, we can be appreciative of Tsipras' failed gamble that the European Project would show solidarity and humanity and accept the 30% debt relief that even the IMF and the Anglo-Saxons considered reasonable.
What he has shown us, unintentionally perhaps, is that, while serious capitalists understand the need for debt relief, the ersatz German corporatist version, blinded by ideology and history, rules the European Project in the most absolute of terms.
For a democratic capitalist of the Anglo-Saxon school (already wobbling in the direction of Brexit) or to the intelligent (as opposed to the intellectual) socialist, the entire exercise should be an eye-opener - the European Project as both cruel and incompetent.
But Leftists seem to live in the clouds here. They want not merely to be 'European' (a sort of essentialist fetish like being an Aryan or Proletarian) but to be committed to a Eurozone which is the mere agent of neo-liberal economics under anti-democratic bureaucratism.
These Leftists are critics of the European Project 'as it is currently constituted' and yet have no possible means for re-constituting it along the lines they want because anti-democratic neo-liberal corporatism (let is call it 'bastard capitalism') is in its very nature.
But Leftists over there and here in the United Kingdom are blind on this point. The ambition to ameliorate hell into purgatory using dreams of heaven has thrown the Left into a sort of non-achieving limbo when it comes to handling austerity.
Most Official Leftists (the Euro-Socialists and the collapsing Labour Party in the UK) still follow ancient Delorsian fantasies of social regulation and welfarism on the Nordic-French model. The New Neo-Marxist Left's fantasy is that more radical change is possible.
This collection of essays and translated articles is worth reading simply to get a sense of what drove the idealism amongst the Leftist intelligentsia in Europe right up to the final collapse into acceptance of economic occupation and Vichy status by Greece.
Nowhere is there an understanding of neo-liberalism rather than condemnation of it. Nowhere is there a viable political strategy other than a futile mass mobilisation for democratic action within the existing system.
This is a lite version of what happened in Germany after 1929. The Official Left failed to understand that Weimar was no longer fit for purpose. Young working class people and the middle classes moved towards nationalism - the brown shirts existed because of social democrat failures and failures of Marxist analysis.
When Tsipras gave his solid speech to the European Parliament, Southern European Leftists found themselves backed by Northern European Nationalists like Farage who were picking up the truth of the matter - the European Project was morally bankrupt.
All the outrage, clever word play, posturing and hope of these essays (the intellectual equivalent of the futility of Occupy which these neo-Marxists affect to despise) amount to nothing more than an autistic ideological denial of a brutal truth.
What is that brutal truth? It is that the European Project cannot be changed from within except in barely ameliorative terms. It is a German Project built around German economic cultural values moderated only by contingent political necessities.
It is based fundamentally on a global capitalist model geared to an export economy with an imperial relationship to the small countries which surround it and support it. The European South does not stand a chance.
There is no alternative but an adaptation of the Left to the national sovereignty and democracy model before the Right captures that strategy entirely for themselves. There is no inconsistency between internationalism and democratic socialist national solutions.
Tsipras' pretensions collapsed before a reality enforced on him by his economic and cultural commitment to the Euro. He has not solved Greece's problems.
All he has done (though he seems to have learned nothing himself) is to point out to Leftists (though many are too stupid to see it) that no Leftist challenge can win under the German imperial mastery of the Union.
In this sense, Germany was depressingly right that (if there was to be no listening to those outside the Euro like the British and the IMF), it might have been better for Greece to have suspended itself from the Euro. Greece might have restructured itself for a second choice of adhesion to the Project or final independence in five years or so.
The bottom line is that ideology and hope are simply not good enough when handling oneself inside any totalising and closed system. You need to understand the power relations and work within them or to subvert them with grim determination.
Either one decides to stay in and know that you will get crumbs from the table from long hours of negotiation, based on reason and what leverage one can muster, or you get out of the system and take responsibility for survival on your own.
To take an analogy from private life, you can either work for a boss and be bullied but secure or become an entrepreneur and face risk, the possibility of great wealth but also of bankruptcy.
As so often (and as many exhausted Guardian readers will know), intellectual analyses of current events are often not enormously enlightening, high on rhetoric and posturing and low on evidence and understanding of real world struggles. This collection is no different.
This might nevertheless have stood up as (at least) a feel-good book for Leftists until very recently - now it just depresses, less because of what happened and more because these apparently highly intelligent 'intellectuals' clearly knew no more than the rest of us. Time to move on ...
March 31, 2018
this book basically leads up to an endorsement for SYRIZA. the book is organized in an alternating sequence of brain-dumps from zizek and horvat which overlap to some degree.
there are some good observations mixed with some theory however there is no direct connection or dialogue - each issue is more or less an island where the writer takes some pages to develop a set of ideas. zizek's chapter on debt is the most interesting imho.
both writers are keen on their analytical techniques, but this discursive "reasoning by analogy" is really hit or miss and is not altogether sufficiently convincing or prescriptive. for a book that purports to be political not a single economic or financial statistic is provided; i mean zizek/horvat seem to wear their "philosopher" badge as an excuse to not even consider empirical evidence - this weakens the overall appeal of their argumentation. in today's world, a statistic goes a lot further than a quote from hegel.
edit: apologies, there was one stat given - the suspected %age of paedophiles working in the catholic church. again, stats make it concrete.
there are some good observations mixed with some theory however there is no direct connection or dialogue - each issue is more or less an island where the writer takes some pages to develop a set of ideas. zizek's chapter on debt is the most interesting imho.
both writers are keen on their analytical techniques, but this discursive "reasoning by analogy" is really hit or miss and is not altogether sufficiently convincing or prescriptive. for a book that purports to be political not a single economic or financial statistic is provided; i mean zizek/horvat seem to wear their "philosopher" badge as an excuse to not even consider empirical evidence - this weakens the overall appeal of their argumentation. in today's world, a statistic goes a lot further than a quote from hegel.
edit: apologies, there was one stat given - the suspected %age of paedophiles working in the catholic church. again, stats make it concrete.
November 3, 2023
I finally read something from Zizek and I also find out about this smart guy from Croatia, his co-author. Both like film references a lot. We read a lot about the situation in Greece in 2014. We also read somethings about Croatia and the Subversive Festival, which Horvat co-founded. We also read a bit about the return of the Christian conservatives. We read about Bisnia and Turkey, but the analysis is shallow at most. At this moment I am recalling Chomsky’s critique of Zizek that he is all over the place and tend to think he’s about right. We read about racism in Europe which is spot on, but again, it is anecdotal more than well-documented. We read a lot of jokes about the Gulag, which was nice, and then the big idea of the book, from Zizek, that we need a Margaret Thatcher of the “left”. Well, I don’t believe in left or right, but thank you, I got the point. We need an authoritarian leader. No thank you. Then we find Alexis Tipras ultimatum that Europe will either be democratic and social, or it won’t be at all. Does anyone know where is Tsipras right now? And then book ends with the assertion that “Europe is dead”. Mediocre book, but some ideas remain.
October 7, 2024
"A governação exerce-se agora ao nível do meio no qual os indivíduos tomam as suas decisões aparentemente autónomas: há uma externalização dos riscos que passam a ser assumidos pelos indivíduos, e já não pelas empresas ou pelos Estados. Através desta individualização das políticas sociais e desta privatização da protecção social, que se processam através do seu ajustamento às regras do mercado, a protecção torna-se condicional (deixando de ser um direito) e refere-se a indivíduos cujos comportamentos passam assim a ser objecto de avaliação. Para a maior parte das pessoas, ser um "empresário de si" significa que se exige a capacidade por parte do indivíduo de assumir os novos riscos externalizados sem contar com os recursos nem o poder necessários para o fazer adequadamente"
October 1, 2023
Yes repetitive, but these things should be exclaimed into the neoliberal echochamber until we become madder than we have already become. Horvat and Zizek are electrifying at best and playful at best and insightful at best just generally at their best. See Europe through a psychoanalysis of the debt ridden homoeconomicus, through the false optimism in Beethoven's 9th symphony, through the stark reality of denial of violence on one's borders. It is bittersweet to read this text after what can only be understood as the failure of SYRIZA to enact the valiant task bestowed to it by these renowned thinkers; but let us fail, and then fail again better.
December 29, 2023
This book is very clever, and zizek and horvat present a really vivd picture of why the eu is fundamentally flawed. The use of metaphors and examples from other countries and throughout history make for a really apt critique of modern neoliberal policy. There are some opinions and assertions which lack nuance but that is purely a matter of personal opinion. The writing style flows nicely, which is hard to achieve in a non-fiction book with two authors. Formatting the book as a brief analysis of specific nations does allow for detail in each rich history and also presents a refreshing political perspective that doesn't center around france and germany.
January 9, 2019
Excellent overview of the crisis with concrete examples. Very easy to read and well structured. Plus: the essay on debt by Slavoj Zizek was indeed very illustrative on what exactly is going on.
In addition, taking into account that the book was published in 2013/2014, and the events that followed Syriza's victory in the 2015 elections (plus the referendum), I am highly curious of Zizek's and Holvath's analysis on Syriza's capitulation.
Maybe, Horvath should explore the possibility of a second debate in Zagreb - this time marking 4 years of Syriza in government (but not in power?).
In addition, taking into account that the book was published in 2013/2014, and the events that followed Syriza's victory in the 2015 elections (plus the referendum), I am highly curious of Zizek's and Holvath's analysis on Syriza's capitulation.
Maybe, Horvath should explore the possibility of a second debate in Zagreb - this time marking 4 years of Syriza in government (but not in power?).
February 15, 2023
Yazarların Avrupa'yla ilgili eleştirilerin büyük çoğunluğuna katılsam da sorunların çözümü için önerdiklerine katılmıyorum. Her şeyden önce solun bu kadar büyütülmesine, yüceltilmesine ve yer yer idealleştirilmesine anlam veremiyorum. Kitapta bazı makaleler çok ilgi çekiciydi, özellikle Horvat tarafından yazılanlar, ama yine de beklentimin altında kaldı. Ayrıca kitapta Aleksis Tsipras'la yapılan röportajlar da mevcut. Bu bağlamda Yunanistan'la, Balkanlarla ilgili pek çok argüman bulabilirsiniz.
February 7, 2022
very Informative
Enjoyable read, although not as relevant today, it is still enlighting and fully of political analysis of Europe in the early to mid 2010s with a huge focus on Greece and the financial Crisis.
Enjoyable read, although not as relevant today, it is still enlighting and fully of political analysis of Europe in the early to mid 2010s with a huge focus on Greece and the financial Crisis.
March 8, 2021
Tek kelime ile özetlemek gerekirse: Avrupa Birliği ideallerini kaybetmiştir.
Read
September 18, 2021Approvingly quotes Stalin.
July 30, 2022
Zizek solide sur les appuis
Want to read
April 27, 2025Summary : We Europeans must fight for our share of the imperialist surplus extraction and robbery.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 8, 2024
The author mentions a few good points about our political views that we must think about, but in general it's a very biased message... The author presents a lot of problems of today's systems but don't present any solution for it... maybe because his own political view (leftist) doesn't solve the problem either...
Anyway it's a reasonable book to expand our vision of european politics and history.
Anyway it's a reasonable book to expand our vision of european politics and history.
May 10, 2016
I recommend that anybody with interests in Europe read this book to gain a better understanding about the political and socio-economic climate in the region (particularly in South-Eastern Europe). I learned a great deal about SYRIZA and what it could mean for Greece and Europe, among other things.
The following chapters were of particular interest:
Why the EU Needs Croatia More Than Croatia Needs the EU - Srecko Horvat
War and Peace in Europe: 'Bei den Sorglosen' - Srecko Horvat
Save us from the Saviours: Europe and the Greeks - Slavoj Zizek
I'm not racist, but... the blacks are coming!' - Horvat
Shoplifters of the World Unite - Zizek
Europe will be either democratic and social or it will no longer exist - Zizek
The Role of the European left - Alexis Tsipras and Zizek
One aspect in which I feel the book is lacking is in its approach to its audience. It is full of political, ideological and philosophical references, which is what repels people from politics in the first place. So, naturally this book will be picked up only by people who have an interest in these matters. And that is precisely the problem. Politics and the socio-economic functioning of our societies are of general interest. Until the general population begin to inform themselves and dig beneath the media hype, we will continue to have ill-informed populations with poor judgement. I don't really feel this book appeals to "the people". Then again, most people don't even read these days...
The book also could have used better editing or at least one more run of proofreading (I read the English version).
The following chapters were of particular interest:
Why the EU Needs Croatia More Than Croatia Needs the EU - Srecko Horvat
War and Peace in Europe: 'Bei den Sorglosen' - Srecko Horvat
Save us from the Saviours: Europe and the Greeks - Slavoj Zizek
I'm not racist, but... the blacks are coming!' - Horvat
Shoplifters of the World Unite - Zizek
Europe will be either democratic and social or it will no longer exist - Zizek
The Role of the European left - Alexis Tsipras and Zizek
One aspect in which I feel the book is lacking is in its approach to its audience. It is full of political, ideological and philosophical references, which is what repels people from politics in the first place. So, naturally this book will be picked up only by people who have an interest in these matters. And that is precisely the problem. Politics and the socio-economic functioning of our societies are of general interest. Until the general population begin to inform themselves and dig beneath the media hype, we will continue to have ill-informed populations with poor judgement. I don't really feel this book appeals to "the people". Then again, most people don't even read these days...
The book also could have used better editing or at least one more run of proofreading (I read the English version).
September 18, 2015
Europe has lost its way and is facing an existential crisis. The idea of peace, solidarity and mutual prosperity which was once the European dream has been lost. The Euro, the great hope of economic integration has become a means to impose unending, fruitless austerity on neighbours, whilst immigration rules leave migrants to drown in the Mediterranean and threatens to imprison those who save them and xenophobes, racists and separatists are on the rise in each member state.
Paraphrasing Freud's famous frustrated question, 'what does woman want?', Žižek and Horvat seek to find what is the purpose of the European Union and why, in the midst of the post-2008 crisis, Croatia wants to join the club. In a series of essays which take them from the Balkans to the streets of London the two engage in a dialetic which struggles to comprehend how Europe can have a future if, in order to save itself, it destroys that which is most worth saving.
A forward by Alexis Tsipras, since elevated to Greek Prime Minister, along with the three authors in conversation in the final chapter make this essential reading for anyone who wants to understand what is going on in Europe and which parts of the dream are still worth fighting for.
Paraphrasing Freud's famous frustrated question, 'what does woman want?', Žižek and Horvat seek to find what is the purpose of the European Union and why, in the midst of the post-2008 crisis, Croatia wants to join the club. In a series of essays which take them from the Balkans to the streets of London the two engage in a dialetic which struggles to comprehend how Europe can have a future if, in order to save itself, it destroys that which is most worth saving.
A forward by Alexis Tsipras, since elevated to Greek Prime Minister, along with the three authors in conversation in the final chapter make this essential reading for anyone who wants to understand what is going on in Europe and which parts of the dream are still worth fighting for.
June 26, 2016
I could not wait to start reading it. Very soon, I could not wait to finish it and get it out of my hands.
To begin with, the title is misleading. It should be "What does SYRIZA want? SYRIZA and its leaders." So, if you're interested in SYRIZA - this book is a must. If you want to know "What does Europe want? - you should read any other book as you won't get any answers here.
It's a messy book, quite complicated, confusing and not an easy read. Although the authors are remarkable and intelligent, they have not managed to explain their ideas in a comprehensive way. Or, I just did not get most of it...
To begin with, the title is misleading. It should be "What does SYRIZA want? SYRIZA and its leaders." So, if you're interested in SYRIZA - this book is a must. If you want to know "What does Europe want? - you should read any other book as you won't get any answers here.
It's a messy book, quite complicated, confusing and not an easy read. Although the authors are remarkable and intelligent, they have not managed to explain their ideas in a comprehensive way. Or, I just did not get most of it...
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