Reviews

Psychopolitics: Neoliberalism and New Technologies of Power by Byung-Chul Han

enolip's review

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5.0

Español:

Formidable como Byung-Chul Han expone la evolución del capitalismo hasta nuestra época, para convertirse en el llamado Neoliberalismo, donde tienen como objetivo la “auto-explotación” del individuo, promoviendo la productividad, manipulando el flujo de información por medio de las redes sociales, haciendo así que la movilización de las masas sea mucho más fácil y eficiente.

“La época de la creación de valor real ha pasado. En el capitalismo financiero actual, los valores llegan incluso a ser eliminados. El régimen neoliberal introduce la época del agotamiento. Ahora se explota la psique. De ahí que enfermedades como la depresión y el sindrome de burnout acompañen a esta nueva época”.

English:

Marvelous how Byung-Chul Han exposes the evolution of capitalism to our time, until becoming the so-called Neoliberalism, where they aim at the "self-exploitation" of the individual, promoting productivity, manipulating the flow of information through social media, thus making the mobilization of the masses much easier and more efficient.

“The era of creating real value is over. In today's financial capitalism, values ​​are even eliminated. The neoliberal regime ushers in the era of exhaustion. Now the psyche is exploited. Hence, diseases such as depression and burnout syndrome accompany this new era ”.

sycomode's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative reflective slow-paced

3.75

cresch11's review against another edition

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informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

n1ghthag's review against another edition

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informative reflective medium-paced

egle_va's review against another edition

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informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

anamaria427's review against another edition

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challenging dark hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense slow-paced

5.0

Este es el GPS para la vida de hoy. Empieza donde dejó Foucault, y sigue una marcha delicada y poderosa por los juegos del ejercicio del poder en nuestros tiempos. Es valioso. Mucho. Muy.

tunawidow's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

ajmcwhinney's review

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4.0

I want to like this book more than I do. It makes a lot of points and claims I find implicitly compelling, but often fails to unpack these points and claims, to the point where I would feel nervous citing them in my own work or even in a conversation. I do take issue with Han's conception of how class operates in neoliberal society, even though I know what he's attempting to get at — having just come off One-Dimensional Man by Herbert Marcuse, there is an eerie similarity between Han and Marcuse's claims about technology, and Han doesn't cite Marcuse once. This is a shame, because I find Marcuse's explanation of the collapse of displays of class antagonism much more fleshed-out and compelling, and it would have been a good foundation for Han to build his points around psychopolitics.

Alongside these few dubious claims, the book fumbles around a bit with poor organization — as well as a few analogies that don't quite work as well as Han wants them to — when it comes to explaining the difference between Han's concept of psychopolitics and Foucault's concept of biopolitics, which he is critiquing. It was frustrating to get through these chapters, which could have been more succinctly written and then expanded upon in places where he makes claims that need more scholarship.

The book does get much more compelling after the clunky theoretical start. I appreciate the work on "Big Data" and "Emotional Capitalism" Han does (the chapter on Emotional Capitalism is probably my favourite). The conclusion is a bit goofy and seems much more like an academic flourish and flex than an actual solution to the problems Han describes, which is unfortunate.

Despite all my qualms, there are absolutely a few great gems of thought in here that deserve books in their own right, and I would love to see Han write a huge book on any of the topics touched on in this long essay.

dexterw's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative reflective slow-paced

3.75

weppenstolf's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

1.0

Han is an imposter and a capitalist realist par excellence. His essay(s) is/are unoriginal and poorly structured. His writing style is one of constant, rather superficial, punchlines, usually wild claims that he doesn’t bother to substantiate. He is consistently disrespectful towards the authors he references; those whose ideas he appropriates and those whose research he trashes to create the illusion that his bs is more accurate. Better read Foucault, Deleuze, Fisher, and the likes, from whom Han derives most of 'his' ideas.