As an unprecedented global pandemic sweeps the planet, who better than the supercharged Slovenian philosopher Slavoj iek to uncover its deeper meanings, marvel at its mind-boggling paradoxes and speculate on the profundity of its consequences?<br /> <br /> We live in a moment when the greatest act of love is to stay distant from the object of your affection. When governments renowned for ruthless cuts in public spending can suddenly conjure up trillions. When toilet paper becomes a commodity as precious as diamonds. And when, according to iek, a new form of communism – the outlines of which can already be seen in the very heartlands of neoliberalism – may be the only way of averting a descent into global barbarism.<br /> <br /> Written with his customary brio and love of analogies in popular culture (Quentin Tarantino and H. G. Wells sit next to Hegel and Marx), iek provides a concise and provocative snapshot of the crisis as it widens, engulfing us all.
Оглавление
Slavoj Žižek. Pandemic!
Contents
Guide
Pages
PANDEMIC! COVID-19. Shakes the World
INTRODUCTIONNOLI ME TANGERE
1.WE’RE ALL IN THE SAME BOAT NOW
Notes
2.WHY ARE WE TIRED ALL THE TIME?
Notes
3.TOWARDS A PERFECT STORM IN EUROPE
4.WELCOME TO THE VIRAL DESERT
Notes
5.THE FIVE STAGES OF EPIDEMICS
6.THE VIRUS OF IDEOLOGY
7.CALM DOWN AND PANIC!
Notes
8.MONITOR AND PUNISH? YES, PLEASE!
Notes
9.IS BARBARISM WITH A HUMAN FACE OUR FATE?
Notes
10.COMMUNISM OR BARBARISM, AS SIMPLE AS THAT!
Notes
11.THE APPOINTMENT IN SAMARA: A NEW USE FOR SOME OLD JOKES
Notes
APPENDIXTWO HELPFUL LETTERS FROM FRIENDS
POLITY END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT
Отрывок из книги
SLAVOJ ŽIŽEK
Today, however, in the midst of the coronavirus epidemic, we are all bombarded precisely by calls not to touch others but to isolate ourselves, to maintain a proper corporeal distance. What does this mean for the injunction “touch me not?” Hands cannot reach the other person; it is only from within that we can approach one another—and the window onto “within” is our eyes. These days, when you meet someone close to you (or even a stranger) and maintain a proper distance, a deep look into the other’s eyes can disclose more than an intimate touch. In one of his youthful fragments, Hegel wrote:
.....
No coronavirus can take this from us. So there is a hope that corporeal distancing will even strengthen the intensity of our link with others. It is only now, when I have to avoid many of those who are close to me, that I fully experience their presence, their importance to me.
I can already hear a cynic’s laughter at this point: OK, maybe we will get such moments of spiritual proximity, but how will this help us to deal with the ongoing catastrophe? Will we learn anything from it?
