Manchester book reviews |
Democracy and other neoliberal fantasiesby Professor Jodi DeanTo be reviewed by Simon Belt April 2011
From the back cover:
Product Description
The result is a psychotic politics where certainty displaces credibility and the circulation of intense feeling trumps the exchange of reasons. Dean's critique ranges from her argument that the term 'democracy' has become a meaningless cipher invoked by the left and right alike to an analysis of the fantasy of free trade underlying neo-liberalism, and from an examination of new theories of sovereignty advanced by politicians and left academics to a look at the changing meanings of 'evil' in the speeches of U.S. presidents since the mid-twentieth century. She emphasizes the futility of a politics enacted by individuals determined not to offend anyone, and she examines questions of truth, knowledge, and power in relation to 9/11 conspiracy theories. Dean insists that any reestablishment of a vital and purposeful left politics will require shedding the mantle of victimization, confronting the marriage of neo-liberalism and democracy, and mobilizing different terms to represent political strategies and goals.
Review
"Jodi Dean's new book provides what we have all been waiting for: the authentic theoretical analysis of how ideology functions in today's global capitalism. Her diagnosis of 'communicative capitalism' discloses how our 'really-existing democracies' curtail prospects of radical emancipatory politics. Dean demonstrates this status of democracy as a political fantasy not through cheap pseudo-Marxist denunciations, but through a detailed examination of social, symbolic, and libidinal mechanisms and practices. To anyone who continues to dwell in illusions about liberal democracy, one should simply say: 'Hey, didn't you read Democracy and Other Neoliberal Fantasies?'" --Slavoj Zizek, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
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