From LQ 210
From Civilisation to Globalisation I
Agnès Aflalo
Since the end of the Second World War, the
world has changed. And this change can
be put into order starting from the concept of discourse as Lacan formalised it1. The progress made by the discourses of
capitalism and science allows us to grasp the effects of it.
world has changed. And this change can
be put into order starting from the concept of discourse as Lacan formalised it1. The progress made by the discourses of
capitalism and science allows us to grasp the effects of it.
The Capitalist Discourse and its Subject
As for every discourse, the discourse of
capitalism account for a loss of jouissance that is impossible to recover. This loss of jouissance is always perceived
as a theft, and its return is always located on the side of the Other, the
Master. Freud describes the same libidinal displacements
within the circuit of the drive. But Marx was the first to knot these two unknown
displacements of the libido, which made Lacan say that he is the inventor of
the symptom. This symptom as it was discovered by psychoanalysis in its beginning
is still valid today. Scientific obscurantism in the 21st century
may very well decide to ignore it, which does not prevent it from
existing.
capitalism account for a loss of jouissance that is impossible to recover. This loss of jouissance is always perceived
as a theft, and its return is always located on the side of the Other, the
Master. Freud describes the same libidinal displacements
within the circuit of the drive. But Marx was the first to knot these two unknown
displacements of the libido, which made Lacan say that he is the inventor of
the symptom. This symptom as it was discovered by psychoanalysis in its beginning
is still valid today. Scientific obscurantism in the 21st century
may very well decide to ignore it, which does not prevent it from
existing.
This capitalist discourse rejects the first
loss of jouissance and suspends its return.
The symptom ceaselessly reiterates this double movement of refusal of the
loss and its return so as to totalise it, which it does not miss. This is the fundamental stereotypy of the
symptom. This discourse thus accomplishes
a foreclosure of castration. In Freud’s era, civilisation and its
discontents centred itself essentially on loss, whilst today, globalisation
centres itself especially on the second time of the return of jouissance without
limits. For Lacan, the discourse of
the unconscious must be clarified with this capitalist discourse.
loss of jouissance and suspends its return.
The symptom ceaselessly reiterates this double movement of refusal of the
loss and its return so as to totalise it, which it does not miss. This is the fundamental stereotypy of the
symptom. This discourse thus accomplishes
a foreclosure of castration. In Freud’s era, civilisation and its
discontents centred itself essentially on loss, whilst today, globalisation
centres itself especially on the second time of the return of jouissance without
limits. For Lacan, the discourse of
the unconscious must be clarified with this capitalist discourse.
Capitalism has allowed a new
subject to emerge. He is very much an effect of language, but is no longer
subjected to the master signifier which is repressed. That is to say that the
signifiers of the social Other no longer identify him.
We particularly observe this with regards to homosexuality or autism,
current symptomatic stakes for the DSM.
These subjects refuse the segregation induced by the dominant discourse
which classes them respectively within perversions or psychoses. These worn-out
master-words no longer index the real that is at stake and are rejected.
subject to emerge. He is very much an effect of language, but is no longer
subjected to the master signifier which is repressed. That is to say that the
signifiers of the social Other no longer identify him.
We particularly observe this with regards to homosexuality or autism,
current symptomatic stakes for the DSM.
These subjects refuse the segregation induced by the dominant discourse
which classes them respectively within perversions or psychoses. These worn-out
master-words no longer index the real that is at stake and are rejected.
More
generally, the capitalist subject
refuses the authority of the Master. And
“the authority crisis” names this phenomenon of the decline of the Master at
every level of democratic societies.
However, the function of the master-words is also the mortification of
jouissance. When the master-word is
repressed, the mortification of jouissance – castration – no longer
operates. The consequence of this at the
level of the body is decisive. There are no longer any limits upon the
production of the object (a) surplus-enjoyment. This is exploitation to death. The reason for
this is that it is not only having
that is concerned, but also being.
The subject is even more abandoned to the authority of the absolute master in
so far as he is not identified to any particular master. Death is the only
limiting principle for jouissance when castration no longer operates.
generally, the capitalist subject
refuses the authority of the Master. And
“the authority crisis” names this phenomenon of the decline of the Master at
every level of democratic societies.
However, the function of the master-words is also the mortification of
jouissance. When the master-word is
repressed, the mortification of jouissance – castration – no longer
operates. The consequence of this at the
level of the body is decisive. There are no longer any limits upon the
production of the object (a) surplus-enjoyment. This is exploitation to death. The reason for
this is that it is not only having
that is concerned, but also being.
The subject is even more abandoned to the authority of the absolute master in
so far as he is not identified to any particular master. Death is the only
limiting principle for jouissance when castration no longer operates.
Capitalism
has known two major modifications during the last thirty years. Firstly, it has
become globalised. Effectively, since the fall of the Berlin wall, communist
nations have come together under the market economy. It is then legitimate to
say that there is no longer civilisation, but globalisation in which subjects
are suffering particularly from addictions without any limits founded upon the unlimited
return of the surplus-enjoyment. Next, capitalism
has become “scientific” – financial capitalism should be called scientific
capitalism. Its subject is the
generalised proletarian, because nothing allows him to uphold a discourse, as
the phenomenon of the ‘Indignados’ shows
us. It is no longer necessary to place the
proletarian in factories in order to extract the surplus-enjoyment from him.
The financial crisis of 2008 showed this, it suffices to lure him by means of
investments which have the appeal of casino winnings, reduced to a few opaque
mathematical equations (securitization) in order to transform him into a homeless
person at the first crisis of confidence. The phenomenon of solitude and its
autistic satisfaction gives an idea of the worldwide expansion of this
phenomenon.
has known two major modifications during the last thirty years. Firstly, it has
become globalised. Effectively, since the fall of the Berlin wall, communist
nations have come together under the market economy. It is then legitimate to
say that there is no longer civilisation, but globalisation in which subjects
are suffering particularly from addictions without any limits founded upon the unlimited
return of the surplus-enjoyment. Next, capitalism
has become “scientific” – financial capitalism should be called scientific
capitalism. Its subject is the
generalised proletarian, because nothing allows him to uphold a discourse, as
the phenomenon of the ‘Indignados’ shows
us. It is no longer necessary to place the
proletarian in factories in order to extract the surplus-enjoyment from him.
The financial crisis of 2008 showed this, it suffices to lure him by means of
investments which have the appeal of casino winnings, reduced to a few opaque
mathematical equations (securitization) in order to transform him into a homeless
person at the first crisis of confidence. The phenomenon of solitude and its
autistic satisfaction gives an idea of the worldwide expansion of this
phenomenon.
The Scientific Discourse and its Subject
With science, the master-signifier no longer
functions either. What is more, science reduces the effect of a series of functions of discourse: The
signifier is reduced to its effect of letter –mathematics only uses letters– and the object (a) surplus-enjoyment is
rejected; there, the dialectical work of truth is no longer possible
because the subject’s division is
neutralised. Castration then no
longer operates. Truth and the singular real of libido are disconnected. The
only real at stake in this discourse obeys universal laws, and not a singular
cause: It is the real of the organism which is to be distinguished from that
of the body. The analytic discourse
has shown, in effect, since its beginnings in the 20th century, that
the body is always a speaking body, which evidently is not the case of the
organism which is a matter of science.
functions either. What is more, science reduces the effect of a series of functions of discourse: The
signifier is reduced to its effect of letter –mathematics only uses letters– and the object (a) surplus-enjoyment is
rejected; there, the dialectical work of truth is no longer possible
because the subject’s division is
neutralised. Castration then no
longer operates. Truth and the singular real of libido are disconnected. The
only real at stake in this discourse obeys universal laws, and not a singular
cause: It is the real of the organism which is to be distinguished from that
of the body. The analytic discourse
has shown, in effect, since its beginnings in the 20th century, that
the body is always a speaking body, which evidently is not the case of the
organism which is a matter of science.
The subject
of science dates from the cogito and
is nothing other than a void. It is a
pure subject. It is decisive to see this,
because science no longer needs to
turn to the intuition of the body. It does without the body. Now science operates solely on the organism and its real. This pure subject of science does not exist
anywhere, but it is necessary to grasp that science veils the part of the
subject that expresses itself in the fantasy and which is correlated to the
object (a). The subject thus neutralised in his
division becomes universalising.
He increasingly lends himself to the logic of classes. But the liberation from the body provokes a
disjunction between the body and the object (a), between the universality of
the body and the particularity of the object (a). The object (a) is an empty set,
it is therefore incorporeal. When it is rejected, it gallops off all by itself,
separated from the body. But it is also
ready to recapture the bodies again at the first opportunity. This is the case
of every natural or industrial object
(a). This object (a) is not inert. It is
a bit like a black hole, it is an object “that wants”. Let us take the example
of the object (a) gaze and its relation to the body. The
gaze increasingly captures the bodies in our societies under surveillance,
whether outside on the street by way of increasingly numerous cameras, but also
in the home by way of television or computer screens without counting mobile
telephones and other mobile tablets transportable everywhere, all the time. In
other words, this object (a) has on the
body the effect of a push-to-enjoying, from which it cannot be separated for
long. When it returns towards the
organism, it then manifests itself in all sorts of addictions which make up
contemporary symptoms. It is the same insatiable gaze object that
scrutinises the private life of everyday people through shows of the so-called
reality TV; it is also this object that feeds upon the vicissitudes of the
private lives of our modern masters whose mediatisation is demanded without
delay. But when the media mirror no
longer provides a veil, the awaited ideal does not appear, and disappointment
is then assured. The ideal of the normal man is without doubt in the spirit of our
times. However, this fiction which gathers
together also contains within itself the germ of ulterior dispersion. Effaced for only a short time, it does not miss
re-appearing and manifesting itself in particular as the small difference to which
each one holds on, as though to his most precious possession. Let us add that the subject of science, liberated from the
body, is also a subject without shame. Following the same principle, the emancipation
of the oral object provokes worldwide epidemics of obesity or anorexia, from
the earliest age.
of science dates from the cogito and
is nothing other than a void. It is a
pure subject. It is decisive to see this,
because science no longer needs to
turn to the intuition of the body. It does without the body. Now science operates solely on the organism and its real. This pure subject of science does not exist
anywhere, but it is necessary to grasp that science veils the part of the
subject that expresses itself in the fantasy and which is correlated to the
object (a). The subject thus neutralised in his
division becomes universalising.
He increasingly lends himself to the logic of classes. But the liberation from the body provokes a
disjunction between the body and the object (a), between the universality of
the body and the particularity of the object (a). The object (a) is an empty set,
it is therefore incorporeal. When it is rejected, it gallops off all by itself,
separated from the body. But it is also
ready to recapture the bodies again at the first opportunity. This is the case
of every natural or industrial object
(a). This object (a) is not inert. It is
a bit like a black hole, it is an object “that wants”. Let us take the example
of the object (a) gaze and its relation to the body. The
gaze increasingly captures the bodies in our societies under surveillance,
whether outside on the street by way of increasingly numerous cameras, but also
in the home by way of television or computer screens without counting mobile
telephones and other mobile tablets transportable everywhere, all the time. In
other words, this object (a) has on the
body the effect of a push-to-enjoying, from which it cannot be separated for
long. When it returns towards the
organism, it then manifests itself in all sorts of addictions which make up
contemporary symptoms. It is the same insatiable gaze object that
scrutinises the private life of everyday people through shows of the so-called
reality TV; it is also this object that feeds upon the vicissitudes of the
private lives of our modern masters whose mediatisation is demanded without
delay. But when the media mirror no
longer provides a veil, the awaited ideal does not appear, and disappointment
is then assured. The ideal of the normal man is without doubt in the spirit of our
times. However, this fiction which gathers
together also contains within itself the germ of ulterior dispersion. Effaced for only a short time, it does not miss
re-appearing and manifesting itself in particular as the small difference to which
each one holds on, as though to his most precious possession. Let us add that the subject of science, liberated from the
body, is also a subject without shame. Following the same principle, the emancipation
of the oral object provokes worldwide epidemics of obesity or anorexia, from
the earliest age.
Science and capitalism are united for better and
for worse. They
have engendered the most important progress of humanity. However, the deep modifications that they impose on
discourse also generate new forms of discontent. Evaluation has come to reinforce this globalised
discontent. Contemporary discontent
knows no traditional frontiers and this is why it is justifiable today to speak
of globalisation and no longer of civilisations.
for worse. They
have engendered the most important progress of humanity. However, the deep modifications that they impose on
discourse also generate new forms of discontent. Evaluation has come to reinforce this globalised
discontent. Contemporary discontent
knows no traditional frontiers and this is why it is justifiable today to speak
of globalisation and no longer of civilisations.
Translated by
Frances Coates-Ruet
Frances Coates-Ruet
