{"title":"Todd McGowan","description":"\u003cp\u003eTodd McGowan's works delve into the intersections of \u003cstrong\u003ephilosophy and psychoanalysis\u003c\/strong\u003e, exploring themes such as desire, ideology, and emancipation. His writing challenges readers to reconsider familiar concepts through rigorous analysis, often engaging with complex thinkers like Hegel and Lacan.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn addition to philosophical inquiry, McGowan's reflections on culture and film, notably in titles like \u003cem\u003eThe Impossible David Lynch\u003c\/em\u003e, offer rich interpretations of contemporary art and cinema. His books provide a compelling blend of \u003cstrong\u003ecritical theory and cultural critique\u003c\/strong\u003e that will appeal to thoughtful readers of philosophy and the arts.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"emancipation-after-hegel-by-todd-mcgowan-9780231192712","title":"Emancipation After Hegel","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHegel is making a comeback. After the decline of the Marxist Hegelianism that dominated the twentieth century, leading thinkers are rediscovering Hegel's thought as a resource for contemporary politics. What does a notoriously difficult nineteenth-century German philosopher have to offer the present? How should we understand Hegel, and what does understanding Hegel teach us about confronting our most urgent challenges?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn this book, Todd McGowan offers us a Hegel for the twenty-first century. Simultaneously an introduction to Hegel and a fundamental reimagining of Hegel's project, \u003cem\u003eEmancipation After Hegel\u003c\/em\u003e presents a radical Hegel who speaks to a world overwhelmed by right-wing populism, authoritarianism, neoliberalism, and economic inequalities.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMcGowan argues that the revolutionary core of Hegel's thought is contradiction. He reveals that contradiction is inexorable and that we must attempt to sustain it rather than overcoming it or dismissing it as a logical failure. McGowan contends that Hegel's notion of contradiction, when applied to contemporary problems, challenges any assertion of unitary identity as every identity is in tension with itself and dependent on others.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAn accessible and compelling reinterpretation of an often-misunderstood thinker, this book shows us a way forward to a new politics of emancipation as we reconcile ourselves to the inevitability of contradiction and find solidarity in not belonging.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47000603558124,"sku":"9780231192712","price":106.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/7983823482270.jpg?v=1763288619"},{"product_id":"the-impossible-david-lynch-by-todd-mcgowan-9780231139557","title":"The Impossible David Lynch","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTodd McGowan launches a provocative exploration of weirdness and fantasy in David Lynch's groundbreaking oeuvre. He studies Lynch's talent for blending the bizarre and the normal to emphasize the odd nature of normality itself.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHollywood is often criticised for distorting reality and providing escapist fantasies, but in Lynch's movies, fantasy becomes a means through which the viewer is encouraged to build a revolutionary relationship with the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eConsidering the filmmaker's entire career, McGowan examines Lynch's play with fantasy and traces the political, cultural, and existential impact of his unique style. Each chapter discusses the idea of impossibility in one of Lynch's films, including the critically acclaimed \u003cem\u003eBlue Velvet\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Elephant Man\u003c\/em\u003e; the densely plotted \u003cem\u003eLost Highway\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eMulholland Drive\u003c\/em\u003e; the cult favourite \u003cem\u003eEraserhead\u003c\/em\u003e; and the commercially unsuccessful \u003cem\u003eDune\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMcGowan engages with theorists from the \"golden age\" of film studies (Christian Metz, Laura Mulvey, and Jean-Louis Baudry) and with the thought of Sigmund Freud, Jacques Lacan, and Hegel. By using Lynch's weirdness as a point of departure, McGowan adds a new dimension to the field of auteur studies and reveals Lynch to be the source of a new and radical conception of fantasy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47599475065068,"sku":"9780231139557","price":117.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/82971357bc415948cbe0bc07466f76fb.jpg?v=1778022400"},{"product_id":"self-sabotage-by-todd-mcgowan-9781509573370","title":"Self-Sabotage","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eSelf-Sabotage\u003c\/i\u003e contends that an unconscious impulse to undermine our own interests plays a dominant role in our lives. The idea of a primary drive to self-destruction is at odds with the prevailing common sense in a world where almost everyone believes that we strive to flourish. Yet often we fail to flourish not because some people are wicked but because the drive to sabotage ourselves outweighs the pleasures of flourishing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOur tendency to self-sabotage distorts our politics, throws off our romantic relationships, and generally makes human existence difficult. It is why we become involved with partners who continually create unhappiness for us, and also why we elect leaders who derail the nation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAlthough the act of self-sabotage is clearly self-destructive, it appeals to us because it has a creative power. Through sacrificing ourselves, we create sublime value in the world. Our willingness to sacrifice our own interest elevates the value of the object we pursue and lifts it out of the realm of the ordinary.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSelf-sabotage leads to immense amounts of social harm. But at the same time, the tendency to self-destruction provides the basis for our ability to act ethically and surmount social pressure in the name of some higher value.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47650579120364,"sku":"9781509573370","price":23.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781509573370-self-sabotage.jpg?v=1779327945"},{"product_id":"capitalism-and-desire-by-todd-mcgowan-9780231178730","title":"Capitalism and Desire","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDespite creating vast inequalities and propping up reactionary world regimes, capitalism has many passionate defenders—not because of what it withholds from some and gives to others. Capitalism dominates, Todd McGowan argues, because it mimics the structure of our desire while hiding the trauma that the system inflicts upon it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003ePeople from all backgrounds enjoy what capitalism provides, but at the same time are told more and better is yet to come. Capitalism traps us through an incomplete satisfaction that compels us toward the new, the better, and the more.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCapitalism's parasitic relationship to our desires gives it the illusion of corresponding to our natural impulses, which is how capitalism's defenders characterise it. By understanding this psychic strategy, McGowan hopes to divest us of our addiction to capitalist enrichment and help us rediscover enjoyment as we actually experienced it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBy locating it in the present, McGowan frees us from our attachment to a better future and the belief that capitalism is an essential outgrowth of human nature. From this perspective, our economic, social, and political worlds open up to real political change.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEloquent and enlivened by examples from film, television, consumer culture, and everyday life, \u003cem\u003eCapitalism and Desire\u003c\/em\u003e brings a new, psychoanalytically grounded approach to political and social theory.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48010548052204,"sku":"9780231178730","price":51.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780231178730-capitalism-and-desire.jpg?v=1785151427"},{"product_id":"pure-excess-by-todd-mcgowan-9780231217590","title":"Pure Excess","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTodd McGowan forges a new theory of capitalism as a system based on the production of more than what we need: pure excess. He argues that the promise of more—more wealth, more enjoyment, more opportunity, without requiring any sacrifice—is the essence of capitalism. Previous socioeconomic systems set up some form of the social good as their focus. Capitalism, however, represents a revolutionary turn away from the good and the useful toward excessive growth, which now threatens the habitability of the planet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDrawing on psychoanalytic theory, McGowan shows how the production of commodities explains the role of excess in the workings of capitalism. Capitalism and the commodity ensnare us with the image of the constant fulfilment of our desires—the seductive but unattainable promise of satisfying a longing that has no end. To challenge this system, McGowan turns to art, arguing that it can expose the psychological mechanisms that perpetuate capitalist society and reveal the need for limits. Featuring lively writing and engaging examples from film, literature, and popular culture, \u003cem\u003ePure Excess\u003c\/em\u003e uncovers the hidden logic of capitalism—and helps us envision a noncapitalist life in a noncapitalist society.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48010605691116,"sku":"9780231217590","price":49.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780231217590-pure-excess.jpg?v=1785153759"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.pro\/collections\/todd-mcgowan.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}