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A review by 4harrisons
The Year of Dreaming Dangerously by Slavoj Žižek
5.0
A great short volume with all the standard Zizek style. In other words it is an eclectic mix of philosophy, psychoanalysis, and cultural commentary with a vague underpinning theme. If you like Zizek then you'll enjoy it, if you hate Zizek you'll probably hate it.
His focus here is the various protest movements which erupted across the world in 2011, from Occupy Wall Street to the Arab Spring. When I say 'focus' though bear in mind that this is Zizek, so what that means in practice is a vague theme that is used as the springboard for a slightly rambling text that takes in The Wire, West Side Story, G K Chesterton, and the social taboos against smoking.
But if you enjoy Zizek's writing then that is part of the attraction. He begins by outlining the current state of things from a basically Marxist perspective, while acknowledging that 'immaterial' labour is currently 'hegemonic' in place of the highly organised industrial workforce of Marx's time. He moves on to make the case for resistance and fundamental change. That the attempt to preserve the remnants of or return to the mid-twentieth century post war consensus is doomed to fail. That democracy can no longer contain or control modern capitalism.
Zizek reasserts the need for a revolutionary break rather than an incremental or democratic approach. This leads him to reviews of the protest movements of 2011 and in particular Occupy Wall Street and the Arab Spring.
On Occupy, Zizek makes the case for it's importance as protest, as the recognition that things are broken and must change. He refutes the common criticism that the movement didn't express concrete goals. This would be a failure, indicating acceptance of the need to operate within the rules of the status quo when what is needed is in fact a radical rupture.
On the Arab Spring Zizek addresses the desire for the west to see the various movements as an attempt to move to western liberal democracy and not acknowledge the actual desire for change. He attacks the subsequent rise of radical Islam as a failure to allow space for radical change that is not towards western (neo-)liberalism. "We do not need a dialogue between religions (or civilisations) we need solidarity between those who struggle for justice."
He ends with thoughts on the state of the modern left, chiming strongly with my own view that the lack of an overarching analysis as a driving force is holding back practical action. "What is conspicuously absent is any consistent Leftist reply to these events, any project of how to transpose islands of chaotic resistance into a positive program of social change."
As always with Zizek I suspect some will not enjoy this book. But for me it is both a challenging and thought-provoking read with much to say about the state we're in and some pointers to where progressives should look to make future change happen.
I wrote some further thoughts on Zizek's view of the left, protest, and how to change capitalism here:
https://marxadventure.wordpress.com/2018/04/30/reforming-capitalism/
His focus here is the various protest movements which erupted across the world in 2011, from Occupy Wall Street to the Arab Spring. When I say 'focus' though bear in mind that this is Zizek, so what that means in practice is a vague theme that is used as the springboard for a slightly rambling text that takes in The Wire, West Side Story, G K Chesterton, and the social taboos against smoking.
But if you enjoy Zizek's writing then that is part of the attraction. He begins by outlining the current state of things from a basically Marxist perspective, while acknowledging that 'immaterial' labour is currently 'hegemonic' in place of the highly organised industrial workforce of Marx's time. He moves on to make the case for resistance and fundamental change. That the attempt to preserve the remnants of or return to the mid-twentieth century post war consensus is doomed to fail. That democracy can no longer contain or control modern capitalism.
Zizek reasserts the need for a revolutionary break rather than an incremental or democratic approach. This leads him to reviews of the protest movements of 2011 and in particular Occupy Wall Street and the Arab Spring.
On Occupy, Zizek makes the case for it's importance as protest, as the recognition that things are broken and must change. He refutes the common criticism that the movement didn't express concrete goals. This would be a failure, indicating acceptance of the need to operate within the rules of the status quo when what is needed is in fact a radical rupture.
On the Arab Spring Zizek addresses the desire for the west to see the various movements as an attempt to move to western liberal democracy and not acknowledge the actual desire for change. He attacks the subsequent rise of radical Islam as a failure to allow space for radical change that is not towards western (neo-)liberalism. "We do not need a dialogue between religions (or civilisations) we need solidarity between those who struggle for justice."
He ends with thoughts on the state of the modern left, chiming strongly with my own view that the lack of an overarching analysis as a driving force is holding back practical action. "What is conspicuously absent is any consistent Leftist reply to these events, any project of how to transpose islands of chaotic resistance into a positive program of social change."
As always with Zizek I suspect some will not enjoy this book. But for me it is both a challenging and thought-provoking read with much to say about the state we're in and some pointers to where progressives should look to make future change happen.
I wrote some further thoughts on Zizek's view of the left, protest, and how to change capitalism here:
https://marxadventure.wordpress.com/2018/04/30/reforming-capitalism/