London: Pluto Press, 2013. — 192 p. — ISBN10: 9780745333694; ISBN13: 978-0745333694
It’s the Political Economy, Stupid brings together internationally acclaimed artists and thinkers, including Slavoj Žižek, David Graeber, Judith Butler and Brian Holmes, to focus on the current economic crisis in a sustained and critical manner. In sympathy with the subject matter, the book features powerful original artwork for the cover, and an internal design theme based on the movements of Goldman Sachs stock market values by activist designer Noel Douglas. What emerges is a powerful critique of the current capitalist crisis through an analytical and theoretical response and an aesthetic-cultural rejoinder. By combining artistic responses with the analysis of leading radical theorists, the book expands the boundaries of critique beyond the usual discourse.
It’s the Political Economy, Stupid argues that it is time to push back against the dictates of the capitalist logic and, by use of both theoretical and artistic means, launch a rescue of the very notion of the social.
Foreword by Pia Hovi-Assad, Pori Art Museum, Finland
Unspeaking the Grammar of Finance. Gregory Sholette & Oliver Ressler
It’s The Political Economy, Stupid! Slavoj Zizek
Liz Park comments on art from the exhibition
It’s The Political Economy, StupidThe Political Economization of Art. John Roberts
Derivative Days: Notes on Art, Finance and the Un-Productive Forces. Melanie Gilligan
Occupational Realism. Julia Bryan Wilson
Angela Dimitrakaki & Kirsten Lloyd comment on art from
It’s The Political Economy, StupidOccupy Wall Street’s Anarchist Roots. David Graeber
Bodies in Alliance and the Politics of the Street (excerpts). Judith Butler
Thom Donovan comments on art from
It’s The Political Economy, StupidSick Sad Life: On the Artistic Reproduction of Capital. Kerstin Stakemeier
Art after Capitalism. A final word by Brian Holmes
Biographies