In Defense of Lost Causes
In this combative major new work, philosophical sharpshooter Slavoj Zizek looks for the kernel of truth in the totalitarian politics of the past.
Examining Heidegger's seduction by fascism and Foucault's flirtation with the Iranian Revolution, he suggests that these were the 'right steps in the wrong direction.' On the revolutionary terror of Robespierre, Mao and the bolsheviks, Zizek argues that while these struggles ended in historic failure and horror, there was a valuable core of idealism lost beneath the bloodshed.
A redemptive vision has been obscured by the soft, decentralized politics of the liberal-democratic consensus. Faced with the coming ecological crisis, Zizekk argues the case for revolutionary terror and the dictatorship of the proletariat. A return to past ideals is needed despite the risks. In the words of Samuel Beckett: 'Try again. Fail again. Fail better.'
Paperback, 530 pages
ISBN: 9781844674299
October 2009
$22.95 / £12.99
Other Editions
Ebook
ISBN: 9781844674909
October 2009
$17.99
ISBN: 9781844671083
April 2008
$34.95 / £19.99
Reviews
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“The most dangerous philosopher in the West.”
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“Addictively eclectic … He contrives to leave the reader, as usual, both exhilarated and disoriented, standing in the middle of a scorched plain strewn with the rubble of smashed idols.”
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“A wealth of political and philosophical insight.”
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“A monument to imaginative, risk-taking and rigorous scholarship.”
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“Exhilarating, inspiring, thought-provoking.”
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“Outrageous, provocative and entertaining.”
Blog
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Slavoj Žižek on the Occupy movement for Al Jazeera— videos and transcript
Slavoj Žižek has been interviewed by Al Jazeera to give his unique perspective on the tumultuous changes happening in the world financial and political systems. In an extensive conversation with Tom Ackerman, Žižek discussed the Arab Spring, London Riots and the Occupy movement, as well as the various financial and political crises across the world from Europe to India. Throughout the discussion, Žižek explored the themes of violence across the political spectrum and his irresistible desire to provoke friends and enemies alike.
Visit Al Jazeera to view the interview in situ.
Žižek also visited St Marks bookshop to discuss his views on the Occupy Wall Street protest.
Discussions
Begin a discussion about this book-
Did Zizek read Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472)?
When Zizek says that there remain only two teories that still show and practice the engaged notion of the real: marxism and psicoanalisis, I started to wonder if he had read Alberti. I consider that this humanist from the Renaissance developped a theory that practices and engages a notion of the real in many of his books including De re aedificatoria. So if Zizek read him, I would like to know why he doesn´t consider his theory as so.
Other books by Slavoj Žižek
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Contingency, Hegemony, Universality
by Judith Butler, Ernesto Laclau, et al. -
Did Somebody Say Totalitarianism?
by Slavoj Žižek -
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Lacan (But Were Afraid to Ask Hitchcock)
Edited by Slavoj Žižek
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First As Tragedy, Then As Farce
by Slavoj Žižek -
For They Know Not What They Do
by Slavoj Žižek -
The Fragile Absolute
by Slavoj Žižek
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The Idea of Communism
Edited by Costas Douzinas and Slavoj Žižek -
The Idea of Communism 2
Edited by Slavoj Žižek -
The Indivisible Remainder
by Slavoj Žižek
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Iraq
by Slavoj Žižek -
Lacan
Edited by Slavoj Žižek -
Less Than Nothing
by Slavoj Žižek
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Living in the End Times
by Slavoj Žižek -
Mapping Ideology
Edited by Slavoj Žižek -
The Metastases of Enjoyment
by Slavoj Žižek
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The Plague of Fantasies
by Slavoj Žižek -
Revolution at the Gates
by V. I. Lenin -
The Sublime Object of Ideology
by Slavoj Žižek
