It's the Political Economy, Stupid
The Global Financial Crisis in Art and Theory
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.
Gregory Sholette is a New York City based artist, writer and core member of the activist art collective Gulf Labor Coalition. He is the author of Delirium and Resistance (Pluto, 2017), Dark Matter (Pluto, 2010) and co-author of It's The Political Economy, Stupid (Pluto, 2013). He currently teaches in the Queens College Art Department, City University of New York.
Oliver Ressler is an artist and filmmaker based in Vienna. His work has been exhibited across the world including at the Berkeley Art Museum, USA, Platform Garanti Contemporary Art Center, Istanbul and the Alexandria Contemporary Arts Forum, Egypt. He is the editor of It's the Political Economy, Stupid (Pluto, 2013) and the author of Utopian Pulse (Pluto, 2015).
1. 'Unspeaking the Grammar of Financ'” by Gregory Sholette & Oliver Ressler
2. “It’s The Political Economy, Stupid!” by Slavoj Zizek
> Liz Park comments on art from the exhibition It’s The Political Economy, Stupid
3. 'The Political Economization of Art' by John Roberts
4. 'Derivative Days: Notes on Art, Finance and the Un-Productive Forces' by Melanie Gilligan
5. 'Occupational Realism' by Julia Bryan Wilson
> Angela Dimitrakaki & Kirsten Lloyd comment on art from It’s The Political Economy, Stupid
6. 'Occupy Wall Street’s Anarchist Roots' by David Graeber
7. 'Bodies in Alliance and the Politics of the Street' (excerpts) by Judith Butler
> Thom Donovan comments on art from It’s The Political Economy, Stupid
8. 'Sick Sad Life: On the Artistic Reproduction of Capital' by Kerstin Stakemeier
9. 'Art after Capitalism' a final word by Brian Holmes
Biographies
192 pages
170mm x 240mm