Capitalist Bulimia: Lacan on Marx and crisis

Vighi, Fabio ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4245-0144 2016. Capitalist Bulimia: Lacan on Marx and crisis. Crisis and Critique 3 (3) , pp. 415-432.

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Abstract

When, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Jacques Lacan confronted Marx’s critique of the political economy, he went to the heart of its most crucial notion: surplus-value. In developing his psychoanalytic approach, he claimed that Marx’s surplus-value occupies the position of the symptom/sinthome as a kernel of non quantifiable enjoyment (jouissance) that defies valorisation. This paper offers an interpretation Lacan’s discourse theory, highlighting its socially critical character as it appears, particularly, in the Capitalist discourse (the fifth discourse that subverts the structure of the previous four). It then focuses on Lacan’s approach to Marx’s understanding of surplus-value, arguing that by reading surplus-value as symptom, Lacan gets to the heart of the enigma of the capitalist mode of production as unveiled by Marx. Finally, the paper examines the relevance that Lacan’s reading of Marx might have for the understanding of the crisis of contemporary capitalism and its substantial deadlock.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Modern Languages
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	surplus-value, Lacan, Marx, symptom, capitalism, crisis, bulimia.
Additional Information:	Yes, Crisis and Critique is an open access journal. Yes, of course feel free to upload the PDF of your paper in your publication page. Agon Hamza Editor-in-Chief Crisis and Critique
Publisher:	KMD
ISSN:	2311-8172
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	14 February 2017
Last Modified:	04 May 2023 11:54
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/96602

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• Capitalist Bulimia: Lacan on Marx and crisis. (deposited 25 Nov 2016 13:28)
  • Capitalist Bulimia: Lacan on Marx and crisis. (deposited 16 Feb 2017 16:18) [Currently Displayed]

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