Reading Slavoj Zizek can be sometimes a frustrating experience. At his worst, he seems to ramble on and on without making a point or failing to return back on point. However, on other times, as here, thankfully, he is focused, incisive and on point. Refugees, Terror, and Other Troubles with Neighbors is a thoughtful analysis of a problem bedeviling the contemporary world.
Zizek is a cultural analyst and frequently throws in cultural examples in his analysis. He does so here, of course. However, where in other contexts these cultural references are a distraction to what he has to say, here his references to film and art are skillfully used and, again, on point. Zizek is at his most readable here.
The Refugee Crisis has exposed the weakest points in an already strained European social network. Zizek has correctly identified those stresses and gives a critical assessment of where the blame should lay.
There’s plenty of blame to pass around. Zizek is, of course, critical of conservative groups which cannot show enough understanding and/or compassion to refugees fleeing a hell on earth but instead want them out. That part is easy.
Zizek, however is also highly critical of the European leftist elite, which, on the surface shows understanding or compassion, but does so in an imperfect manner, actually making the situation worse. For example, Germany pledges to accept fleeing refugees. Fine. But at the same time requires the least capable countries in the EE, such as Greece, to accept these refugees.
But most of all Zizek points to the global effects of neoliberal capitalism, western military interventionism and other factors in creating the crisis. This creates what Zizek calls a “double blackmail,” where as long as the root causes of the Refugee Crisis remains unresolved, the refugees will continue to pour into EE borders.
The Refugee Crisis is not just a European problem, and the issue affects North America. Zizek seems to concentrate his discussions to Europe. The crisis is world-wide, and could just as easily be applied to other parts of the world other than Europe. As he discusses in this enlightening book, the Refugee Crisis is a problem with no easily defined resolution.
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