Violence

Description

Zizek argues that the physical violence we see is often generated by the systemic violence that sustains our political and economic systems. With the help of eminent philosophers like Marx, Engel and Lacan, as well as frequent references to popular culture, he examines the real causes of violent outbreaks like those seen in Israel and Palestine and in terrorist acts around the world. Ultimately, he warns, doing nothing is often the most violent course of action we take.

Slavoj Zizek is a Slovenian sociologist, postmodern philosopher and cultural critic. In 1990 he ran for Presidency of the Republic of Slovenia and is currently the international director of the Centre for Advanced Studies in the Humanities at Birkbeck. He is the author of Welcome to the Desert of the Real; How to Read Lacan as well as feature films Zizek! and The Pervert's Guide to Cinema.

'A startling critic of great daring, who doesn't watch his back or observe the pieties as he swerves and swoops through the age of globalised images and fabricated realities.' Times Literary Supplement'Zizek is A... the most formidably brilliant exponent of psychoanalysis, indeed of cultural theory in general, to have emerged in Europe for some decades.' Terry Eagleton, University of Oxford'[Zizek] stares out, dishevelled, from the page and dares the reader to disagree.' The Guardian