Paradoxes of Emancipation: Radical Imagination and Space in Neoliberal Greece (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780815638162)

In Paradoxes of Emancipation, Dimitris Soudias traces the formation of political subjectivity in times of crisis by attending to the 2011 occupation of Syntagma Square in Athens--the heart of the Greek anti-austerity movement following the debt crisis. Soudias conceives of the Syntagma Square occupation as a lens through which we can critically engage with broader theoretical and political issues: the crumbling promises of the capitalist imaginary, the epistemic "spirit" of neoliberal rationalities, the spatialized practices of navigating precarity and uncertainty, and the prospects for a radically better tomorrow.

By challenging both the romanticization of anti-austerity activism and the reduction of neoliberalism to mere free market thinking, Soudias reveals that the relationship between political subject formation and emancipation in neoliberalism is utterly paradoxical. In their effort to overcome neoliberal rationalities, individuals also partly stabilize them. Interweaving the stories and insights of activists with sociology, geography, and political theory, this book makes bold claims about the future of emancipation by envisioning an "alter-neoliberal critique." In so doing, Paradoxes of Emancipation presents an illuminating inquiry into how our experiences with capitalist crises lead to profound reevaluations of ourselves that challenge our expectations of the future.

Author: Dimitris Soudias
ISBN-10: 0815638167
ISBN-13: 9780815638162
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
Language: English
Published: 08/15/2023
Pages: 336
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.42lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.88d