{"product_id":"9781786630797","title":"In Defense of Lost Causes","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn this combative, major new work, philosophical sharpshooter Slavoj Žižek looks for the kernel of truth in the totalitarian politics of the past.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eExamining Heidegger's seduction by fascism and Foucault's flirtation with the Iranian Revolution, he suggests that these were the \"right steps in the wrong direction.\" On the revolutionary terror of Robespierre, Mao and the Bolsheviks, Žižek argues that while these struggles ended in historic failure and horror, there was a valuable core of idealism lost beneath the bloodshed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA redemptive vision has been obscured by the soft, decentralized politics of the liberal-democratic consensus. Faced with the coming ecological crisis, Žižek argues the case for revolutionary terror and the dicatorship of the proletrariat. A return to past ideals is needed despite the risks. In the words of Samuel Beckett: \"Try again. Fail again. Fail better.\"  \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Verso Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47061915468016,"sku":"9781786630797","price":24.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781786630797_p0.jpg?v=1763739361","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781786630797","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}