Sex in the modern world: Can even a ‘yes, yes, yes’ actually mean ‘no?’

When commentators analyze the new wave of women’s struggles, one of their conclusions is that “no means no” is not enough to lead to a “happy sex life.” This is because it still leaves space for more subtle forms of coercion. Recently, in The Guardian, we saw an exemplary case of this line of argument: “Badgering… Continue reading Sex in the modern world: Can even a ‘yes, yes, yes’ actually mean ‘no?’

Sex, Contracts, and Manners

Sex, Contracts, and Manners

In the West, at least, we are becoming massively aware of the extent of coercion and exploitation in sexual relations. However, we should also bear in mind the (no less massive) fact that millions of people on a daily basis flirt, play the game of seduction, with the clear aim to get a partner for… Continue reading Sex, Contracts, and Manners

Is Lacan An Anti-Philosopher? (2/3 – Slavoj Žižek) + transcript

[Transcript by Thomas Matthews below video.] Difficult to follow, I hope you hear me, glad to be here, glad to be with Alain. Of course in this 20 minute form it’s just a little bit too little time to really develop a line of thought- all one can do is more trace, define positions, oppositions,… Continue reading Is Lacan An Anti-Philosopher? (2/3 – Slavoj Žižek) + transcript

Philosopher Slavoj Žižek settles the “Is it OK to punch a Nazi?” question once and for all

Philosopher Slavoj Žižek settles the “Is it OK to punch a Nazi?” question once and for all

“Is it OK to punch a Nazi?” is a question that has ricocheted around Twitter ever since Jan. 20, when “alt-right” provocateur and American white supremacist Richard Spencer got slugged on video by a masked protester during Donald Trump’s US presidential inauguration. Footage of the punch spread quickly around the internet, where it became a… Continue reading Philosopher Slavoj Žižek settles the “Is it OK to punch a Nazi?” question once and for all

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)

The Cologne attacks were an obscene version of carnival

The Cologne attacks were an obscene version of carnival

Who are the “hateful eight” in Quentin Tarantino’s film of the same name? The ENTIRE group of participants – white racists and the black Union soldier, men and women, law officers and criminals – they are all equally mean, brutal and revengeful. The most embarrassing moment in the film occurs when the black officer (played… Continue reading The Cologne attacks were an obscene version of carnival

We need to talk about Turkey

We need to talk about Turkey

There is something weird about the solemn declarations that we are at war against the Islamic State – all the world’s superpowers against a religious gang controlling a small patch of mostly desert land… This doesn’t mean that we should not focus on destroying Isis, unconditionally, with no “but…”. The only “but” is that we… Continue reading We need to talk about Turkey

The Paris attacks and a disturbance in a cupola

The Paris attacks and a disturbance in a cupola

Yes, the Friday 13th Paris terrorist attacks should be unconditionally condemned, but… no, no alleviating circumstances, it is just that they should be REALLY condemned, for which more is needed than the simple pathetic spectacle of solidarity of all of us (free, democratic, civilized people) against the murderous Muslim Monster. In the first half of… Continue reading The Paris attacks and a disturbance in a cupola

Divine Violence in Ferguson

Divine Violence in Ferguson

In August 2014, violent protests exploded in Ferguson, a suburb of St. Louis, after a policeman shot to death an unarmed black teenager suspected of robbery: For days, police tried to disperse mostly black protesters. Although the details of the accident are murky, the poor black majority of the town took it as yet another… Continue reading Divine Violence in Ferguson

Rotherham child sex abuse: it is our duty to ask difficult questions

Rotherham child sex abuse: it is our duty to ask difficult questions

The outline of what happened in Rotherham is now more or less clear: at least 1,400 children were subjected to brutal sexual exploitation between 1997 and 2013; children as young as 11 were raped by multiple perpetrators, abducted, trafficked to other cities, beaten and intimidated. The perpetrators were (almost exclusively) of Pakistani origin, and their… Continue reading Rotherham child sex abuse: it is our duty to ask difficult questions