2016 Masterclass with Slavoj Žižek

24 May, 2016 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm

TIFF Bell Lightbox, Green Room

Marx and Lacan: Surplus-Enjoyment, Surplus-Value, Surplus-Knowledge.

Jacques Lacan located the origin of his key notion of plus-de-jouir (surplus-enjoyment) in Marx’s notion of surplus-value, and it is worth exploring in detail the homology of the two notions, adding a third one, that of surplus-knowledge, a pseudo-knowledge in the guise of which our ignorance appears (“supreme” knowledge of God and other hidden forces, conspiracy theories, etc.). Such an analysis is crucial for resuscitating Marx’s critique of political economy, as well as for properly understanding today’s global capitalism and its ideological effects, up to fundamentalist violence.