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

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

Should the left's answer to rightist populism really be a 'Me Too' - Part I

The latest trend in the vagaries of Leftist politics is the weird movement of MeToo. The Left, however, should learn from the rise of Rightist populism, because WeToo can play the populist game… We are repeatedly told that Left populism is de facto winning and it works. But where and how does it work? Everywhere where it… Continue reading Should the left’s answer to rightist populism really be a “Me Too”? Part I

Are liberals and populists just searching for a new master?

The rise of populism, nativism and nationalism in recent years has challenged perceptions of what ordinary people want from politicians. Some see the anti-establishment trend as a rejection of centralised power. Others suggest the real hunger is for a moral authority that appears to be lacking in today’s capitalism. Among the latter group is Slavoj… Continue reading Are liberals and populists just searching for a new master?

Hegel on Donald Trump’s “Objective Humor”

Hegel on Donald Trump's "Objective Humor"

What can we learn from Hegel on Donald Trump and his liberal critics? Quite a lot, surprisingly. In his critical account of Romantic irony, Hegel scathingly dismisses it as an exercise of empty negativity, of the vain subjectivity which perceives itself as elevated over every objective content, making fun of everything, caught in “the hither… Continue reading Hegel on Donald Trump’s “Objective Humor”

Donald Trump’s topsy-turvy world

Donald Trump's topsy-turvy world

The most depressing aspect of the post-electoral period in the US is not the measures announced by the President-elect but the way the bulk of the Democratic Party is reacting to its historic defeat. Notably, its supporters oscillate between two extremes: the horror at the Big Bad Wolf called Trump and the obverse of this… Continue reading Donald Trump’s topsy-turvy world

The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology (transcript/subtitles)

The Pervert's Guide to Ideology (2012)

They Live (1988) I’ll give you a choice: either put on these glasses or start eating that trashcan. I already am eating from the trashcan all the time. The name of this trashcan is ideology. The material force of ideology makes me not see what I am effectively eating. It’s not only our reality which… Continue reading The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology (transcript/subtitles)

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

Reply to My Critics, Part Two (re: The Sexual is Political)

Reply to My Critics, Part Two (re: The Sexual is Political)

Two general observations about my numerous critics seem pertinent to me. First, the large majority of attacks on my text follow the rules of the tweet culture with short snaps, retorts, sarcastic or outraged remarks, and with no space for the multiple steps of a line of argumentation. One passage (a sentence, or even a… Continue reading Reply to My Critics, Part Two (re: The Sexual is Political)

The Sexual is Political

The Sexual is Political

Segregated toilet doors are today at the center of a big legal and ideological struggle. On March 29, 2016, a group of 80 predominantly Silicon Valley-based business executives, headlined by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Apple CEO Tim Cook, signed a letter to North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory denouncing a law that prohibits transgender people… Continue reading The Sexual is Political

The Spectre Is Still Roaming Around! (Introduction)

The Spectre Is Still Roaming Around!

The first, automatic reaction of today’s enlightened liberal reader to The Communist Manifesto is: Is the text not simply wrong on many empirical accounts, with regard to the picture it gives of the social situation, as well as with regard to the revolutionary perspective it sustains and propagates? Was there ever a political manifesto that was more clearly… Continue reading The Spectre Is Still Roaming Around! (Introduction)