Should the left’s answer to rightist populism really be a “Me Too”? Part II

Should the left’s answer to rightist populism really be a “Me Too”;? Part I Let’s take an (artificially) clear-cut case. Imagine a democracy, in which a large majority of voters succumb to the anti-immigrant populist propaganda and decide in a referendum to close borders to the refugees and make life more difficult for those who… Continue reading Should the left’s answer to rightist populism really be a “Me Too”? Part II

Political Correctness Goes to the Vatican

Political Correctness Goes to the Vatican

Pope Francis usually displays the right intuitions in matters theological and political. Recently, however, he committed a serious blunder in endorsing the idea, propagated by some Catholics, of changing a line in the Lord’s Prayer. The prayer’s contentious bit asks God to “lead us not into temptation”: “It is not a good translation because it… Continue reading Political Correctness Goes to the Vatican

Don’t believe the liberals – there is no real choice between Le Pen and Macron

Don’t believe the liberals – there is no real choice between Le Pen and Macron

The title of a comment piece which appeared in The Guardian, the UK voice of the anti-Assange-pro-Hillary liberal left, says it all: “Le Pen is a far-right Holocaust revisionist. Macron isn’t. Hard choice?” Predictably, the text proper begins with: “Is being an investment banker analogous with being a Holocaust revisionist? Is neoliberalism on a par with… Continue reading Don’t believe the liberals – there is no real choice between Le Pen and Macron

Slavoj Zizek on Clinton, Trump and the Left’s Dilemma

Slavoj Zizek on Clinton, Trump and the Left's Dilemma

José Saramago’s [amazon asin=0156032732&text=Seeing] tells the story of the strange events in the unnamed capital city of an unidentified democratic country. When the election day morning is marred by torrential rains, voter turnout is disturbingly low, but the weather breaks by mid-afternoon and the population heads en masse to their voting stations. The government’s relief… Continue reading Slavoj Zizek on Clinton, Trump and the Left’s Dilemma

Disorder under the heaven

Disorder under the heaven

Late in his life, Freud asked the famous question “Was will das Weib?”, “What does a woman want?”, admitting his perplexity when faced with the enigma of the feminine sexuality. A similar perplexity arouses today, apropos the Brexit referendum: what does Europe want? The true stakes of this referendum become clear if we locate it… Continue reading Disorder under the heaven

The Idea of Communism (Introduction)

The Idea of Communism (Introduction)

The long night of the left is drawing to a close. The defeat, denunciations and despair of the 1980s and 1990s, the triumphalist ‘end of history’, the unipolar world of American hegemony — all are fast becoming old news. In Europe, in the year 2000, Jürgen Habermas and Ulrich Beck enthused about the European Union… Continue reading The Idea of Communism (Introduction)

Beyond Mandela Without Becoming Mugabe

[Transcript below video.] In view of the difficult situation in which we all, in Europe, are, now I have quite many things to say. So, let me begin. Today, the very idea of a radical social transformation appears as an impossible dream, but this term (impossible) should make us think. Impossible and possible are distributed… Continue reading Beyond Mandela Without Becoming Mugabe

In the Wake of Paris Attacks the Left Must Embrace Its Radical Western Roots

In the Wake of Paris Attacks the Left Must Embrace Its Radical Western Roots

In the first half of 2015, Europe was preoccupied by radical emancipatory movements (Syriza and Podemos), while in the second half the attention shifted to the “humanitarian” topic of the refugees. Class struggle was literally repressed and replaced by the liberal-cultural topic of tolerance and solidarity. With the Paris terror killings on Friday, November 13,… Continue reading In the Wake of Paris Attacks the Left Must Embrace Its Radical Western Roots