From Power Over Creation to the Power of Creation: Cornelius Castoriadis on Democratic Cultural Creation and the Case of Hollywood

From Power Over Creation to the Power of Creation: Cornelius Castoriadis on Democratic Cultural Creation and the Case of Hollywood
Holman, Christopher and McMahon, James. (2015). Topia. No. 33, Spring. pp. 157-181. (Article - Journal; English).

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Alternative Locations

https://topia.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/topia/article/download/36225/36406, https://www.econstor.eu/handle/10419/171219, http://www.capitalaspower.com/2017/11/holman-and-mcmahon-from-power-over-creation-to-the-power-of-creation/

Abstract or Brief Description

This article is a critical investigation and application of the aesthetic theory of Cornelius Castoriadis, one of the most important 20th-century theorists of radical democracy. We outline Castoriadis’s thoughts on autonomy, the social-historical nature of Being, and creation -- key elements that inform his model of democratic culture. We then develop a Castoriadian critique of culture produced by capitalist institutions. By also drawing on the political economic thought of Thorstein Veblen, Jonathan Nitzan and Shimshon Bichler, our critique focuses on one sector of contemporary culture: Hollywood film. We show how Hollywood, as a business enterprise, uses techniques of sabotage and capitalization to control and occult the social-historical nature of creation. Lastly, by way of conclusion, we gesture toward a mode of artistic production that is able to affirm the democratic values that organize Castoriadis’s thought.

Language

English

Publication Type

Article - Journal

Keywords

Cornelius Castoriadis Hollywood film industry mass culture democracy cultural creation aesthetic theory capitalism

Subject

BN Philosophy
BN Power
BN Resistance
BN Business Enterprise
BN Capital & Accumulation
BN Civil Society
BN Culture
BN Distribution
BN Hegemony
BN Institutions

Depositing User

Jonathan Nitzan

Date Deposited

13 Nov 2017 03:55

Last Modified

20 Nov 2017 22:43

URL:

http://bnarchives.yorku.ca/id/eprint/524

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