Pure Excess: Capitalism, Commodity Fetishism, and the Promise of More
Added 2025-03-07 21:16:05 +0000 UTCTodd McGowan joins the show once again, this time to discuss his newest book "Pure Excess: Capitalism and the Commodity". Together, he and Breht discuss commodity fetishism, the tensions between Marxism and psychoanalysis, what a critique of the subjective aspects of capitalism offers anti-capitalist politics, the "superstructural malaise" of late capitalism, Desire and Lack, capitalism's death drive, how to resist becoming a neoliberal subject, and much more.
"Drawing 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 fulfillment 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, Pure Excess uncovers the hidden logic of capitalism―and helps us envision a noncapitalist life in a noncapitalist society."
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Outro Song: I Want to Work Less by Grand Commander
Comments
All that talk about good movies, especially anti-capitalist, leaning South Korean movies, would sure like a list. Any chance of that?
PuebloCO Jenin
2025-05-31 13:53:54 +0000 UTCFor me, the best intro you've done (and they've always been very good). Sums up the malaise of modern capitalist society perfectly.
Benny Boy
2025-03-19 23:16:09 +0000 UTC
