Christopher McMillan

Citation

Thesis Title
Universality and communist strategy: Zizek and the disavowed foundations of global capitalism

Beginning with a reading of the global economy which suggested a major contradiction between a need for further economic development to critically reduce global poverty and the consequences of increased economic activity upon the environment, Mr McMillan’s research found that existing approaches are constitutively unable to resolve this contradiction. Instead, Mr McMillan’s research suggests that a turn to theory and philosophical inquiry is the most effective form of political action, in particular the readings provided by psychoanalytic and Marxist discourses, especially the work of Slavoj Zizek. As a result of this inquiry, Mr. McMillan argued that what is required at this point of history is not direct moves to political action but, rather, a fundamental reconsideration of the horizon under which we consider the economy, a reconsideration that  evokes our relationship to the disavowed foundations of our civilisation.

Supervisors
Dr Warwick Tie
Associate Professor Grant Duncan