Žižek's Politics

by Jodi Dean

Slavoj Žižek is perhaps the most important, original and enigmatic philosophers writing today. Many readers both inside and outside of the academy have been intrigued by both the man and his writing yet, given the density of his prose and the radical views he often espouses, they have struggled to get a handle on his basic positions. He draws upon and makes continual reference to the challenging concepts of Kant, Hegel, Marx, Lacan, and Badiou. His prose is dense and frenetic and his dialectical twists and turns seem to make it impossible to attribute to him any specific position: he celebrates St. Paul and orthodox Christians even as he engages in a spirited defense of Lenin.

Žižek's Politics will synthesize Žižek's myriad political writings into a systematic theory and put his theory into dialogue with key concepts and positions in contemporary political thought. It will provide readers with a much needed critical introduction to the political thought of one of the world's most widely known and eccentric thinkers.

Genres: Philosophy, Politics

260 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Jodi Dean teaches political and media theory in Geneva, New York. She has written or edited eleven books, including The Communist Horizon and Democracy and Other Neoliberal Fantasies.

Reviews

[Tomislav · Rating 1 out of 5]

As vague and pointless as any Žižek’s book. It even has long-winded film analogies, but at least it doesn’t retell same old jokes that he uses all the time. The author supplements standard Žižekian analysis by occasionally adding how all kinds of things are racist and sexist. The book is not really an attempt at systematic overview, if something like that is even possible, but contains four thematic chapters, summarizing some of his more notable ideas.

First, it explains Žižek’s use of Lacanian theory in political analysis of enjoyment. His approach follows strangely familiar pattern. Evil capitalist corporations keep people chained in the world of ideological shadows but his revolutionary way of thinking can dispel illusions and reveal the true world. Žižek is briefly compared with other sectarian leaders of the far left whose disagreements over interpretations arise mostly because the basic concepts they use are completely arbitrary and hard to connect with any simple, tangible facts. There are also some riveting descriptions of babies trying to achieve unio mystica with mother, a real eye-opener for understanding politics.

Second chapter is about distinction between socialism and fascism. Starting as an objective, disinterested scientist and using the exquisite Lacanian method, you will come to the surprising conclusion that fascism is evil and socialism is good. This part is so full of historical fabrications, fanciful projections and muddled terminology that Dean admits it is a bit clumsy, but she still spends the whole fifty pages discussing it. Third chapter is about Žižek’s disappointment with democracy. In 1990s Eastern Europe political reforms were supposed to create a superb synthesis of socialism and democracy but instead it turned out that there is actually a lot of voters who support capitalism or nationalism, and, worst of all, people who live their lives without even caring about politics. The last part of the book is something about law and love.

Most of the thinking presented in the book is just over-the-top complaints, defeatism and pessimism, there are barely any positive, enthusiastic ideas. Words like community, solidarity and emancipation are regularly thrown around but in a very vague way, as if belonging to a collective is the obvious solution to all life’s problems. Žižek is known for his hateful and misanthropic comments and it would be most interesting to see how such attitudes are combined with his ideas of egalitarian, communal living, but the book sadly ignores this great topic. Only occasionally are more specific, affirmative ideas mentioned. For example, Dean quotes Žižek’s nostalgic reminiscence how in German Democratic Republic "private problems themselves (from divorce to illness) are put into their proper perspective by being discussed in one’s working collective". Listening to your coworkers’ endless talk about their distasteful relationships problems and health ailments, and having them pry their noses into your private life, is the sort of torturous, dull existence that seems to be utopia for socialists. When you take away the jokes, criticisms and jargon Žižek’s political philosophy comes down to such grandiose ideas.