File spoon-archives/lyotard.archive/lyotard_2002/lyotard.0211, message 4


Date: Sun, 10 Nov 2002 17:31:00 +0000
From: "steve.devos" <steve.devos-AT-krokodile.co.uk>
Subject: readings on the 11th september


  Eric/|All

Following on from my emailing of the piece from the Guardian - I finally 
got round to I've finally got round to reading Zizek's text 'welcome to 
the desert of the real' published by Verso. Over the past year I've read 
many texts that have touched on the WTC event and the responses of 
postmodern global capitalism - few however have been as directly 
political and as directed as the Zizek. (The general tendency seems to 
have been some liberal hand-wringing, the dominance of the new-right 
(post-modernists to fault) and the gradual emergence of 
anti-colonial/anti-war alliances.

However where Zizek's text gets especially interesting is in his brief 
discussion of the fear that haunts europe - which he describes 
remarkably well namely that "... the true oppostion today is not the one 
between the First world and the Third world...." (The postmodern global 
capitalism of America and its colonies ) "...and the remaining secound 
world (Europe)..." The fear within the european states is of course the 
reason for the avoidence of the developing conflict - evidenced by both 
the supposed rise in anti-americanism and the associated lack of 
sympathy with american suffering amoung some european intellectuals 
(true - especially in my specific case) The true story is the opposite - 
the lack of any european political initiatives - and compliance with the 
US, everyone gave in to US pressure. The human costs for this behavior 
being in the US third world colonies - Israel/Palestine, Afghanistan and 
the future one of Iraq... but the lack of european political initiatives 
- isn't this because of a fear of the inevitable conflict ?

Has anyone else read this text - including the rather interesting 
critique of Hardt/Negri on page 147?

Steve



   

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