The Day After the Revolution

by Slavoj Žižek

One hundred years after the Russian Revolution, Žižek shows why Lenin’s thought is still important today V. I. Lenin’s originality and importance as a revolutionary leader is most often associated with the seizure of power in 1917. But, in this new study and collection of Lenin’s original texts, Slavoj Žižek argues that his true greatness can be better grasped in the last two years of his political life. Russia had survived foreign invasion, embargo and a terrifying civil war, as well as internal revolts such as the one at Kronstadt in 1921. But the new state was exhausted, isolated and disorientated. As the anticipated world revolution receded into the distance, new paths had to be charted if the Soviet state was to survive.

With his characteristic brio and provocative insight, Žižek suggests that Lenin’s courage as a thinker can be found in his willingness to face this reality of retreat unflinchingly. In today’s world, characterized by political turbulence, economic crises and geopolitical tensions, we should revisit Lenin’s combination of sober lucidity and revolutionary determination.

Genres: Philosophy, History, Politics, Nonfiction, Theory, Lenin

272 pages, Paperback

Published November 27, 2018

About the author

Slavoj Žižek is a Slovene sociologist, philosopher, and cultural critic.

He was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia (then part of SFR Yugoslavia). He received a Doctor of Arts in Philosophy from the University of Ljubljana and studied psychoanalysis at the University of Paris VIII with Jacques-Alain Miller and François Regnault. In 1990 he was a candidate with the party Liberal Democracy of Slovenia for Presidency of the Republic of Slovenia (an auxiliary institution, abolished in 1992).

Since 2005, Žižek has been a member of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

Žižek is well known for his use of the works of 20th century French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan in a new reading of popular culture. He writes on many topics including the Iraq War, fundamentalism, capitalism, tolerance, political correctness, globalization, subjectivity, human rights, Lenin, myth, cyberspace, postmodernism, multiculturalism, post-marxism, David Lynch, and Alfred Hitchcock.

In an interview with the Spanish newspaper El País he jokingly described himself as an "orthodox Lacanian Stalinist". In an interview with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now! he described himself as a "Marxist" and a "Communist."

Reviews

[L]

The texts included in this work are mostly quite dry and bureaucratic. Some are engaging. Though this text is not so much about what Lenin is saying, rather it is about the message that Zizek is trying to convey. I'll have to think over this more if I am going to post a full review.

[Andrew Ferguson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really wonderful, especially Žižek's portions. Žižek of course has the benefit of foresight, of seeing how the gap between reality and doctrine would widen as the Soviet experiment progressed, before collapsing during de-Stalinisation. In this way, Žižek seems to remind us of the importance of agile thinking, of self-crit, and that history is not scientific, but dialectical. Lenin of course, operates in good faith in all his writing, whilst wrestling with the problem of trying to predict the unpredictable. He is humbled towards the end of his life, as he admits to the complexity of the issue of state-building, and then seriously tackles it. He is thoughtful and dynamic and prescient, as far as possible, and his legacy leaves us with a socialist thesis that is yet unresolved.

There's some dry, repetitive passages in here about specific commissions within the party that could be seriously shortened without losing any meaning, but everything is well curated and alongside State and Revolution we get a really good understanding of the man's progression as a "thinking machine".

[Анна · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is no man on earth who has paralleled Vladimir Ilyich, nor will there ever be.

[Jan Hendricks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting introduction by Slavoj Žižek, although it is, in typical Žižekian prose, occasionally all over the place. Additionally, he also makes some strange claims and comparisons such as, for instance, the argument that leftists who say that economic planning 'resulted in failure' because true economic planning has never been tried are no better than capitalist apologists who claim that all problems within capitalism are due to the markets not being free enough. This claim is strange for several reasons - most importantly, however, I have never seen a leftist arguing along these lines. Usually, people either claim that economic planning 'failed' because you simply cannot plan economies. The other group, those who are in favour of economic planning, generally points to the successes of economic planning in the USSR while at the same time also acknowledging its issues. There were some other strange arguments but overall Žižek writes an interesting essay combining Lenin and Psychoanalysis, as well as giving an outlook for the future - and what we can still learn from Lenin.

The texts themselves are all from Lenin's later writings (the last two years of his life) - they show how Lenin being in uncharted territories tried to navigate the difficult material and political conditions in which the Bolshevik Revolution unfolded. Some are interesting and others less so. Overall, however, I think more can be learned from Lenin's other writings than from this specific collection of letters, speeches, and essays.

[Rudy Herrera · Rating 5 out of 5]

A masterful exploration into the mind of Lenin a few years after his greatest achievement. This book paints Lenin as one who regretted allowing power to fall the way it did after the October revolution, but was still misguided enough to not understand the problems that he has created. Zizeks analysis is the best I’ve ever seen from him, which is perfectly congruent and lacks those tangents that have become synonymous with his name. I had a blast.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I skipped the introduction and would recommend only reading the main body of collected texts by Lenin. That being said, the actual content was good. It is always nice to supplement knowledge by reading small collections of letters etc.

[raymond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lenin’s writings are as beautiful and sexy as ever, however Zizek’s lengthy introduction really didn’t add much of substance.

[Brandon Montgomery · Rating 3 out of 5]

Several essays, letters and speeches written by Lenin after the Russian revolution, in which he mostly defends the NEP from it's various detractors. Lenin's writings are preceded by an excellent (and rambling) essay by Slavoj Zizek that touches not just on Lenin and his times, but because Zizek can't help himself, it also ponders one of Zizek's pet topics - What do we do the morning after the revolution? He's explored that theme in greater lengths elsewhere, but it's appropriate here in a book titled "The Day After Revolution"

[Anna Melnychuk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Difficult to read, especially the introduction. Probably due to my merely foundational understandings of philosophy. The original texts were also not very engaging. However, when I really concentrated, this book revealed some interesting new concepts and ideas. I feel very smart now that I have read this

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good if quite short collection of writings from Lenin in the post Civil War years before his death. Very interesting because we rarely focus on Lenin's work in power compared to his work in the lead up to the Revolution. Skipped Zizeks intro and afterwards because he sucks.

[Luka · Rating 3 out of 5]

none of these translations are new. but that doesn’t make this collection uninteresting; the introduction is a perfect capsul of zizek work. he is all over the place, few slightly bizarre critiques of the modern left, and some historical lessons. makes for a great gift

[Wyatt Browdy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Introduction is Zizek at his best

[Benja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely something I'd like to have read in a group setting.