Global libidinal economy: toward a postcapitalist politics of enjoyment

The book Global Libidinal Economy addresses the question of what psychoanalysis contributes to political economy and contemporary social theory. The authors engage with Marxian political economy, asserting that the libidinal dimension"”encompassing desire, drive, and fantasies"”shapes the social world, including the economy. Throughout, the authors provide a provocative answer to this question by identifying the libidinal stakes across a range of issues, including economic development, trade, environmental governance, technological innovation, and the rivalry between the United States and China, a shift of emphasis that opens the economy to political possibilities. This essay explores resonances with other psychoanalytically informed approaches to Marxian theory, exemplified by Anjan Chakrabarti, Anup Dhar, and Stephen Cullenberg. These theorists envision the majority world as a locus of potential, emphasizing a noncapitalist orientation, termed the World of the Third, to extend the possibilities for postcapitalist politics and a politics of solidarity.