Table Of ContentTHE FRAGILE
WO ESWAR
ABSOLUTE
Aseries from Verso editedbySlavoj Zizek
or,
Wo es war, solIich werden - Where itwas, I shallcome into being- is Freud's
versionof'the Enlightenmentgoalofknowledgethatisinitselfanactof Why is the Christian legacy
liberation. Is itstillpossibletopursue this goaltoday, inthe conditions
worth fighting for?
oflate capitalism? If 'it' today is the twin rule ofpragmatic-relativist
NewSophistsandNewAgeobscurantists,what'shallcomeintobeing'
in itsplace? Thepremissofthe seriesisthattheexplosivecombination ....
"""
ofLacanianpsychoanalysisandl\t1arxisttradition detonatesa dynamic
freedom that enables us to question the very presuppositions of the
circuitofCapital.
SlAVOJ ZIZEK
Inthesameseries:
Jeremy Bentham, The Panopticon Writings. l~-='dited and introduced by
lVl.iran Bozovic
Alain Grosrichard, The Sultans Court: European Fantasies ofthe East.
Translatedby Liz Heron andintroducedbyl'vlJaden Dolar
Renata Saled, (Per}l7ersionsifLoveandflate
Slavoj Zizek, TheMefastasesifEnjoyment:SixEssayson Women andCausality
Slavoj Zizek, TheIndivisibleRemainder.AnEssayonSchellingandRelatedJlIIalters
Slavoj Zizek, ThePlagueifFantasies
Slavoj Zizek, TheTicklishSubject:TheAbsentCentreifPoliticalOntology
Alenka ZupanCic, EthicsiftheReal'Kant, Lacan
l'
Forthcoming:
Alain Badiou, Ethics:AnEssayonthe UnderstandingofEvil VERSO
London· NewYork
CONTENTS
Giving Up the Balkan Ghost 3
FirstpublishedbyVerso2000
©Slavoj Zizek2000 2 The Spectre of Capital 11
All rightsreserved
3 Coke as obje! petit a 21
Paperbackedition first publishedbyVerso2001 4 From tragique to moque-comtque 40
5 Victims, Victims Everywhere 54
I 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
6 The Fantasmatic Real 63
Themoral rightsoftheauthorhave beenasserted
7 \Vhy is the Truth Monstrous? 69
Verso 8 Of Stones, Lizards and Men 82
UK: 6MeaI'd Street, LondonWIFOEC
9 The Structure and its Event 92
US: 180VarickStreet, NewYork, l\ry 10014--4606
10 From the Decalogue to Human Rights 107
VersoistheimprintofNewLeft Books 11 The Principle of Charity 113
12 Christ's Uncoupling 123
ISBN 1-85984-326-3
13 'You must, because you can!' 130
BritishLihraryCataloguinginPublicationData
14 From Knowledge to Truth ... and Back 135
A catalogue recordfor thisbookisavailablefrom the British Library
15 The Breakout 143
LihraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Acatalogrecordfor thisbookisavailablefrom the LibralyofCongress
Notes 161
1yPesetbyM RulesinCochin lO.5pt
Index 177
Printedandboundinthe USAbyR.R. Donnelley& Sons Ltd
For nobody and nothing
Oneofthe most deplorable aspects ofthepostmoderneraandits
so-called 'thought' is the return ofthe religious dimension in all
its different guises: from Christian and other fundamentalisms,
through the multitude of New Age spiritualisms, up to the
emerging religious sensitivitywithin deconstructionism itself(so
called 'post-secular' thought). How is a Marxist, by definition a
'fightingmaterialist' (Lenin), to counterthismassive onslaughtof
obscurantism? The obvious answer seems to be not only fero
ciously to attack these tendencies, but mercilessly to denounce
the remainders of the religious legacy within Marxism itself.
SLAVOJ ZIZEK
THE FRAGILE ABSOLUTE
Against the old liberal slander which draws on the parallel 1 Giving Up the Balkan Ghost
between the Christian andMarxist'Messianic' notion ofhistory
as the process ofthe final deliverance ofthe faithful (the notori Perhaps the best way ofencapsnlating the gist ofan epoch is to
ous 'Communist-parties-are-secularized-religious-sects' theme), focus not on the explicit features that define its social and ideo
should one not emphasize how this holds onlyfor ossified 'dog logical edifices but on the disavo~~(Lgh9.§!-".•lhi!Lhic'!.19!it,
matic' .M.arxism, not for its authentic liberating kernel? d~e_l~i~~_in, ~_lT1'y~~ed?,~_~,"I~gl9g,,9,Ln.Q.lJ~flfi,§t~l:)J_~~~t~!i~§ __.,~h~,c;h
__
Following AJain Badiou's path-breaking book on Saint PauI,1 n~~~:~~~~I~~it~~~!:~_;',-"~?;!i~,~,~_!9 ~:'f~rtth~ir-~f£i£q~'y~
Comingfrom
ourpremiss here is exactlythe opposite one: instead ofadopting Slovenia, part of ex-Yugoslavia, I seem to be predestined to
sucha defensive stance, allowingthe eneUIYto define the terrain speak about such ghosts today: is not one of the main cliches
ofthe struggle, what one should do is to reverse the strategy by about the Balkans that they are the part of Europe which is
0/
fully endorsing what one is accused yes, there is a direct lineage
haunted bythe notorious 'ghosts of'the past', forgetting nothing
from Christianity to Marxism; yes, Christianity and Marxism and learning nothing, still fighting centuries-old battles, while
should fight on the same side of the barricade against the
the rest ofEurope is engagedin a rapid process ofglobalization7
onslaughtofnew spiritualisms- the authentic Christianlegacyis
Here, however, we encounter the first paradoxofthe Balkans: it
much too precious to be left to the fundamentalist freaks.
seemsas ifthe Balkansthemselves had, in the eyes ofEurope, the
Even those who acknowledg'e this direct lineage from
peculiar status of' a ghost that haunts it - are not the post
Christianity to Marxism, however, usually fetishize the early
Yugoslav Balkans, this vortex of (self-)destructive ethnic
'authentic'followers ofChristagainstthe Church's 'institutional
passions, the exact opposite, almost a kind ofphotographic neg
ization' epitomized by the name of Saint Paul: yes to Christ's
ative, ofthetolerantcoexistence ofethnic communities, a kindof
'originalauthenticmessage', noto itstransformati.onintothebody
multiculturalist dream turned into a nightmare? Does not the
of teaching that legitimizes the Church as a social institution. very indeterminate and shifting geographic delimitation ofthe
What these followers of the maxim 'yes to Christ, no to Saint
Balkans indicate their spectral status7 It seems as if there is no
Paul' (who, as Nietzsche claimed, in effect invented Christianity) definitive answer to the question 'Where do the Balkans
do is strictly parallel to the stance of those 'humanist Marxists'
begin7'- the Balkansare always somewhereelse, a little bitmore
from the mid-twentieth century whose maxim was 'yes to the towards the southeast....
earlyauthenticMarx, notohis Leninistossification'. Andin both For the Serbs, they begin down there, in Kosovo or in Bosnia,
cases, oneshouldinsist thatsuch a 'defenceofthe authentic'isthe
and they defend the Christian civilization against this Europe's
most perhdIc;;:;;-ni'ode ofits betrayal: the;;;Sno'Christoutside Saint
Other; for the Croats, they begin in orthodox, despotic and
Paul; inexactlyt~;;;;;=;-;:th~1SnoaUffientiCf\!rarx"tThate1tn
Byzantine Serbia, against which Croatia safeguards Western
be approached directly, bypassing Lenin. . •
democratic values; for Slovenestheybegin in Croatia, andweare
2
3
SLAVOJ ZIZEK
THE FRAGILE ABSOLUTE
the last bulwark of the peaceful Mitteleuropa; for many Italians old-fa~~ed_..!l!li\Q,,§h~clrejection of the (despotic,barbarian,
and Austrians they begin in Slovenia, the Western outpost oT ~ox,Muslim, corrupt, Oriental ...)B~lkanathe;~n behalf
the Slavic hordes; for many Germans, Austria itself: because of ~f-~~tI~~~~ti~"(W~-~-t~;'~I''''~i~ifi;-~d,--cl~~~~'~~~ti'~;---Ch;i~ti~~'.. .)
its historical links, is alreadytaintedwith Balkancorruptionand var;;,:s:itE;;;:;the~;;-i;-'-;~ff;;;<'i;;;;p~i;t;~~ffYC~;;:;;::1.t~;;i~;;';: the
inefficiency; for manyNorth Germans, Bavaria, withits Catholic l11ulti~ult;;t,;;rlst~p;;t~;;pi:l;;;:;oif:he~Balk~ausasthe terraiu ofetlinic
provincialflair, is notfree ofa Balkan contarnination;manyarro horrors'ancr~n'toTerance:';;fp~i;~iti~~'"'i;;~ti~~;:r:;;;;~~g--pa:ss-l()nsl
gant Frenchmen associate Germany itself with an Eastern t()be-()pp()sedt()-th;;p()st:;;';:t~;;;;:,,1';:t;;Iib;;;;J:J;;mo"1.';;1.i"process
Balkan brutaliWentirelyforeign to Frenchfinesse; andthis brings ors;:'I;:;1;;g;;();;fli;;t;1:l;t-;;:;gh;:-ati~;;;I;;;;g;;t;~t;~~,;::~I11proIllisea;;cl
us to the last link in this chain: to some conservative British mutuirresp~'a':'--'fle:re'racis~m"ls~--as"Tt'wei;~'" elevated'to--the--second
opponents of the European Union, for whom - implicitly, at D~--f_.lw"-'~e-"r':--"i---t"i's.----a,...-t-~t-ributed to we occupy con-
least- thewhole ofcontinental Europe functions todayas a new venient,p~~ition()f,~,Pt~~,tr:,?J1?,e:1?-,e:Y9J~;Ilt0 J::>seryqJ:"l.rig,hteously
version ofthe Balkan Turkish Empire, with Brusselsas the new
dismayedat tl:chorroIsgoing on 'down there'. Finally, there is
Istanbul, a voracious despotic centre which threatens British
the reverse racism.:which celebrates the exotic authenticiW of
freedom and sovereignty....2 Is uot this identification ofconti theB~fk~-;'~Oth;;;'as inth~ notion ofSerbs who, in contrast to
nental Europe itselfwith the Balkans, its barbarian Other, the
anaenlicWestern Europeans, stillexhibita prodigious
secrettruth ofthe entire movement ofthe displaceddelimitation It.;~tf;tiif',;=thi;f~~t a.
f()1.;;,;;;{r';;"isl11 plays crucial role in the
between the two?
success ofEmir Kusturica's fllms in the West.
This enigmatic multiple displacement of the frontier clearly
The example ofKusturica also enables us to idcnti(yanother
demonstrates that in the case ofthe Balkans we are dealing not feature oftheWesternperceptionofthe Balkans: thelogic ofdis~
with real geography but with an imaginary cartography which placed racism.3 Since the Balkans are geographically part of
projects on to the real landscape its own shadowy, often dis
Europe, populatedbywhite people, racist clicheswh_i':.l::~0!J0dy
avowed, ideological antagonisms, justas Freud claimed that the
todax!~ i;:> ()ur)'olitic"lly CorrecUim.es, WQuld d"r~ tQ "pply to
localization of the hysteric's conversion Syulptoms projecton to AfricanorAsianpeople,,-a;:>beJr".e!l'..attribllt".?t() B,J~"n people:
the physical body the map of another, imaginary anatomy. p()Eti~:'T;t~~ii!~s~nt.h"I3"I~ans
are compared to ridiculous
However, itis notonly thatthe BalkansserveasEuropesghost, the O~~I:~!~~~'.P~()!.~,~.rCeaUf~escu th~'c~'nt~-~p~~ary
was presented as
persistent remainder of its own disavowed past; the further reincarnation of Count ,Dracula.... Furthermore, it is as if,
perhaps even more important - point to be made is that pre withinthe Balkanareaitself, Sloveniais mostexposedtothis dis
ciselyinso far as 'the Balkans'function as suchaspectralentity,
placedracisnl, since it is closesttoWestern Europe: when, in an
reference to them enables us to discern, in a kind of spectral interview abont his film Underground, Kustnrica dismissed the
analysis, the different modes oftoday's racism. First, there is the
Slovenesas anation ofAustriangrooms, nobodyeven reactedto
"-"'---'-~
4
5
SLAVOJ ZIZEK THE FRAGILE ABSOLUTE
the open racism ofthis statement- it was OK, since an 'authen The mechanisms01'this reHexive racism are clearlydiscernible
tic' exotic artist from the less developed part of ex-Yugoslavia even in today's popular culture - for example, in The Phantom
was attacking the most developed part 01'it.... TheBalka!!.J...:':'..' Menace, George Lucas's long-awaited prequel to tkS;;;:--Wars
stitute!:'1laceofexceptionwithr'fJardtowhichthetole~ant multieulturalist ;;;Jogy.The usualleFtistcriticalpoiutthatthe multitude 01'exotic
is-~all;wedt;'"~~t"'~;t-h~~/h~; ;;i;;;;~d-;~~i;m.-'l'h'~~;~in-'li~~"the' mili-n
alien (extra-human) species in StarWarsrepresents, in code, inter
id~;;r;;gi~,Jl~~;';;··';f-ith<;Barka.ns': 'when-tlleorlsts'Ii1<eAilthony human ethnic differences, reducingthem to the level 01'common
·G{dJe;;;·;;~·Uki~h-B~::k··<kt;;~~;;;;t;;~P;;;~;};~;;~i;;tYa..s a'ri~k racist stereotypes (the evil merchants 01' the greedy Trade
·~~i;;t.Y';h~;~et~r;~;;-d by;gi~b~I;~ii;;~i';;tY',the
ra-erenee to 'the Federationare a clearcaricatureofant-like Chinesemerchants),
B,Jk~;;.~'·~ll~~~~;~t~s;;PPI;;;;;;'~;~;h~i;i;;~IJ'si;blP;;illtillg.out somehow misses the point: these reference_~_to__~th1!~,c..<:li~,~_~~_<:re
h~;-;tod~y, throu~h';~;~d~;;~s'th;o;etical
racism itset/isbecomingreJ!exive. - nota cipher: to be penetrated
__ ..
-'--"__' ._~._._._-~".,-~-._.,,",,~."-.-...~_."-~.,.~-,,,-_._.,".,,,.-...•.-."'-"",_ ,"'-,-,-_.,,-'-"""'~""'., ;ikdedt;;,t~;irid;~tific~i~ni~,
This brings us to another keyFeature 01'this reHected racism: a;;;;iy;i;;'the;;;;dir;c-;ly as it
-~~~~,~i';"~t--it!Ei~£~~"~~~"~F~th~~~-;;;~'th'~~~~-~~-~b~;:;-'~f
it revolves around the distinction betvveen cultural contempt the
towards the Otheranddownrightracism. Usually, racismis con underwaterNaboopeople, the comic Jar Jarandthe pompously
sidered the stronger, more radical version 01'cultural contempt: bossy ruler of the Gungans, rather obviously reFer to the cari
we are dealingwith racismwhen simplecontempt Forthe other's catural way in which classic Hollywood represented the
cultureis elevatedintothe notiouthatthe otherethnicgroup is non-European (nou-white) figures 01' servant and master: Jar
for inherent (biologicalorcultural) reasons- inFeriorto ourown. Jar is a good-hearted, Charminglyridicolous, cowardlyprattling
Today's 'reflected'racism, howeve.r:: is!'.a:ad~"ic<tlll.ab.letoa:tic childish servant (like the proverbial Mexican who prattles and
ulate itselFinterms ofdirect respectForthe other's culture: was not makes nervous comments all the time), while the ruler also dis
th-~off;~i,J~;cii~-;:;;t'To;'-apartheidi'nfheo1d~SouTIlArricathat playsthe ridiculouslypompous Falsedignity01'the non-European
~~l~~;>~ sh~~id'b~"'~re'~'erved'i~ u~iqu~~'~~'~~~~t
black its dissi master (again, likethe Mexicanlocalwarlords inold Hollywood
pa'te;r;n'theWe~te;:ilm"li:i;;g:pof?'D6n6t'evetnoday'sEilropean movies, with theirexaggeratedsense ofprideand dignity); what
;';;;:i;;;;likeC:p;';;,e;ph;~i~ehowwhattheyaskfor is onlythe is crucial here is that both figures are not played by real actors,
samerightto culturalidentityas Africans andothers demandFor butareE~~",_9igi!~Lc~".";ii~~~:::.~."l!~k,tk".YclQ..Il.Q.tm-"r:-"IYrder
themselves? It is too easy to dismiss such arguments with the t.o cliches.:..E!'J!J.e!i._d2J'Y..1!r.l'_clir:<::.£!I.Y.Er:"~,,gt<::2,.~.tag,,9, .!is n.o.t.h.,.·.ng
..~.~~,,,,<._"~,,, .-, .. __ --. .. .. '" _..-- .
claim thathere, respect for the other is simply'hypocritical': the b~.~~i:?::~.:~_~!.~~~.~~: Forthatreasontheyarc, in someway, 'flat',
mechanism at work is, rather, that ofthe disavowal characteris lacking the 'depth' 01' a true personality: the grimaces 01' their
tic 01' the Fetishistic split: '1 know very well that the Other's almost infinitely plastic Faces give immediate and direct expres
culture isworthyofthe same respect asmyown: nevertheless ... sion to their innennost attitudes and feelings (anger, Fear, lost,
[1 despise them passionately].' pride), making them totally transparent.
6 7
SLAVOJ ZllEK THE fRAGILE ABSOLUTE
The more generalpointtobemade here is the Hegelianlesson with the global reflexivization ofsociety; perhaps the ultimate
thatglobalrejlexivizationlmediatizationgeneratesitsownbrutalimmedi example ofthis coincidence is the fate of psychoanalytic inter
acy, whose figure was best captured by Etienne Balibar's notion pretation. Today, the formations of the Unconscious (from
ofexcessive, non-functionalcrueltyas a feature ofcontemporary dreams to hysterical symptoms) have definitely lost their inno
lifeA a cruelty whose figures range from 'fundamentalist' racist cence, andarethoroughlyreHexivized: the 'freeassociations' ofa
and/orreligious slaughter Lo the 'senseless' outbursts ofviolence typical educatedanalysand consistfor the mostpartofattempts
byadolescents andthe homelessin our megalopolises, aviolence toprovideapsychoana\yticexplanationfortheirl:'listurbances, so
one is tempted to call Id-Evil, a violence grounded in no utilitar that one is quite justified in saying that ,,;:e have n"£!"'zr:1y
ian or ideological cause. All the talk about foreili\ners stealing Jungian, Kleinictu,LCic,ilnia:n" '_',int~rpret~tions ?f sY~t>t?_??:s,
th~~~~~~~~~~t-t~-;;~~~-We-~tern b~t ~i;Pi;;;;;~~;:-~i~j;'-_~!.~~~~~l~~s- i;~:j~~fJ~_~~~19~iEi~n,
work fromus, oraboutthe threat
,
valu~s ~~K;~Ta"~~t-"d-~~~-{~~---~~":-"~;~l~;~~---~;~;i~-~ti~~-,'-it-~-oon
Lacanian ... - whose reality involves.in~pli_~it.l"eferenc~"tq_~op:1e
b~;;;;;;;~;j~~~th~tth;;t;;'ll<pro;:;idesarathersup~ai~ialsecond £_,s__,•)T.c.~.+"h_.·_!·"?_·._'aU_.·nh___a·l~,)T·"t__i··c~_.·_·!_·.'_~h"·~e.."_.r__,,~y,..~,_•.T,.~.h,_,"e.,"_"u""""n'~"f+'o~_.r"""t'u'''na...__t..e. .r.._.e. s""'u_'~"l_"t"_'_o"',f....this g.'l__obal
ary··rai1ona]izat{on:Th~;;';:;~:;;:~··:;"·;;[ti;nat~[y<:>btai[lfrom a reHexivization ofinterpretation (everything becomesinterpreta
sklI1.h~aJisih~tit;n<lke;-hl;;;T;;"1 g<:>odt<:>b;:at;:;pf<:>;;:;g;:;~rs; that tion; the Unconscious interprets itself) is that the analyst's
thf;lf p;~;;;;;:,,-d;st;:;~hs hl;n:.:.What:;;:e[l;:<:>;:;;:;te;h~;e is interpretation itselF loses its performative 'symbolic efficiency',
lild""JId-Evil:thatis,E"il~tr\l~t~;edaI1.dI;:;<:>ti";tedbtyhe most leaving the symptom intact in the immediacy of its idiotic
elementaryimhalance in the'relationship between the Ego and JOUlSsance.
joli!ss';n,e,h"; th"ie;:;~{<:>[lhet:;een pleasllreand th"f'<:>~;:;g;:;b<:>dy Whathappens in psychoanalytic treatmentisstrictlyhomolo
.of]~u!sstln,eatth" ;;~ryh"a~t<:>TIt.ld:B;:;lrthusstages ihemost gous to the response ofthe neo-Nazi skinhead who, when he is
relat;~~sh;pt~th~
elementary'sh<:>rtcIrcllli' in·the subject's. pri really pressedfor the reasons for his violence, suddenlystarts to
mOI'dIal1y;nlS~l;:;g<:>bJect:causeofhisdesiie:whid: 'bothers' us iu talk like social workers, sociologists and social psychologists,
the 'other'(Jew;Jap;;rlc~c:AII'~ca;:;,tlldt)isth;;'t appears to quoting diminishedsocial mobility, rising insecurity, the disinte
erlj<:>Y<lp~i;;ilcg"drelatl<:>nshIp to the object -- the other either gration of paternal authority, lack of maternal love in his early
possesse~--'the-o-bT~-~t'~-t;~~~~~~~---ha~l~g---s~-at~h~a---{t--~:;~y--'f~~mus childhood - the unity of practice and its inherent ideological
(:;l;;~hi~~hy~~d;;:;;th~:;;:;t5:;;tp<:>~~~t~ht;:att;;;;rl~p<:>~ses ~.~gi~~,~i:~!i~"~_.9:i~i~,!~gi~~i~L~i?',:'_~~~::y,~§J~X~~~:~~~~::X!~::::~~p~,~e'nt,
impotenceof
siono[theobject:5·· inefficientinterpretation. This interpretationis also
'''''..·'',·..'..,·"' ·...,..•...."__m"__·..·__'·,__·"..,''·'·,.....,·........,........,., ...-..~"=, '".~~",",.~'".,,'""~,~~•."='''",._,,'__.',''"
What OIleshouldpropose here is the Hegelian'infinitejudge one of the obverses of the universalized reflexiVIty
ment' that asserts the speculative identity ofthese 'useless' and by risk-society theorists: it is as ifourreflexive power
c~;'~~~ri~ho~.rJ:~i~_~~-f;L~~~~- st~~;li\thfr<:>~~r:d
'excessive'outbursts ofviolent immediacy, which displaynothing d;;'w;its
but a pure and naked ('non-sublimated') hatred of Otherness, r~l~s on some minimal 'pre-reflexive' substantial supportwhich
,,__.__..,'__"__,,",,'.,~~_.'~~,.,A"~__'~_,, ~__......~'N~,,'__..~"'_."__'"~"' " '''' '''' ,, ,." ' "',__"",,,,,,.
8 9
THE fRAGILE ABSOLUTE
SLAVOJ ZIZEK
ei;leufdGecsi;i;t~;,;:g"rya~,tph,a"_t§igs_,t'thh?e:tp,.airta~d_Jo1xJilciYa~lEr§~,~-~'~~a~~i~o;~:,gcoemnecse_~o~trhieh~e,~ib~r~,uotef rtehaosroonu,gcholynfrreojenctetdthweistthanedthanridcmhualttriecdulatunrdalyijsotliednecae,thoa_n.._te,-~as.~g.h_ao...iunlsdt'
'~eaI-_-·or'.'-tl~_r;tA;;~:~I"::,'Yi-~l'~'~'~'~';-"-i'~-,p-~_:i~:~-~~~~''_~.~"~,":{:~'~~'~~iti~'~ eth;:,i~;;-t;;l~t~;;c-;:;-;;-;;-;:-;i~;-;Idl~"rnt,o;:~;-P;;~t·~-;;Jri~~'~lil1ihe
to
- ,", ---
~~fk~i~~-i~1t~~p~~t~ti~~~~"~---~-------" ~,' ,~-, .~~-, 6the~;;-~~~-~rth;:-Other,tod;~el~~-;tol~;ance·1'0--;' diFferent
S;;'tr~~';;;:;;;:e'tod;;y's social theory proclaims the end ofNature life~t.Yj~;;~~d~~~;;?::=:the~~yt9.figllt~thni~hat:.e.deffecti"elisy
and/or Tradition and the rise of the 'risk society', the more the not through its immediate counterpart, ethnic tolerance; on the
C~~!~~,~Y~~~h~!.~~·~~~_~~2~~~~.I§:~~~~f;_~:m~-~~_·':«bt:;~d,-::hui:_pr~p~r::p-9Ht~cal
implicit reference to 'nature' pervades our daily discourse: even
when we do not mention the 'end ofhistory', do we not convey hatred: hatreddirected,aUl1e comrn,on politicalenemy.
""'''__'''~_~ '_~_~_-"~''-_ .~_,_.__~_~.u.,~__ _ ~.,,__-_..,,__, .. __,.__.,....__.___.. ...._
the same message when we claim that we are entering a 'post
ideological' pragmatic era, which is anotherway ofclaiming that
we are enteringapost-politicalorderinwhichthe onlylegitimate 2 The Spectre of Capital
conflictsare ethnic/culturalconflicts? Typic"ll.l:'.i.I1.1:~~~~,s:r:itical
and political discourse, the term 'w~;ker' has disappeared, Sowhere arewe, today, with regardtoghosts? The first paradox
s;;ppl;;'~~t;:~r~~;_;;~;2r:,~~lit~;_;;t;:"d-by'immigrants [immigrant that strikes us, ofcourse, is thatthisveryprocessofglobal reflex
~"_.__~._:"!.~_'_~~,":~~s'~:'.A-'l_~~E~j..!"?:,,!:'E~....E,~_.e.2-_Tu-r".""k"'~-._"i_!""l"~_'.''g'~!~'m~'_!~'._'1__.'Y_'L'M"_:~:'~:_~~~i"~'~~"_"~_·_""_..'_·_~b_1",?.,_,_.~_!..~,,~.., ivization that mercilessly derides and chases the ghosts of the
IJ~i\I::~r1..t!>!s~a~!h~cla,:spr(JbJ"rn!:ti"of:':()I'~,:,rs~""J)loit,"tion pastgenerates not only its own immediacybutalso itsownghosts,
is transformed into the multieulturalistproblematic ofthe 'intoler- its own spectrality. The most famous ghost, which has been
..,
~~-~~ o{-Oth~~7J:~~~':-~;:~~f;~-';~:-~~d-·th~"·exce-ssive-;'lnv'est'iiie-n:C-6f roaming around for the last 150 years, was not a ghost of the
;"?lti~~i!~i';'j;~;]i,!;~;:i;J~,ig:Rr:2i~~!i~g~~"~;g;:~gts'"th@9rlghts past, but the spectre ofthe (revolutionary) future - the spectre,
clearlydrawsits energyFromthe'repressed' classdim",nsion. ofcourse, from the first sentenceofThe CommunistManiftsto, The
"'A!thollghF;';-;;~i~''i<~~k;;:Y';'';;;-'sth-;:;;~~~th;:'~';:ci'~{history' automatic reaction to TheManiftsto oftoday's enlightenedliberal
quicklyfell into disrepute, we stillsilentlyassumethatthe liberal reader is: isn't the text simply wrong on so Iuany empirical
democratic capitalist global order is somehow the finally found accounts - with regard to its picture of the social situation, as
'natural' social regime; w~,.'!tilli~}icitlyconceive ofconflicts in wellas the revolutionaryperspectiveitsustainsand propagates?
ThirdWorldcountriesas a subspecies-;;Tna;;;;:Jc;'t~t;:;;phes,as Was there ever a political manifesto that was more clearly falsi
outbu;:~t~-orq;,;;,s;~;~i:ur~l\';;;leutpassions-:·or.asco-nnicfSb~sed fied by subsequent historical reality? Is not The Maniftsto, at its
;;;;1;;;;t;~;J'id~-;:;tifi~~t;~;~ith ~'th;icroots(andwhat'is'ethnic' best, the exaggerated extrapolation of certain tendencies dis
he;:~;r;;;t;':g;':i;;';':'~;;d~~:;;:d'f:;t;;;':t;';r~7)','X;:;d;;g;;;;'-:'th~key cernible in the nineteenth century? So let us approach The
p~I~t-i~'th~t--thi;-;:II=p-~';;~~'i;~~;~~';t~~-';{I~'~'atlo -ulSstIictlycorrela Manifesto from the opposite end: where do we live today, in our
t;~~:~;;~tE~~KI;;!:.~Li::~il~~!;':li~i;Qr!2C2Y;:(l~ilY ·li.y':es:·For global 'post, . .' (postmodern, post-industrial) society? The
•• that
11
10
SLAVOJ ZIZEK THE FRAGILE ABSOLUTE
sloganthatis imposingitselflllore andmore is 'globalization': the national ground on which it stood. All old-established
brutal imposition ofthe unified world market that threatens all national industries have been destroyed or are daily being
loeal ethnic traditions, including the very form nf the nation destroyed. They are dislodged by new industries, whose
state. And in view ofthis situation, is not the description ofthe introduction becomes a life and death question for all civi
social impact of the bourgeoisie in The Maniftsto more relevant lized nations, by industries that no longer work up
than ever? indigenous raw material, but raw material drawn from the
remotest zones; industries whose products are consumed,
The bourgeoisie cannot existwithout constantly revolution not only at home, but in everyquarter ofthe globe. In place
izing the instruments of production, and thereby the ofthe oldwants, satisfied bythe prodnctionsofthe country,
relations ofproduction, and with them the whole relations we find new'wants, requiring fortheir satisfaction the prod
ofsociety. Conservation of the old modes of production in ucts ofdistant lands and climes. In place ofthe old local and
unaltered form was, on the contrary, the first condition of national seclusion and self-sufficiency, we have intercourse
existence for all earlier industrial classes. Constant revolu in every direction, universal inter-dependence of nations.
tionizing of production, uninterrupted disturbance of all And as in material, so also in intellectual production. The
social conditions, everlasting uncertainty and agitation intellectual creations ofindividual nations become cornmon
distinguish the bourgeois epoch from all earlier ones. All property. National one-sidedness and narrow-mindedness
fixed, fast-frozen relations, with their train of ancient and becomes more and more impossible, and from the numerous
venerable prejudicesand opinions, are sweptaway, all new nationalandlocal literatures, there arises aworldliterature.6
formed ones become antiquated before they can ossify. All
that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned, and Is this not, more than ever, our reality today? Ericsson phones
man is at last compelled to face with sober senses his real are no longer Swedish, Toyota cars are manufactured 60 per
condition in life, and his relationswith his kind. centinthe USA, Hollywood cultnre pervades the remotestparts
The need of a constantly expanding market for its of the globe.... Furthermore, does not the same go also for all
products chases the bourgeoisie over the whole surface of forms ofethnicand sexual identities? Shouldwe not snpplement
the globe. It must nestle everywhere, settle everywhere, Marx's description in this sense, adding also thatsexuarrone-
siJ~d'~~'~'~-" and"-~~~~;~~=~~i~'d~d~~'~~"'-h~~~';~--'''~~'~'~'''~~d'--'~~re
establish connexions everywhere.
The bonrgeoisie has through its exploitationoftheworld i~~~,~·~~;,;·."t~~t~~.~~~.~~i·;.g:~~~~~;rrra~t~ces
als{), ." 1S.
~i~~~lLtQ~tI§hQl¥~\iP:r;;:[;;:~~d::~~.t4~t~~p~t"li~';t~I)ds
market given a cosmopolitan character to production and m;:lts'int;;
consumption in every country. To the great chagrin of 'to r-;:pra:~;;tandardnormative heterosexuality with a prolifera-
t;~;;;{;;;;~t~bT~~hii~;;;g";d~;titi;;~;;:;d?;;;;;;i~;;t~t;;;;;~;?l'l'om
Reactionists, ithas drawn from underthe feet ofindustrythe tune
._.,_ .' .••••, _ , ,,,,~ __.•.,, ' ,, ,,•._" ,,.•~.· ·00·..·..' , ,'" , , ...
12 13
SLAVOJ ZIZEK THE FRAGILE ABSOLUTE
to time Marx himselfunderestimates this ability ofthe capitalist realitygener{l~e,-,asp~'fzqlityojOitLQv'm,.Wh~IlMaxx.g~§Gribes the
universe to incorporate the transgressive urge that seemed to ~;;'d~-;;lf-~nhancing circulation ofCapital, whose solipsistic path
threaten it; in his analysis ofthe ongoing American CivilWar, for ,;C;~~ltfe~;:;;;d~ti~;:;;:~;,~h~;jt~~;,p,;~~~~;;;'t~d;;..Yi;··0eia:reflexive
spec;;lati~ns fllt;:;r~;:;tisfa~·toosi~~lis ~l;'imthatthe
example, he claimed that since the English textile industry, the .,,;' ti;,t;
backboneofthe iudustrialsystem, could notsurvivewithoutthe spectre•.()fth;sself-e;;ge;,·d~;illg·IIl9~~t~it.ll~tp~~~u,,,~it~ path
supply ofcheap cotton from the American South rendered pos ~,~~~~,?_~~~S,_'_?_~'_~~~_~_~~~~_-_?i~~_!~~_~~_?~_~_~_~_!~_~_~!l5?~E_~_.,i.§~~ ~1~_?J~g-
sible onlybyslavelabour, Englandwouldbeforced to intervene icalahstracti~n, a:r:.dthatoneshouldneverforget thatbehind this
directlyto prevent the abolition ofslavery. ah;i;;;ch();:;th~;~·;;;~·t~.,,-l·p~~pI~~;:;d;:;~t;l;~r~b)~ct;··';llwhose
So yes, this global dynamism described by Marx, which p~~d~:~~~~~_:-~~p~c-~-~~~.~-._-~~;:~;-:~:~,~:?·~~~'?-~'-~~pI~~i;~---~i;·~~-~~~~_?'~:_i~_-_~~~~d,
~giia~tic~ar;sit~~Theproblem
causes allthings solidto meltinto air, is ourreality- on condition andonwhichitfe;dslike•. isthat
tli.L~:~_~li~ii~~i~Q~:-__:~SlQ;~=~~l~~_~i~!_~"~~;Jy~i~~_~~1
