Slavoj Zizek honors BDS call on trip to Israel/Palestine Zizek in conversation with Khaled Hourani and Remco de Blaaij on the implications, possibilities and dangers of Picasso in Palestine. Filmed on 22 June 2011 in Ramallah at the International Art Academy Palestine. The organizers of philosopher Slavoj Zizek‘s events in Israel/Palestine issued the following press release: World-renowned philosopher, Slavoj Zizek of Slovenia, had yesterday concluded a week-long visit to the region. During his week’s visit, Zizek delivered a three-day seminar in Ramallah on the topic of Cinema and Politics, along with celebrated film producer and Focus Features CEO, James Schamus. He did so following the guidelines of PACBI, stipulating that he will only speak at a venue that will publicly renounce the occupation, and state unequivical support for full equal rights to all Palestinians. Adam Horowitz is Co-Editor of Mondoweiss.net.
Slavoj Zizek In the good old Soviet times, the Serbsky Institute in Moscow was the psychiatric flagship for punitive political control; its psychiatrists developed painful drug methods to make detainees talk and extract testimony for use in national security investigations. Underpinning the ability of psychiatrists to incarcerate people was an invented political mental disorder known as vyalotekushchayaâ ("sluggish schizophrenia"). Psychiatrists described the disease as a person appearing quite normal most of the time but who would break out with a severe case of "inflexibility of convictions," or "nervous exhaustion brought on by his or her search for justice," or "a tendency to litigation" or "reformist delusions." Later, Gibson offered a more substantial apology, announcing through a spokesman that he would undergo rehabilitation for alcohol abuse. Why lose our precious time on such a vulgar incident? What underlies the final reconciliation is, obviously, an obscene quid pro quo.
Slavoj Zizek: Philosophy - Key Ideas • Key Ideas • Books: A Summary He was born the only child of middle-class bureaucrats (who hoped he would become an economist) on 21 March 1949 in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia and, at that time, part of Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia was, then, under the rule of Marshal Tito (1892-1980), one of the more 'liberal' communist countries in the Eastern Bloc, although, as Zizek points out, the freedoms the regime granted its subjects were rather ambivalent, inducing in the population a form of pernicious self-regulation. One aspect of state control that did have a positive effect on Zizek, however, was the law which required film companies to submit to local university archives a copy of every film they wished to distribute. Zizek's interest in the films of Hollywood was matched only by a dislike for the films and, particularly, the literature of his own country. . At all stages in Zizek's life, then, we can detect the insistence of a theme. Slavoj Zizek's Bibliography Photo credit: Kate Milford
Slavoj Zizek: Capitalism with Asian values - Talk to Al Jazeera From the Middle East to the streets of London and cities across the US there is a discontent with the status quo. Whether it is with the iron grip of entrenched governments or the widening economic divide between the rich and those struggling to get by. But where are those so hungry for change heading? How profound is their long-term vision to transform society? Slovenian-born philosopher Slavoj Zizek, whose critical examination of both capitalism and socialism has made him an internationally recognised intellectual, speaks to Al Jazeera's Tom Ackerman about the momentous changes taking place in the global financial and political system. In his distinct and colourful manner, he analyses the Arab Spring, the eurozone crisis, the "Occupy Wall Street" movement and the rise of China. Slavoj Zizek's latest book is Living in the End Times (Verso).
Notes Toward A New Political Taxonomy | Politics It has become clear to me over the years that one of the causes of persistent confusion in our political arguments is the interchangeable use of taxonomic terms that, while they may have a natural affinity, are not actually synonyms. Three terms that tend to get used interchangeably are: Left Liberal Progressive Their counterparts on the other side of the political spectrum are treated similarly: Right Conservative Reactionary The shades of difference among the meanings of the words within the triads, however, are not minor. I propose, therefore, to accentuate the differences between the words commonly lumped together, to clear up all ambiguities by assigning technical meanings to commonly-used terms, and thereby define a three-dimensional space within which political writers and thinkers could more clearly be pegged. Herewith my new definitions: 1. The core of the difference between a liberal and a conservative outlook relates to one’s basic assumptions about human capacities. 2. 3.
92% Of Americans Are Socialists They Just Don't Know It Wealth inequality is as extreme today as it was during the Great Depression years. In real terms, the wealthy hold the majority of this nation’s wealth and income. The problem in this country is mass disillusionment. When the respondents were asked to pick an unlabeled pie chart “How much should the top 20% own?” Here is the actual study. Americans Prefer Sweden For the first task, we created three unlabeled pie charts of wealth distributions, one of which depicted a perfectly equal distribution of wealth. 92% of the respondents believe in the socialistic economic wealth distribution of Sweden. This current Republican Great Recession has started to open the eyes of many Americans. Look around the country and you will see town hall meetings in predominately conservative districts erupt in anger over the possible implementation of a Medicare Voucher system.
Their Own Worst Enemies by Dominic Holden - Seattle News N o sooner had six panelists finished opening remarks last Saturday evening than a woman scampered onstage and yelled, "Mic check!" It was an orchestrated effort by several dozen Occupy Seattle activists to use the "People's Mic" to interrupt a forum at Town Hall—a forum in favor of Occupy Wall Street, featuring three wonks and three activists from Occupy Seattle. Their stunt replaced what was supposed to be an informed discussion with an uninformative shoutathon about process that consumed most of the evening. They booed opinions they disagreed with and drove supporters out of the building. "I walked in supportive and left unsupportive," said 69-year-old Mary Ann, who declined to provide her last name. She added: "And I believe in every one of their damn principles." Across the country, police and mayors have been sweeping occupiers out of their camps; conversely, here in Seattle, protesters have become their own greatest public-relations liability.
Occupy Atlanta encamps on lawn of house under foreclosure threat An Atlanta police officer sent an email to Occupy Atlanta protesters asking for help with his house, which is under threat of foreclosure (when the family tried to refinance their mortgage, the bank responded with a foreclosure notice). Dozens of Atlanta occupiers shifted their camp to the house's lawn, erecting "This home is occupied" signs and promising to put their bodies between the house and the sheriff's deputies when the eviction comes. The neighbors are highly supportive. Last week, Tawanna Rorey’s husband, a police officer based in Gwinnett County, e-mailed Occupy Atlanta to explain that his home was going to be foreclosed on and his family was in danger of being evicted on Monday. So within a few hours Occupy Atlanta developed an action plan to move to Snellville, Georgia on Monday to stop the foreclosure. Occupy Atlanta Encamps In Neighborhood To Save Police Officer’s Home From Foreclosure (via Digg)
Reporters For Right-Wing Publication Daily Caller Beaten By NYPD, Helped By Protesters By Zaid Jilani on November 17, 2011 at 1:20 pm "Reporters For Right-Wing Publication Daily Caller Beaten By NYPD, Helped By Protesters" The Daily Caller's Michelle Fields faced abuse from the NYPD and help from protesters. The right-wing Daily Caller website has been anything but kind to Occupy Wall Street, even going so far as to condemn the protest movement as generating riots, murder, and arson. But when a couple of Daily Caller employees were at Occupy Wall Street this morning, it was the very protesters they had been demonizing who ended up helping them out. Daily Caller reporter Michelle Fields — who faced off with actor Matt Damon earlier this year over education policy — and videographer Direna Cousins both claim they were attacked by the New York Police Department (NYPD) while covering the raucous protests in the Financial District today. “Direna had a camera in her hand and I had a microphone, and we were being hit,” she said. Update