The Art of Shrinking Heads: The New Servitude of the Liberated in the Era of Total Capitalism

After the hell of the Nazis and the terror of Communism, it is possible that a new catastrophe has appeared on the horizon: this time it is neoliberalism that wants to create its own 'new man'.For two centuries, Kant's critical subject and Freud's neurotic subject provided us with philosophical templates for modernity, but today modern capitalism is systematically destroying these two subjects and replacing them with something new. The two subjects of modernity both presupposed some reference to a higher value or power (like Reason) which provided a symbolic guarantor, but neoliberalism, by emphasizing the exchange of commodities in the marketplace, destroys all transcendental references of this kind. Now human beings no longer look beyond themselves and no longer have to agree about symbolic values: they only have to get on with the circulation and consumption of goods. Deprived of his faculty of judgement and urged to enjoy himself without restraint, the 'new man' of neoliberalism takes centre stage in the era of global capitalism. In this biting critique of our contemporary condition Dufour shows that the radical transformation of the subject brought about by neoliberalism - what he calls 'the art of shrinking heads' - contains a new kind of violence which has far-reaching consequences for our ways of living together. Contents......Page 8 Preliminary Remarks......Page 9 1 From Modernity to Postmodernity: Mapping the Transition......Page 21 A crack in modernity......Page 22 A short treatise on submission to being, to the One, and to the Subject......Page 24 The Other......Page 28 The incompleteness of the Other......Page 29 On the structuralization of the Other......Page 30 The Other as fiction......Page 33 Figures of the Other......Page 34 Are there ages of the unconscious?......Page 36 Modernity: elements for a history of the Other, continued......Page 40 Reason, or modernity as multireferential space......Page 43 The three features of the modern subjective condition: differend, neurosis and criticism......Page 45 Postmodernity as the decline of the Subject......Page 50 What remains of the grand narratives?......Page 52 The monotheist religious narrative......Page 53 The narrative of the nation-state......Page 54 The narrative of the emancipation of the working people......Page 58 A candidate Subject: Nature......Page 59 Postmodern democracy as the end of grand narratives......Page 61 Neopagan narratives, or the generalized floating of values......Page 62 The market as new Subject?......Page 64 The fall of ternary definitions and the rise of self-referential definitions......Page 75 From hysteria to hysterology......Page 78 Postmodernity and new forms of unconscious manifestation......Page 79 From guilt to shame: the question of the superego......Page 89 Postmodern forms of compensating for the absence of the Other......Page 94 2 'Homo Zappiens' Goes to School: The Denial of Generational Difference......Page 100 Television......Page 102 Text and image......Page 106 The symbolic function......Page 109 The discursive sequence and the authority of speech......Page 114 Generational denial......Page 116 What is a pedagogue?......Page 120 ‘lf we can't educate them let’s anaesthetize them!'......Page 123 3 The Denial of ‘Sexion’......Page 128 Surprise. . .......Page 129 How to get rid of Freud’s symptom......Page 137 Psychoanalysis and the old temptation of incest......Page 144 How to erase Lacan’s formulae for sexuation......Page 147 Choosing our sex in the market......Page 153 A question about psychoanalysis in the postmodern period......Page 157 4 Neoliberalism as Desymbolization: A New Form of Domination......Page 159 Domination......Page 161 Two dominations......Page 163 Neoliberalism and desyrnbolization......Page 165 Venal desymbolization......Page 168 Generational desymbolization......Page 171 Nihilistic desymbolization......Page 173 Bibliography......Page 178 Index......Page 189 Contents 8 Preliminary Remarks 9 1 From Modernity to Postmodernity: Mapping the Transition 21 A crack in modernity 22 A short treatise on submission to being, to the One, and to the Subject 24 The Other 28 The incompleteness of the Other 29 On the structuralization of the Other 30 The Other as fiction 33 Figures of the Other 34 Are there ages of the unconscious? 36 Modernity: elements for a history of the Other, continued 40 Reason, or modernity as multireferential space 43 The three features of the modern subjective condition: differend, neurosis and criticism 45 Postmodernity as the decline of the Subject 50 What remains of the grand narratives? 52 The monotheist religious narrative 53 The narrative of the nation-state 54 The narrative of the emancipation of the working people 58 A candidate Subject: Nature 59 Postmodern democracy as the end of grand narratives 61 Neopagan narratives, or the generalized floating of values 62 Communitarian narratives 64 The market as new Subject? 64 The fall of ternary definitions and the rise of self-referential definitions 75 From hysteria to hysterology 78 Postmodernity and new forms of unconscious manifestation 79 From guilt to shame: the question of the superego 89 Postmodern forms of compensating for the absence of the Other 94 2 'Homo Zappiens' Goes to School: The Denial of Generational Difference 100 Television 102 Text and image 106 The symbolic function 109 Education 114 The discursive sequence and the authority of speech 114 Generational denial 116 What is a pedagogue? 120 ‘lf we can't educate them let’s anaesthetize them!' 123 3 The Denial of ‘Sexion’ 128 Surprise. . . 129 How to get rid of Freud’s symptom 137 Psychoanalysis and the old temptation of incest 144 How to erase Lacan’s formulae for sexuation 147 Choosing our sex in the market 153 A question about psychoanalysis in the postmodern period 157 4 Neoliberalism as Desymbolization: A New Form of Domination 159 Domination 161 Two dominations 163 Neoliberalism and desyrnbolization 165 What is desymbolization? 168 Venal desymbolization 168 Generational desymbolization 171 Nihilistic desymbolization 173 Bibliography 178 Index 189 After the hell of the Nazis and the terror of Communism, it is possible that a new catastrophe has appeared on the horizon: this time it is neoliberalism that wants to create its own new man. For two centuries, Kants critical subject and Freuds neurotic subject provided us with philosophical templates for modernity, but today modern capitalism is systematically destroying these two subjects and replacing them with something new. The two subjects of modernity both presupposed some reference to a higher value or power (like Reason) which provided a symbolic guarantor, but neoliberalism, by emphasizing the exchange of commodities in the marketplace, destroys all transcendental references of this kind. Now human beings no longer look beyond themselves and no longer have to agree about symbolic values: they only have to get on with the circulation and consumption of goods. Deprived of his faculty of judgement and urged to enjoy himself without restraint, the new man of neoliberalism takes centre stage in the era of global capitalism. In this biting critique of our contemporary condition Dufour shows that the radical transformation of the subject brought about by neoliberalism what he calls the art of shrinking heads contains a new kind of violence which has far-reaching consequences for our ways of living together. "For two centuries, Kant's critical subject and Freud's neurotic subject provided us with philosophical templates for modernity, but today modern capitalism is systematically destroying these two subjects and replacing them with something new. The two subjects of modernity both presupposed some reference to a higher value or power (like Reason) which provided a symbolic guarantor, but neoliberalism, by emphasizing the exchange of commodities in the marketplace, destroys all transcendental references of this kind. Now human beings no longer look beyond themselves and no longer have to agree about symbolic values: they only have to get on with the circulation and consumption of goods. Deprived of his faculty of judgement and urged to enjoy himself without restraint, the 'new man' of neoliberalism takes centre stage in the era of global capitalism." "In this critique of our contemporary condition Dufour shows that the radical transformation of the subject brought about by neoliberalism - what he calls 'the art of shrinking heads' - contains a new kind of violence which has far-reaching consequences for our ways of living together."--Jacket