An Alienated Emancipation? Todd McGowan in Conversation

In this interview, Todd McGowan discusses his theory of social change, with a focus on his two most recent books, Embracing Alienation and Pure Excess . The conversation is organized into three parts. The first explores how to conceptualize alienation as the foundation of the subject, as well as the necessity of detaching it from oppression. This opens up the emancipatory potential of alienation in response to our contemporary investment in immediacy. The second part focuses on capitalism and its antisocial core, which prioritizes production over reproduction. It also explores the dynamics between capitalism and the state, advances the idea of the public as an alienating space unmoored from the good, and outlines a version of modernity distinct from capitalism. The final part addresses the connection between psychoanalysis and power, examines the shortcomings of standard Lacanian procedures, and explores the possibility of conceiving emancipatory fantasies.