The Relationship Between Capitalism and Desire

In our conversation with Todd McGowan we discuss his 2016 book Capitalism and Desire. Todd brings us through what he argues is the essential role of desire in capitalism—not as something which is repressed by the system, as many have argued, but rather how capitalism perpetuates itself through the very structure of desire. Without coming to terms with this, he says, any attempt to formulate a new system, or find the exit from capitalism, plays into the terms capitalism lays out in the form of “the promise.”

Get the book here.

Check out Todd McGowan’s podcast Why Theory, and his youtube channel.

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