November 7, 2007

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Lenin Shot at Finland Station

Now that’s a title!

From a couple of years ago, some ruminations on counterfactual from Slavoj Žižek. I don’t agree with him on lots of things, but there are some interesting thoughts on the function of revolutions here. (Ha ha, I know what you’re thinking: That’s exactly what I’ve been looking for!)

He ends with this:

In the revolutionary explosion, another utopian dimension shines through, that of universal emancipation, which is in fact the ‘excess’ betrayed by the market reality that takes over on the morning after. This excess is not simply abolished or dismissed as irrelevant, but is, as it were, transposed into the virtual state, as a dream waiting to be realised.

That makes me think of the closing scene of China Mieville’s Iron Council, which I won’t give away — but I will say it is one of the best and most correct-seeming conclusions to a revolution ever put to page or screen. Wishlist-worthy.