ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on Žižek’s politics, and how his conceptualisation of ideology affects his theory of potentials for radical change. It looks more at his 21st century works, such as The Parallax View and In Defence of Lost Causes. First, it considers how capitalism obstructs and diffuses radical politics, for Žižek, either in the way the commodity form reproduces capitalism in everyday practices, or how consumerism represents a permissive demand to enjoy. It argues that different ideological rationalisations can represent varying levels of commitment to the commodity form, and that even if the authoritative logic of neoliberalism is hidden, it still involves particular expectations. The chapter then turns to Žižek’s theory of the Lacanian ‘act’, in which subjects transcend the symbolic horizon. The contention here is that a political act has to be the result of conscious oppositional ideas, and that Žižek’s emphasis on class struggle is the necessary framing for this articulation. Then, in regard to Žižek’s notions of political action, the analysis supports his emphasis on negation and refusal to mark a distinction between the existing political horizon and class politics, but also argues that it remains necessary to directly contest affirmative beliefs. The chapter ends by considering Žižek’s vision of ‘the Party’, or an oppositional force that mediates between radical and everyday politics, to coordinate such contestation.
