Pandemic!
| Author | Slavoj Žižek |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Polity |
Publication date | March 24, 2020[1] |
Pandemic!: COVID-19 Shakes the World is a 2020 book by Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek, in which he posits that in order to avoid further global catastrophe due to the new coronavirus, the world will need to implement a “new form of [...] communism", loosely defined as the construction of a “global organisation that can control and regulate the economy" along with a "global healthcare network”, both marked by a general shift away from “market mechanisms” .
Žižek insists that “we should resist the temptation to treat the ongoing epidemic as something that has a deeper meaning”.[2]
Reception
The Guardian writes that "Žižek has spent his career writing in anticipation of a world-historic moment like the coronavirus pandemic, a truly totalising event that would allow the Hegelian philosopher – Hegel’s being a totalising philosophy – to deploy his skills on the frontline. But this first attempt from our philosophical key-worker is forgettable."[1]
Notes
- ^ a b Yohann Koshy, April 23, 2020. Pandemic! by Slavoj Žižek review – the philosopher provides his solution The Guardian.
- ^ Richard Horton. May 30, 2020. Offline: After COVID-19—is an “alternate society” possible?, The Lancet DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31241-1