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Zombie Politics and Culture in the Age of Casino Capitalism
Zombie Politics and Culture in the Age of Casino Capitalism capitalizes upon the popularity of zombies, exploring the relevance of the metaphor they provide for examining the political and pedagogical conditions that have produced a growing culture of sadism, cruelty, disposability, and death in America. The zombie metaphor may seem extreme, but it is particularly apt for drawing attention to the ways in which political culture and power in American society now operate on a level of mere survival. This book uses the metaphor not only to suggest the symbolic face of beginning and ending with an analysis of authoritarianism, it attempts to mark and chart the visible registers of a kind of zombie politics, including the emergence of right-wing teaching machines, a growing politics of disposability, the emergence of a culture of cruelty, and the ongoing war being waged on young people, especially on youth of color. By drawing attention to zombie politics and authoritarianism, this book aims to break through the poisonous common sense that often masks zombie politicians, anti-public intellectuals, politics, institutions, and social relations, and bring into focus a new language, pedagogy, and politics in which the living dead will be moved decisively to the margins rather than occupying the very center of politics and everyday life.
168 pages, Paperback
First published November 11, 2010
7 people are currently reading
702 people want to read
About the author
Henry A. Giroux
129 books230 followersAmerican cultural critic. One of the founding theorists of critical pedagogy in the United States, he is best known for his pioneering work in public pedagogy, cultural studies, youth studies, higher education, media studies, and critical theory.
A high-school social studies teacher in Barrington, Rhode Island for six years, Giroux has held positions at Boston University, Miami University, and Penn State University. In 2005, Giroux began serving as the Global TV Network Chair in English and Cultural Studies at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
Giroux has published more than 35 books and 300 academic articles, and is published widely throughout education and cultural studies literature. Since arriving at McMaster, Giroux has been a featured faculty lecturer, and has published nine books, including his most recent work, The University in Chains: Confronting the Military-Industrial-Academic Complex.
Routledge named Giroux as one of the top fifty educational thinkers of the modern period in 2002.
A high-school social studies teacher in Barrington, Rhode Island for six years, Giroux has held positions at Boston University, Miami University, and Penn State University. In 2005, Giroux began serving as the Global TV Network Chair in English and Cultural Studies at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
Giroux has published more than 35 books and 300 academic articles, and is published widely throughout education and cultural studies literature. Since arriving at McMaster, Giroux has been a featured faculty lecturer, and has published nine books, including his most recent work, The University in Chains: Confronting the Military-Industrial-Academic Complex.
Routledge named Giroux as one of the top fifty educational thinkers of the modern period in 2002.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 7, 2015
This is a truly disturbing book.
It was a collect of short articles on the decline of democracy in the US and how this is being facilitated by corporations that have effectively purchased government so as to allow them to socialise risks while continuing to privatise profit. As he points out the fact the when US Supreme Court handed down its decision allowing corporations unlimited purchasing power in the electoral system, it effectively gave them control in ‘turning democracy into a commodity’.
The book explains that these same corporations own the majority of the media and use this to make power seem to disappeared (that is, to make real power appear invisible) and to make the ideas that support power seem nothing other than common sense. The book documents the increasing criminalisation of social disadvantage, where to be poor in the US is to be more than merely suspect, but rather to be assumed to be criminal – to be assumed to be either violent or a thief, and if not literally someone who robbing banks, then figuratively one in the sense of ‘robbing hard-working Americans’ by demanding ‘welfare’. To Giroux, America has become a land of casino capitalism run using a culture of cruelty by economic zombies. That is, by people whose only motivation is to suck the life out of the rest of society in pursuit of ever-greater profit. This death cult is seeking to literally create a nation in its own image, that is, people taught by an education system that spits out graduates capable only for industry, basically incapable free or critical thought, an education system that is increasingly privatised so that all aspects of education are directed at commodification. An education system that assumes children are dangerous and need to be contained in increasingly militaristic ways, so that armed police are increasingly a normal presence in schools, police who behave with no regard to the needs of students other than in containing them or in response to the authority of teachers.
Where a government blatantly lies to the population about weapons of mass destruction, the reasons for going to war, how the war is being prosecuted, how many people are killed in that war, the nature of the torture used against the ‘enemy’ and the legality of any of these actions under either American or International law or norms. A country that tortures children – in fact, every American should be forced to read Chapter 6 of this book. A country that increasingly has a ‘school to prison pipeline’ for its own children – particularly children of colour, a country that imprisons so many of its people that it makes third world dictatorships appear lenient. A country that celebrates ignorance and allows radical right-wing ideologues in a single state to decide the content of the nation’s text books, allowing them to expunge these books of history they do not like while rewriting the science curriculum to match their religious prejudices.
It is a vision of a dystopia made all the more disturbing because it is anything but a fantasy.
There are quotes in this book that would make your hair curl. This one was the most shocking:
Lesley Stahl on U.S. sanctions against Iraq: We have heard that a half million children have died. I mean, that's more children than died in Hiroshima. And, you know, is the price worth it?
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright: I think this is a very hard choice, but the price--we think the price is worth it.
--60 Minutes (5/12/96)
You can confirm this here: http://fair.org/extra-online-articles...
Notice that the Secretary of State doesn’t question the figure – half a million children dead, but it is worth it. What sort of monster could say such a thing?
Giroux makes the point that the American public are being encouraged to view such anti human statements as normal and even morally innocuous through a concerted attack within the entertainment industry. Two books I’ve read recently have discussed an American television show called 24. I stopped watching American films and television over a decade ago, so was only dimly aware of this show. But it seems that the hero repeatedly uses torture as a means of gaining information from the enemy. The fact that this so clearly mirrors exactly what the US was doing at the time during the darkest days of the Bush Administration is chilling enough. But it is made all the more so when you realise that more than half of the US population now supports the use of torture. If this sequence of events occurred elsewhere we would refer to it as indoctrination.
The obsession with brutal violence used with impunity against enemies in the mainstream media is more than matched by other forms of violence focused on the poor, especially a delightful series of films called Bum Fight – freely available on YouTube – I’ve checked but not been able to bring myself to watch any of them - where, and I struggle to believe this is real, homeless people are either paid to fight each other as a form of entertainment or they are hunted down and beaten by teenagers. When Giroux talks of a ‘culture of cruelty’ he really does mean it.
I’m going to stop now, as I’m making myself upset, but this book really should be compulsory reading.
It was a collect of short articles on the decline of democracy in the US and how this is being facilitated by corporations that have effectively purchased government so as to allow them to socialise risks while continuing to privatise profit. As he points out the fact the when US Supreme Court handed down its decision allowing corporations unlimited purchasing power in the electoral system, it effectively gave them control in ‘turning democracy into a commodity’.
The book explains that these same corporations own the majority of the media and use this to make power seem to disappeared (that is, to make real power appear invisible) and to make the ideas that support power seem nothing other than common sense. The book documents the increasing criminalisation of social disadvantage, where to be poor in the US is to be more than merely suspect, but rather to be assumed to be criminal – to be assumed to be either violent or a thief, and if not literally someone who robbing banks, then figuratively one in the sense of ‘robbing hard-working Americans’ by demanding ‘welfare’. To Giroux, America has become a land of casino capitalism run using a culture of cruelty by economic zombies. That is, by people whose only motivation is to suck the life out of the rest of society in pursuit of ever-greater profit. This death cult is seeking to literally create a nation in its own image, that is, people taught by an education system that spits out graduates capable only for industry, basically incapable free or critical thought, an education system that is increasingly privatised so that all aspects of education are directed at commodification. An education system that assumes children are dangerous and need to be contained in increasingly militaristic ways, so that armed police are increasingly a normal presence in schools, police who behave with no regard to the needs of students other than in containing them or in response to the authority of teachers.
Where a government blatantly lies to the population about weapons of mass destruction, the reasons for going to war, how the war is being prosecuted, how many people are killed in that war, the nature of the torture used against the ‘enemy’ and the legality of any of these actions under either American or International law or norms. A country that tortures children – in fact, every American should be forced to read Chapter 6 of this book. A country that increasingly has a ‘school to prison pipeline’ for its own children – particularly children of colour, a country that imprisons so many of its people that it makes third world dictatorships appear lenient. A country that celebrates ignorance and allows radical right-wing ideologues in a single state to decide the content of the nation’s text books, allowing them to expunge these books of history they do not like while rewriting the science curriculum to match their religious prejudices.
It is a vision of a dystopia made all the more disturbing because it is anything but a fantasy.
There are quotes in this book that would make your hair curl. This one was the most shocking:
Lesley Stahl on U.S. sanctions against Iraq: We have heard that a half million children have died. I mean, that's more children than died in Hiroshima. And, you know, is the price worth it?
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright: I think this is a very hard choice, but the price--we think the price is worth it.
--60 Minutes (5/12/96)
You can confirm this here: http://fair.org/extra-online-articles...
Notice that the Secretary of State doesn’t question the figure – half a million children dead, but it is worth it. What sort of monster could say such a thing?
Giroux makes the point that the American public are being encouraged to view such anti human statements as normal and even morally innocuous through a concerted attack within the entertainment industry. Two books I’ve read recently have discussed an American television show called 24. I stopped watching American films and television over a decade ago, so was only dimly aware of this show. But it seems that the hero repeatedly uses torture as a means of gaining information from the enemy. The fact that this so clearly mirrors exactly what the US was doing at the time during the darkest days of the Bush Administration is chilling enough. But it is made all the more so when you realise that more than half of the US population now supports the use of torture. If this sequence of events occurred elsewhere we would refer to it as indoctrination.
The obsession with brutal violence used with impunity against enemies in the mainstream media is more than matched by other forms of violence focused on the poor, especially a delightful series of films called Bum Fight – freely available on YouTube – I’ve checked but not been able to bring myself to watch any of them - where, and I struggle to believe this is real, homeless people are either paid to fight each other as a form of entertainment or they are hunted down and beaten by teenagers. When Giroux talks of a ‘culture of cruelty’ he really does mean it.
I’m going to stop now, as I’m making myself upset, but this book really should be compulsory reading.
May 1, 2015
Zombie has become a popular word, theory, trope, maxim and metaphor to describe life, leisure, citizenship and education after the global financial crisis. The most expansive and scholarly monograph in this genre is Henry Giroux's Zombie Politics. This second edition captures the transformation of 'the public' and 'the state.' There is strong attention to youth and schooling.
Most powerful element in this book is an analysis of the cruelty of the contemporary age. The violence to 'the self' and the privatization of public spaces is effectively described and diagnosed.
Most powerful element in this book is an analysis of the cruelty of the contemporary age. The violence to 'the self' and the privatization of public spaces is effectively described and diagnosed.
November 7, 2015
Giroux is a passionate and brilliant writer. This book is an indictment of U.S. policy, particularly under the Bush/Cheney regime and the ways in which it has remained the same since, even under Obama. There is a war on in which the poor, the elderly, and especially the young are being pushed to the side (or maybe thrown under the capitalist bus would be more accurate). And it's all assumed that the market forces are the only logical ones, the best ones by which to run a society. A country in which the government no longer protects its people, only the richest and the most powerful are bailed out and our children, particularly those who are poor and/or of color are being trained for prison (or, if they're lucky, the military).
Giroux says it all much better than this, of course. Despite the bleakness of the picture he paints, an America which has given up the pretense of democracy and is moving ever closer to an authoritarian state, he believes that if people-parents, educators, workers-come together, we can still turn this around and return the U.S. to an aspiring democracy in which all people are valued and the value of human life is not defined by its cost effectiveness rating.
Giroux says it all much better than this, of course. Despite the bleakness of the picture he paints, an America which has given up the pretense of democracy and is moving ever closer to an authoritarian state, he believes that if people-parents, educators, workers-come together, we can still turn this around and return the U.S. to an aspiring democracy in which all people are valued and the value of human life is not defined by its cost effectiveness rating.
September 6, 2012
I really enjoyed this one, the critique of modern life and the rise of the right, and more importantly the power of the market to define who and what the world is (and by extension how we, as social beings, have suffered) is clear and well argued. My only problem, I want to share it with students, but I don't think they'll be able to get past the polemically contrasts of conservative and liberal that takes the guise of US Republicans (the Zombies, and I agree, they fit the bill) and liberals. But really a great book
Want to read
November 25, 2013Added to my shelf after reading this great excerpt:
http://billmoyers.com/content/the-spe...
http://billmoyers.com/content/the-spe...
January 8, 2014
When I ordered this book I was vey eager to read it. Now, that I have read it I am very disappointed.
The author is VERY verbose. At first I liked the style but after a few pages it became exhausting.
While I agree with many of his points, I do not believe that he builds a very good case. Frequently he makes grand sweeping statements but does not spend much time in substantiating them. Sometimes the writing degenerates into nothing more than a rant. I can easily envision the author happily pounding away on a keyboard thinking he is really "burning" his opponents, swept up in his own elquence. The thing is that he sacrifices a lot of substance.
Toward the end of the book he gets into details of events at various schools and that is when he is at his best, but this is a very small portion of a very thin book.
I would not recommend this book to anyone.
The author is VERY verbose. At first I liked the style but after a few pages it became exhausting.
While I agree with many of his points, I do not believe that he builds a very good case. Frequently he makes grand sweeping statements but does not spend much time in substantiating them. Sometimes the writing degenerates into nothing more than a rant. I can easily envision the author happily pounding away on a keyboard thinking he is really "burning" his opponents, swept up in his own elquence. The thing is that he sacrifices a lot of substance.
Toward the end of the book he gets into details of events at various schools and that is when he is at his best, but this is a very small portion of a very thin book.
I would not recommend this book to anyone.
May 9, 2015
Picked this up because the title intrigued me. I agree with other reviewers who say that Zombie metaphor fell flat. I agree with his premise, everything he points out as a problem with our democracy and culture, is a problem. Perhaps because this book is several years old now, many of t he examples felt dated (Glenn Beck has since imploded). It just didn't hold my interest, the metaphors were strained, and the author was far too verbose. Several others have referred to the author's interview with Bill Moyers - he hits all the highlights in a engaging way. Watch that, don't bother reading this.
May 26, 2013
In a society ruled by the living undead, young people are increasingly the
victims of adult abuse and are maligned as dangerous and undeserving of even
mild forms of social investment. Hence, it is not surprising, given how little
money or time is spent on them, that they are treated as a threat, and their
behavior endlessly monitored, controlled and subject to harsh disciplinary
measures (Giroux 135).
victims of adult abuse and are maligned as dangerous and undeserving of even
mild forms of social investment. Hence, it is not surprising, given how little
money or time is spent on them, that they are treated as a threat, and their
behavior endlessly monitored, controlled and subject to harsh disciplinary
measures (Giroux 135).
Read
January 10, 2016"What the cheerleaders for neoliberalism refuse to acknowledge is that the choices people make are tied to constraints, and 'nearly all of the constraints are intimately tired to the material circumstances in which we find ourselves.'"
Discouraged when I began this book, it definitely improved as I read on. Very worthwhile.
Discouraged when I began this book, it definitely improved as I read on. Very worthwhile.
February 10, 2014
Lots of big words and long sentences, but not lots of content.
October 18, 2016
One of the most interesting and entertaining, fresh views on social economics I have ever read!
May 9, 2024
knowing things have just gotten worse since this was published like
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews