Renata Salecl Bücher

Drawing on vivid examples, Renata Salecl argues that what really produces anxiety is the attempt to get rid of it. Erudite and compelling - essential reading for anyone interested in philosophy, psychology and the cultural phenomenon of anxiety.

"Drawing on philosophy, social and psychoanalytic theory, popular culture, and her own experience, Salecl explores how the passion for ignorance plays out in many different aspects of life today, from love, illness, trauma, and the fear of failure to genetics, forensic science, big data, and the Incel movement--and she concludes that ignorance is a complex phenomenon that can, on occasion, benefit individuals and society as a whole"--

We are encouraged from all sides to view our lives as being full of choices. Like the products on a supermarket shelf, our careers, our relationships, our bodies, our very identity seem to be there for the choosing. But paradoxically this seeming freedom to choose can create extreme anxiety, and feelings of inadequacy and guilt. Choice explores how late capitalism s shrill exhortations to be oneself can be a tyranny which only leads to ever-greater disquiet and how insistence on choice being a purely individual matter prevents social change.Drawing on diverse examples from popular culture from dating sites and relationship self-help books, to our obsession with imitating celebrities lifestyles and fusing sociology, psychoanalysis and philosophy, Salecl shows that choice is rarely based on a simple rational decision with a predictable outcome. With wisdom, humour and sensitivity, she examines the complexity of the essential human capacity to choose which has become mired in.Table of Contents Introduction Why choice makes us anxious Choosing through other s eyes Love Choices to have or have not? Forced choice Shame and the lack of social change.