Ideology and the Virtual City
Book • 2019
Jon Bailes examines how contemporary video games register contradictions within neoliberal capitalism.
Drawing on Slavoj Žižek, Fredric Jameson, and related Marxist and psychoanalytic traditions, he treats games as fantasies that can expose social antagonisms without escaping them.
Case studies of Saints Row 4, Grand Theft Auto V, No More Heroes, and Persona 5 illustrate different responses to capitalist ideology, including hedonism, cynicism, escapism, and reformism.
The book argues that these apparent alternatives ultimately return players to the structures they seem to resist.
Its accessible style makes difficult theoretical ideas about ideology, desire, and social totality approachable for a broad audience.
Drawing on Slavoj Žižek, Fredric Jameson, and related Marxist and psychoanalytic traditions, he treats games as fantasies that can expose social antagonisms without escaping them.
Case studies of Saints Row 4, Grand Theft Auto V, No More Heroes, and Persona 5 illustrate different responses to capitalist ideology, including hedonism, cynicism, escapism, and reformism.
The book argues that these apparent alternatives ultimately return players to the structures they seem to resist.
Its accessible style makes difficult theoretical ideas about ideology, desire, and social totality approachable for a broad audience.
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27 – Bailes – Ideology and the Virtual City
