Libidinal Economy (Theories of Contemporary Culture) [Paperback]

Jean Francois Lyotard (Author), Iain Hamilton Grant (Author)

Book Description

Series: Theories of Contemporary Culture | Publication Date: March 22, 1993

Lyotard is considered one of the most brilliant and influential of French post-structuralist thinkers. Published in 1974 by Minuit, Économie libidinale is, of all his work to date, the most creative in its mode of writing and in its theorizing: a stunning, dense, brilliant piece in which Lyotard, ranging from Marxist and Freudian theory to contemporary arts, argues that political economy is charged with passions and, reciprocally, that passions are infused with the political.

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Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

JEAN-FRANÇOIS LYOTARD, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of Paris VIII and Professor at the University of California, Irvine, is author of numerous books, including The Differend: Phrases in Dispute, Heidegger and "the Jews", and The Post-Modern Condition. IAIN HAMILTON GRANT is in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Warwick.

Product Details

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: Indiana University Press (March 22, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0253207282
• ISBN-13: 978-0253207289
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,315,618 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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22 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars good stuff, June 27, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Libidinal Economy (Theories of Contemporary Culture) (Paperback)

An important work by the late, missed and brilliant Francois Lyotard. An effective response to Deleuze and Guattari's "Anti-Oedipus", Lyotard almost succeeds in showing the libidinal drives underlying not only the economy but a critique of Marxism too. Here while seemingly accepting Freud's idea of the libido, Lyotard shows how much more complex and satisfying his take of society is compared to the cumbersome and unsuccessful try by Deleuze and Guattari to combine Marx and Freud. Lyotard uses ideas from Bataille to stress the organic development of man and society in contrast to the mechanistic structures of "Anti-Oedipus" which is reminiscent of most of the French rationalist school who want to reduce everything to equations of either bodies without organs, or a formula by Descartes.