By Choi Won-hyung staff reporter
Slavoj Zizek, a Slovenian cultural theorist known for his
radical blend of realpolitik and pop culture, is visiting Korea this week after
having been away since his 2003 appearance at the Conference of Korean
Philosophers.
The first stop on his itinerary this time was a conversation
with Hong Se-hwa, a noted progressive writer in Korea. The meeting coincided
with the 62nd anniversary Monday of the start of the Korean War, saw Zizek
talking about the current crisis in the capitalist system, and what “progressives”
and “leftists” should be aiming for at such a time. He also spent two hours
sharing his thoughts on the division of the Korean Peninsula and the continuity
of the regime in Pyongyang.
Hong began the conversation on the topic of the recent
second round of elections in Greece as a way of gauging the direction of the
financial crisis in Europe. In light of the results, he asked what Zizek
expected to see with the crisis in the global capitalist system.
Zizek argued that the situation in Greece, which is closely
linked to Europe’s most developed economies, was a good example of the
inability of even Western states to move forward from the current crisis of
capitalism or sustain a welfare state.
He also voiced concern that democracy might suffer a setback
from the ultimate victory of New Democracy, which supports austerity measures
leveled against Greece. Zizek said that what worried him most in the crisis are
the moves toward a “divorce” in the marriage between democracy and capitalism.
Although capitalism has supported democracy to date, Zizek
predicted, the new model of post-neoliberal capitalism would not require it. He
pointed to a global trend, and the resulting problems, of non-democratically
elected “technocrats” making the important decisions in countries like Russia,
Italy, and Greece.
He also took a positive view of the Coalition of the Radical
Left (SYRIZA), which drew support in the election by presenting a clear choice
between accepting austerity and negotiating the bailout. Zizek said that SYRIZA
brought order to the Greek chaos, and that a victory for it might have opened
the way for a new type of citizenship.
He argued that while the coalition failed to come to power
after a below-the-belt propaganda offensive charging that they would bring “Stalinism”
to Greece, its ability to increase its support levels from under 5% to between
25% and 29% by searching for a “way of surviving in the Eurozone” provided an
instructive example for the rebuilding of a new left-wing party in South Korea.
Hong went on to ask about the difficulties leftists are
facing around the world. He noted the South Korean example, in which the
military dictatorship was brought to an end by the June 1987 democracy
struggle, but the next ten years of reformist liberal administrations ended up
dividing the working class and strengthening big business through intensive
restructuring.
Zizek was pessimistic about the prospects, observing that
the left, despite its critique of capitalism, was unable to do anything when
crisis struck, and remains in a profound state of crisis. Whereas the left wing
of the past believed it was enough to know what would happen and organize
people who agreed with it, he argued, the current situation is one where there
is no way of knowing what is going on, and the left is not asking the “big
questions.”
He also said another limitation of the current left is its
tacit acceptance of democracy and capitalism, with an interest on how to make
things better by working within the system.
He argued that the left, rather than presenting a utopian
perspective and dogma for a solution, needs to be a presence asking the
question of what an be offered to people, from a perspective that problematizes
a system that divides people through embracing and excluding -- what the philosopher
calls the “new Apartheid.”
The important thing, he added, was not giving answers but
asking the right questions.
What practical steps need to be taken to rebuild the left?
According to Zizek, the question of what people really feel represents change
is more important what how many people have called for the same thing. The task
of the left, he added, was to look squarely at a complex reality where
pragmatism is bound together with idealism.
The conversation segued into accounts of the difficulties
faced by the South Korean labor movement. Hong described the occupation of a
crane last year by Korean Confederation of Trade Unions member Kim Jin-suk to
protest layoffs at Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction, the Hope Bus
campaign to support her struggle, and the plight of layoff victims at Ssangyong
Motors, who failed to draw the same level of interest from civil society
despite the deaths of 22 union members in the wake of the firings.
Zizek said that helping out when the basic social system is not
functioning properly is not an issue of philosophy. Like coming to the aid of
someone who lies bleeding in the street, he said, helping people is a
fundamental part of an ethical society that goes beyond the discussion on
neoliberalism.
The philosopher showed a particular interest in the division
of the peninsula and the North Korean regime. He noted that unlike other
communist countries where bureaucrats dominate the system, North Korea follows
a heredity succession, even going so far as to invoke supernatural phenomena.
Zizek said he was very interested in what contributed to
North Korea developing such a unique system in the present day and age. He also
said that despite opting for “isolation” over the years, Pyongyang was actually
far more dependent on the outside, relying on food aids and focusing on
establishing diplomatic relations with Washington and Tokyo.
Zizek’s visit attracted notice because he was the one who
suggested it. He plans to meet with the public in seven o’clock lecture
meetings at the Kyung Hee University Peace Hall on Wednesday and the Konkuk
University New Millennium Hall on Thursday. He is scheduled to depart Saturday
after a weeklong stay.
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