CLICKBAIT CAPITALISM : economies of desire in the twenty-first century

The notion of ‘clickbait’ speaks to the intersection of money, technology, and desire, suggesting a cunning ruse to profit from unsavoury inclinations of one kind or another. Clickbait capitalism pursues the idea that the entire contemporary economy is just such a ruse; an elaborate exercise in psychological capture and release. Pushing beyond rationalist accounts of economic life, this volume puts psychoanalysis and political economy into conversation with the cutting edges of capitalist development. Perennial questions of death, sex, aggression, enjoyment, despair, hope, and revenge are followed onto the terrain of the contemporary, with chapters devoted to social media, online dating apps, cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and meme stocks. The result is a unique and compelling portrait of the latest institutions to stage, channel, or reconfigure the psychic energies of political and economic life.

The notion of 'clickbait' speaks to the intersection of money,technology, and desire, suggesting a cunning ruse to profit fromunsavoury inclinations of one kind or another. Clickbaitcapitalism pursues the idea that the entire contemporaryeconomy is just such a ruse; an elaborate exercise in psychologicalcapture and release. Pushing beyond rationalist accounts ofeconomic life, this volume puts psychoanalysis and politicaleconomy into conversation with the cutting edges of capitalistdevelopment. Perennial questions of death, sex, aggression,enjoyment, despair, hope, and revenge are followed onto the terrainof the contemporary, with chapters devoted to social media, onlinedating apps, cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and meme stocks. The result isa unique and compelling portrait of the latest institutions tostage, channel, or reconfigure the psychic energies of politicaland economic life.

Front matter Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Contents List of Contributors Preface Introduction: The desire called libidinal economy Narcissism, rage, avocado toast Capital as death denial The eroticism of technology and finance Digital paranoia in a post-truth world Social networks and serendipitous desire Desiring-infrastructures in the crypto economy Normative unconscious processes and US racial capitalism Enjoying inequality Despair and hope among young Korean investors Financialising the eschaton Anxiety and self-sabotage in the neoliberal university Conclusion: Click here to end capitalism Index