The Neoliberal Undead : Essays on Contemporary Art and Politics

"The Neoliberal Undead" describes the frightening world of class restoration, neoliberal austerity, ecological meltdown, and neo-imperialism - a disaster capitalism that breeds mutant ideological justifications for itself and the inevitability of disorder, poverty and suffering. What role does culture play in this world of markets and how do new contestatory forms enable a leftist solidarity that can move cultural radicalism beyond the postmodern obsession with new subjectivities? Rather than become the symptoms of democratic materialism, signing up for endless culture wars, "The Neoliberal Undead" argues for a rethinking of radical cultural leftism against the terms of the dominant global situation. The relentless reduction of art criticism and art production under capitalist relations requires that the living separate themselves from the abstractions of globalization and reconnect with revolutionary theory CONTENTS......Page 4 Acknowledgements......Page 5 Introduction......Page 7 Art World as Zombie Culture: Excellence, Exodus and Ideology......Page 11 Culture and the Communist Turn......Page 22 Alterglobal Allegory: Condé and Beveridge Against the Commodification of Water......Page 41 By Any Means Necessary: From the Revolutionary Art of Emory Douglas to the Art Activism of Jackie Sumell......Page 52 Afterthoughts on Engaged Art Practice: ATSA and the State of Emergency......Page 67 The Non-Productive Role of the Artist: The Creative Industries in Canada......Page 83 Protesting Degree Zero: On Black Bloc Tactics, Culture and Building the Movement......Page 102 The Québec Maple Spring, the Red Square and After......Page 127 Globalization and the Politics of Culture: An Interview with Imre Szeman......Page 133 Notes......Page 154 Charting new directions for cultural theory and practice and offering alternatives to the project of neoliberal class restoration.