Pluto Press Slavoj Zizek: An Introduction (Modern European Thinkers)

'When I read Ian Parker's manuscript, I experienced an underlying solidarity: despite obvious differences, we share the same basic political concerns and visions. And this makes his critical remarks always pertinent!' Slavoj Zizek 'This is not simply the best critical introduction to Zizek – in a much more radical sense, this is the only critical introduction to Zizek. Parker's study is much more than an important contribution to the ongoing debate: it redefines its very terms.' Yannis Stavrakakis, author of 'Lacan and the Political' 'A sharp, clear and radical analysis.' Christian Ingo Lenz Dunker, Professor of Psychoanalytic Theory and Lacanian Psychoanalyst, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Since the publication of his first book in English in 1989, Slavoj Zizek has quickly become one of the most widely read and contentious intellectuals alive today. With dazzling wit and tremendous creativity he has produced innovative and challenging explorations of Lacan, Hegel and Marx, and used his insights to exhilarating effect in analyses of popular culture. While Zizek is always engaging, he is also elusive and even contradictory. It can be very hard to finally determine where he stands on a particular issue. Is Zizek Marxist or Post-Marxist? How seriously should we take his recent turn to Christianity? Slavoj Zizek: A Critical Introduction shows the reader a clear path through the twists and turns of Zizek's writings. Ian Parker takes Zizek's treatment of Hegel, Lacan and Marx in turn and outlines and assesses Zizek's interpretation and extension of these thinkers' theories. While Parker is never hastily dismissive of Zizek's innovations, he remains critical throughout, aware that the energy of Zizek's writing can be bewitching and beguiling as well as engaging and profound. Review When I read Ian Parker's manuscript, I experienced an underlying solidarity: despite obvious differences, we share the same basic political concerns and visions. And this makes his critical remarks always pertinent! (Slavoj Zizek) Extremely timely (Derek Hook, Wits University) This is not simply the best critical introduction to Zizek – in a much more radical sense, this is the only critical introduction to Zizek. Parker's study is much more than an important contribution to the ongoing debate: it redefines its very terms. If this work does not become a standard work of reference, the only conclusion will be that Western academia is caught in an obscure desire to self-destruct. (Yannis Stavrakakis, author of Lacan and the Political) A sharp, clear and radical analysis of Zizek's works which is sustained by an acute combination of a close reading of Zizek as a Lacanian and an examination of his cultural context. Finally we can see the clinical background to his work and how a critical approach finds a new way of dealing with different theoretical frameworks. This book reopens crucial questions about dialectics and Kantian problems forgotten in the Lacanian tradition. It is an invitation to return to Lacan. (Christian Ingo Lenz Dunker, Professor of Psychoanalytic Theory and Lacanian Psychoanalyst, Sao Paulo, Brazil.) About the Author Ian Parker is Professor of Psychology in the Discourse Unit at Manchester Metropolitan University, where he is managing editor of 'Annual Review of Critical Psychology'.' He is a member of Psychology Politics Resistance, which is now part of the Asylum collective. He has produced seventeen books, including The Crisis in Modern Social Psychology, and how to end it (1989), Qualitative Psychology: Introducing Radical Research (2005) and Slavoj Zizek: A Critical Introduction (Pluto Press, 2004).