Slavoj Žižek, Welcome to the Desert of the Real

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One of Žižek’s more spirited interventions is Welcome to the Desert of the Real: Five Essays on September 11 and Related Dates (2001). This book (abbreviated Welcome below) is a pointed attack on the ideology of global capitalism. Žižek argues that — after the tragic events of September 11, 2001 — the United States of America had an opportunity to confront the symbolic inconsistency of its liberal-democratic ideology. But despite assertions that nothing would “ever be the same again”, the United States failed even to recognize the possibility for substantial change. Instead, the USA found ways to not only reaffirm, but even to reinforce its commitment to world-market globalism.

The …

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Citation: Wood, Kelsey. "Welcome to the Desert of the Real". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 14 February 2013 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=23496, accessed 28 March 2024.]

23496 Welcome to the Desert of the Real 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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