Perversions of the Market : Sadism, Masochism, and the Culture of Capitalism - Eugene W. Holland

Perversions of the Market

Sadism, Masochism, and the Culture of Capitalism

By: Eugene W. Holland

Hardcover | 1 December 2024

At a Glance

Hardcover


$183.79

or 4 interest-free payments of $45.95 with

 or 

Aims to ship in 7 to 10 business days

Perversions of the Market argues that capitalism fosters sadism and masochism-not as individual psychological proclivities but as widespread institutionalized patterns of behavior. The book is divided into two parts: one historical and the other theoretical. In the first, Eugene W. Holland shows how, as capital becomes global in scale and drives production and consumption farther and farther apart, it perverts otherwise free markets, transforming sadism and masochism into borderline conditions and various supremacisms. The second part then turns to Deleuze and Guattari's "schizoanalysis," explaining how it helpfully embeds Freud's analysis of the family and Lacan's analysis of language within an analysis of the capitalist market and its psycho-dynamics. Drawing on literature and film throughout to illuminate the discontents of modern culture, Holland maintains that the sadistic relations of production and masochistic relations of consumption must be eliminated to prevent capitalism from destroying life as we know it.
Industry Reviews
"Holland demonstrates an enviable comprehension of the theories he mobilizes, an awareness of their limits, but also respect for their possibilities, with no haste in accepting or rejecting them-the true mark of a serious critical theorist. Faced with the question of the point of unmasking the sadomasochistic features of the capitalist market, Holland does not leave the reader with a critique for critique's sake. Rather, he makes it clear that his labor is expended in advocacy and anticipation of a free market-free from capital, not from the State. For Holland, a market free from the State is both a danger and an illusion." - Constantin V. Boundas, editor of Schizoanalysis and Ecosophy: Reading Deleuze and Guattari

"An outstanding study with far-reaching ramifications. Under the rubric of 'schizoanalysis,' Holland shows how concepts from psychoanalysis-especially sadism, masochism, borderline narcissism, borderline supremacism, and polymorphous narcissism-may be used to chart developments in capitalism over the last three centuries. Rather than moving from the psychological to the social, however, Holland approaches psychological phenomena as functions of social, political, and economic systems inherent in capitalism. The approach is original, the scholarship is impeccable, the style is bracing, and the conclusions are profound." - Ronald Bogue, author of Thinking with Deleuze

More in Social & Political Philosophy

12 Rules for Life : Antidote to Chaos - Jordan B. Peterson

RRP $22.99

$14.95

35%
OFF
Letters From A Stoic : Collins Classics - Lucius Seneca
Nationalism : A World History - Eric Storm

RRP $69.99

$49.75

29%
OFF
The Prince : Penguin Pocket Hardbacks - Niccolo Machiavelli
The Republic : Penguin Classics - Plato
Communism After Deleuze : Deleuze and Guattari Encounters - Alex Taek-Gwang  Lee
Decrypting Justice : From Epistemic Violence to Immanent Democracy - Ricardo Sanin-Restrepo
Why It's OK to Have Bad Spelling and Grammar : Why It's OK - Jessica  Flanigan
The 48 Laws of Power - Robert Greene

$41.75

How To Be A Stoic : Ancient Wisdom for Modern Living - Massimo Pigliucci
Discipline and Punish : The Birth of the Prison - Michel Foucault

RRP $26.99

$20.25

25%
OFF
On the Shortness of Life : The Stoic Classic - Lucius Annaeus Seneca