Against the Personification of Democracy : A Lacanian Critique of Political Subjectivity

"Against the Personification of Democracy offers a new theory of political subjectivity that puts the dilemma of desire into the forefront. By using Lacan to read key figures in political philosophy, the book demonstrates why democratic theory -- representative or radical - is not only ineffective when it comes to the best form of political cohabitation, but also productive of destructive and self-defeating forces. The book begins with the debate between Hobbesian and Lockeian notions of subjectivity to argue that the nature of political subjectivity is a function of the problem of desire. It then considers the question of the proper structure of political cohabitation in light of Hannah Arendt's insights into what happened to the stateless in World War II, leading to a distinction between the person in a bare and unadorned form and the public persona that is represented in most forms of democracy. Lacan is used to reread the question of political subjectivity, but, unlike radical democratic theory, the book argues against agonistic, representative, and thus endless democracy. Such a political formation is seen as an instigation and ultimate disappointment to desire (the persona), which leads to general negative outcomes, including genocide, concentration camps, and the removal of rights. Arguing against Zizek's proposal that a radical Act can save us politically, the book proposes a universal political formation as the only way out of the dilemma of political desire. This formation is not dependent on public personas, but rooted in actual persons meeting in their locality and sovereign to no one. An indispensable text for anyone interested in political theory, political philosophy, and democratic theory, Against the Personification of Democracy critiques positive theories of sovereignty through its analysis of political subjectivity and the problem of desire. More importantly, it provides a truly universal theory of democratic cohabitation that escapes political desire and thus the scapegoats of democratic failure, not to mention the anxiety of the impossibility of the democratic promise."--Bloomsbury Publishing. Much Of Recent Political Philosophy Can Be Criticized For Failing To Provide A Full Account Of That Very Subjectivity That It Is Intended To Protect And Promote. Against The Personification Of Democracy, However, Takes Its Cue From Classical Philosophers, Such As Thomas Hobbes And Plato, Who Consider Establishing The Nature Of Subjectivity A Necessary Starting Point For Elaborating A Proper Political Structure. Using Hobbes And Jacques Lacan As A Lens For Viewing The Structure Of Human Subjectivity, Classical And Contemporary Political Theories Are Analyzed And Critiqued For Failing To Understand Those Fundamental Issues Stemming From The Structure Of Desire And Its Relation To Sovereignty. As Such, Wesley Swedlow Demonstrates How Hobbes Locates The Problem Of Desire Directly Within The Problem Of Human Cohabitation, Though Hobbes Fails To Account For The Devastating Results Of Placing An Absolute Emphasis On A Totalizing Other. These Results, Such As The Nazi Holocaust, Guantanamo Bay, And, No Less, General Racism And Xenophobia, Are Shown To Be Understood By Means Of Lacan's Symbolic, Imaginary, And Real Formulations Of Subjectivity And Society, Leading To The Central Thesis That Our Imaginary Orientation To Society Leads To The Real Devastations We See Throughout History. The Latter Insight Evolves Into A Critique Of All Forms Of Representative Democracy And, More Importantly, Radical Democratic Theory Itself, Which Is Often Dependent On Certain Lacanian Formulations. However, Swedlow Shows That Radical Democratic Theory Is More Often Than Not Stuck Within The Same Imaginary Strangleholds That Representative Democracy Leads To, And Perhaps Worsens Them Through Its Call For An Intensification Of Agonistic But Indirect Political Participation. Alternatively, An Anti-sovereign Political System Requiring Direct Universal Political Participation Is Proposed To Resolve The Dilemmas Of An Indirect Democracy.--jacket. Introduction : Problems With Reality -- Desire And Ideology In The Leviathan -- Internal Externalities -- The Return Of The Political -- The Personification Of Democracy -- Conclusion : Against The Personification Of Democracy. By Wesley C. Swedlow. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. "Against the Personification of Democracy" offers a new theory of political subjectivity that puts the dilemma of desire into the forefront, using Lacan to read key figures in political philosophy. "Against the Personification of Democracy" offers a new theory of political subjectivity that puts the dilemma of desire into the forefront. By using Lacan to read key figures in political philosophy, the book demonstrates why democratic theory - representative or radical - is not only ineffective when it comes to the best form of political cohabitation, but also productive of de Offers a fresh theory of political subjectivity that puts the dilemma of desire into the forefront. By using Lacan to read key figures in political philosophy, this book demonstrates why democratic theory is not only ineffective when it comes to the best form of political cohabitation, but also productive of destructive and self-defeating forces.