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Slavoj Žižek
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Like a Thief in Broad Daylight: Power in the Era of Post-Human Capitalism Audio CD – MP3 Audio, March 1, 2021

by Slavoj iek (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars 185 ratings
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In recent years, techno-scientific progress has started to utterly transform our world—changing it almost beyond recognition. In this extraordinary new book, renowned philosopher Slavoj Zizek turns to look at the brave new world of Big Tech, revealing how, with each new wave of innovation, we find ourselves moving closer and closer to a bizarrely literal realization of Marx's prediction that "all that is solid melts into air." With the automation of work, the virtualization of money, the dissipation of class communities, and the rise of immaterial, intellectual labor, the global capitalist edifice is beginning to crumble, more quickly than ever before—and it is now on the verge of vanishing entirely.

But what will come next? Against a backdrop of constant socio-technological upheaval, how could any kind of authentic change take place? In such a context, Zizek argues, there can be no great social triumph—because lasting revolution has already come into the scene, like a thief in broad daylight, stealing into sight right before our very eyes. What we must do now is wake up and see it.

Urgent as ever, Like a Thief in Broad Daylight illuminates the new dangers as well as the radical possibilities thrown up by today's technological and scientific advances, and their electrifying implications for us all.
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  1. Print length
    1 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Tantor and Blackstone Publishing
  4. Publication date
    March 1, 2021
  5. Dimensions
    5.3 x 7.5 inches
  6. ISBN-13
    979-8200243013
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About the Author

Slavoj iek is a Hegelian philosopher, Lacanian psychoanalyst, and political activist. He is international director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities and Eminent Scholar at Kyung-Hee University, Seoul. His previous books include Living in the End Times, First as Tragedy, Then as Farce, Trouble in Paradise and, most recently, The Courage of Hopelessness.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08ZBJQVC2
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Tantor and Blackstone Publishing
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 1, 2021
  • Edition ‏ : ‎ Unabridged
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 1 pages
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8200243013
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.3 x 7.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 out of 5 stars 185 ratings

About the author

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Slavoj Žižek

Slavoj Žižek

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"The most dangerous philosopher in the West," (says Adam Kirsch of The New Republic) Slavoj Zizek is a Slovenian philosopher and cultural critic. He is a professor at the European Graduate School, International Director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities, Birkbeck College, University of London, and a senior researcher at the Institute of Sociology, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. His books include "First as Tragedy, Then as Farce;" "Iraq: The Borrowed Kettle;" "In Defense of Lost Causes;" "Living in the End Times;" and many more.

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Top reviews from the United States

  • todd french
    5.0 out of 5 stars A Thinker we need to read
    Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2020
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Zizek gets a lot of flack from liberals, but I don't see why after reading this book. Zizek write compellingly, thinks broadly about issues facing the world today from climate change to race and gender (among others). His ability to bring together many strands of philosophical and psychological is quite impressive to say the least. I found his social and cultural critiques to be challenging, incisive, and completely necessary in this confused time. I think this book is a must read for anyone interested in the philosophy of Zizek; it shows, in a very sensitive way, how one man can use his keen intellect to cut to the heart of today's most contentious issues.
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  • Kiral
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great
    Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2021
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Said to be pop philosophy but don't let it fool you it's sorta dense but very great when you sit down and read it
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  • Matthew Rapaport
    4.0 out of 5 stars Zizek in his best mode skewering modern cultural shibboleths. Occasionally loses direction
    Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    I do not altogether agree with Zizek, but I do think he is among the best social and political commentators of our times. In this book his primary theme is the present fragmentation of the world's cultures and classes and all of the knock-on effects that manifest in many of the crazy seeming political outcomes, economic events, litigation, and social activity in a Facebook world, that pervade our present day news. He also points to the future and extends much of this process of fragmentation into it particularly as concerns technology: social media, artificial intelligence, ecological disaster, and genetic manipulation. His opening question is, given the present political milieu, "What is the left to do now"?

    Zizek has a particular flair for teasing out implications of technology and politics for the psychology of the human condition. All the great Zizek stigmata are present. Hegel's interpretation of history, Marx, Freud, Lacan, and Badiou are all tapped for insight. He rests much on analysis of literature and in particular here science fiction movies, being our technological and cultural pointer to the future, and there is other material from film, even love stories (mostly failed love) he uses to illustrate authenticity both human and revolutionary. There are also a few of his jokes. His critique of feminism and the #MeToo movement is excellent as is his examination the present status and fragmentation in civil rights.

    Zizek observes that what were once movements of universal inclusion have become balkanized into many separate demands for identity recognition. The first [modern] feminist and civil rights movements were about inclusion, acceptance into the greater whole of society. Today instead these movements are about the demand to be recognized as, in effect, separate but equal. Groups that once might have been allies in the fight for inclusion now tear at one another in counter productive ways. How are women to work together to erase the stigma of social difference when black women or gay women now put their energy into a demand for acceptance of themselves as a separate class? This phenomenon in turn results in strangely topsy-turvy political stances in which (in Poland for example) the present right-wing government supports traditionally left-wing policies towards the working class leaving the left to criticize their failure to support demands of identity politics having nothing to do with the production of goods and services.

    All of this he blames on Capitalism. Of course Capitalism is complicit in all of the present day problems. It is, after all, the economic engine at the heart of everything that happens. Put another way, whatever happens, whatever choices (social or political) human beings make, if there is a way to make money on it, Capitalism will find that way and exploit it further exacerbating any problems that emerge. But Zizek is surely well enough read to know that the economic engine is only one factor in many contributing to the present fragmentation. Yes Capitalism appears to support the process because they can, in fact, exploit human weakness to make money. But this is also much about the way Capitalism is conducted, the morality (or lack thereof) of Capitalists, and Zizek seems not to take notice of this distinction.

    The book gets muddy here and there. In one place he suggests the next revolutionary class is not the exploited low or semi-skilled worker whose job is replaced by robot, but the class that builds, programs, and maintains those robots! In places Zizek seems to be calling for violent revolution, a beginning again from the beginning (whatever that might mean) despite the inevitable years (generations?) of misery and death of billions that this (he recognizes) would inevitably precipitate. In other places he recognizes that today this is foolhardy. Precipitating so much destruction, so much misery would be morally unconscionable. Better to advocate adjusting the existing order rather than overthrowing it. Global Capitalism has, in effect, become too big to fail and Zizek appears sometimes to concede this for the present day.

    In the end Zizek seems to struggle through this book. Which of the symbolic paths illuminated by fiction (literature and film) is the right choice? He isn't always sure (which is fine, none of us should be sure), but in the end he never gets around to answering his question "What should the left do now?" Yes we have in the West, as he points out in his last chapter, been fooled by our life within the confines of a system that feeds, clothes, and houses us, at least most of us. We have the fiction of freedom, while (Zizek admits) true freedom demands slavery to "the cause". Yes we are too deep into this fiction of freedom to want any break with it. Not only would the break be a lot of work, it would cause a lot of misery. Misery is coming (ecological and economic catastrophe) anyway. Why add the death and destruction of a revolution led by fanatics who cannot know what will really happen, what outcome the revolution will have other than the sure result that it will be bloody.
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  • james durham
    5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful book.
    Reviewed in the United States on March 13, 2019
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    was in pristine condition upon arrival
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  • Cliente de Amazon
    5.0 out of 5 stars Got my book
    Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2019
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    I got it
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  • CJA
    5.0 out of 5 stars A Forceful Marxist Critique of the Postmodern Order
    Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2019
    I just learned of Zizek, who is considered perhaps the leading Marxist philosopher of the day. I give the book 5 stars because he is a powerful thinker to be reckoned with, though one really can't love his writing. Some critical Marxists do write beautifully, but most, like Zizek, lapse into unpardonable jargon. And the carping against fellow travelers on the left always comes off as a bit petty.

    On the other hand, the criticism of the conventional left as merely enabling a fundamentally sick system is at the core of Marxist philosophy, and cannot be lightly dismissed. Zizek does a good job of using examples of current political developments to argue that the left simply got into bed with the powers that be. As a result the voters in 2016 in the U.K. and U.S. were left with a choice between conservatives and neo-fascism with a veneer of populism. The ability of the right to coopt populism and the abject failure of the left to even consider the dispossessed middle class does explain a great deal.

    Zizek is at his best in warning that the problem is not Trump, but what made Trump possible. He skewers the liberals' predilection for focusing on ethnic, gender, and racial politics, while ignoring the institutionalized exploitation at the core of modern capitalism. Does the white supremacist with a megaphone really need education or social censure? Or does he actually need a decent job and fulfillment that will give him the self respect not to be a racist -- and can we really offer such fulfillment in the alienation and mechanization that characterizes our current system.

    Zizek uses popular culture as a device to make his points. He notes the liberal outcry against films that do not portray a proper percentage of ethnic minorities or women in leading roles. But how many movies, TV shows, or books even talk about the blue collar worker or the underemployed? He's the ultimate invisible man now; no wonder he votes for Trump.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • Ryan Mease
    5.0 out of 5 stars Unique and Productive Insights on Our Present Economic/Social Trendlines
    Reviewed in the United States on December 11, 2020
    Format: Audible Audiobook
    Reading this in 2020, I grown cynical that I would find a fresh perspective on the rise of Trump or the broader movements toward reactionary populism that seems to be rising against global free trade patterns all over the world. Zizek managed to surprise me with a variety of unique perspectives that challenged my existing assumptions about the factors contributing to these trends, and gave me a new framework for thinking about a way out of the woods. There are definitely some odd tangents in this book (e.g. the too-long chapter on some guy named Lubitsch, which only becomes interesting at the very end when he starts analyzing La La Land and Black Panther). Overall though, it's a rare treat to find a work of philosophy that's this relevant and groundbreaking.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Kabir Abud Jaso
    4.0 out of 5 stars Entretenidos
    Reviewed in Mexico on September 29, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    Dista mucho de ser el mejor libro de Zizek. En él comenta las últimas películas que ha visto: la nueva versión de Blade Runner, Lalaland y Black Panther. Aún así, muy inteligente y entretenido.
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  • TERRY KOSICK
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great!!!
    Reviewed in Canada on April 21, 2024
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Love it! It’s good to get out of our minds and take hold of a bigger picture. Relax and realize what comfort being ignorant is. The socio genomic prides itself in many variations of dopamine. It works for states of mind and the usual family and social dynamics and it makes it easy for politicians sporting contests wars car sales and other stupidity of life as we know it. I studied classic philosophy in high school at least with contemporary I can stay awake.
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  • Fred Dinage
    5.0 out of 5 stars Can the memes this is solid.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 7, 2018
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    What new political forms are evolving and taking shape in the world as the Hegelian wound of the end of the end of history begins to resolve, heal and transform? This is Žižek at his very best, bold with care and nuance. I think that this is a going to be looked back in the future as a extremely important work that was well ahead of its time.
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  • Alp Eren
    3.0 out of 5 stars Content is classic Zizek. The publishing quality is horrible
    Reviewed in the Netherlands on March 20, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    It is a shame that Amazon doesn't allow people to leave feedback separately to content and the book's physical quality.

    I will not talk much about the content. I would give it 3.5 stars. This book is more like an opportunity to put out a book where Zizek is just making some random commentary about what was going on post Harambe world. He makes good points, sometimes he is just rambling. There are parts where he dives into particularities within Marxist theory which is honestly at this point turned into some form of theology. But other parts he makes good observations. I think he turned out to be correct on most of his criticisms of liberal establishment. 6 years ago I would not agree with him on many points, but now I see he is right. Especially the part on left being captured by identity politics is something Zizek is being justified more and more on his hesitancy to embrace it. I would give it a 3 and a half star

    Now about publishing: I have been consuming e-books since Kindle 3 was released. I have decided to go back to published books and bought this one and a few others. I didn't realize it at the time of purchase but I got a few from Penguin publishing. I have never been this disappointed with any book. If you are buying the soft cover version of this book, you will get a horrible publishing quality. Literally the worst, thinnest paper imaginable. The ink is the same grey as the paper it is published on. There is no contrast. And the fonts. My god the fonts. They are so small. I am 40 and my eyes scream after 15 minutes of reading. It is the same with their other books too. Penguin should be ashamed of themselves. They are charging 20 euros for a book and they can't be bothered to spend a little more to make their books legible.

    Will never buy a published book from them again. I would give 2 stars to publishing quality. It would be 1 but their editors and designers? (whoever is the typesetter equivalent but on a computer setting) have done great job. It is just the choice of paper and the font size that is killing me.
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  • Konstantin Petz
    5.0 out of 5 stars Zizek muss man gelesen haben!
    Reviewed in Germany on July 30, 2019
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    Auch wenn Zizek im Buch nicht unbeding Lösungsansätze für die oft genannten Probleme bietet, ermöglicht er einen tollen Einblick in die Welt des Posthumanen Kapitalismus!
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