Interpassivity: Bonds of Pleasure and Belief

Robert Pfaller characterizes the contemporary moment as beset by “neoliberal conditions” under which we encounter unprecedented forms of “pseudo-emancipatory politics, and even of self-exploitation” (Pfaller Interpassivity 79). According to Pfaller, an embrace of our pleasures may be our strongest weapon against these masochistic tendencies. In particular, Pfaller elucidates how under-appreciated psychoanalytic insights pave a path for combatting the hegemony of ascetism, in which societies zestfully pursue prohibitions and limitations to their pleasures. Such passionate surrenders not only limit our capacity for experiencing pleasure, but also interfere with our ability to resist the increasingly repressive encroachments that threaten our social and political wellbeing