ABSTRACT
Historicism, as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary, refers to any of the various beliefs that social and cultural phenomena cannot be considered independently of their historical context; the practice of studying something with reference to its historical context. While Zizek admits the role that contingency plays in the course of historical events, he rejects as reductionist the belief that historical phenomena can be explained only in terms of the contingent factors ushering them into existence, a conviction institutionalized by the theoretical technique turned ideological doctrine Zizek alternatively calls radical historicism and historicist relativism. The only way to realize the disparate demands of the anti-globalization movement is to opt for the "vertical logic" of a common, positive programme that would drive history forwards by encountering the Real of global capitalism. While historicism aims to win battles within the class war, the point of Zizekian historicity is to win the class war itself and today that war appears lost.
