Abstract

Critics often argue that because Slavoj Žižek does not offer a firm political approach, his work is ultimately without political value. Against this critique, his recent evocation of the communist hypothesis' appeared to mark a step-change in approach. Taken from the work of Alain Badiou, Žižek's apparent commitment to the hypotheis has allowed him to talk in terms of 'our side'. In this paper, I seek to consider the origins and difficulties of Žižek's communism. Such a task is particularly pertinent considering given Žižek's susequent moves away from communism and Badiou's restatement of the 'Idea of Communism'. In contrast to Žižek's indexing of communism to the contradictions of global capital, Badiou's insists upon the ideological status of the Idea and the importance of proper names in communist politics. In response to the limitations of both positions, I come to argue that the communist hypothesis can be most productively considered through a rehabilitation of a utopian demand. Such a demand is not the fantasmatic utopia of the Ideal but, rather, is driven only by the impossibility inherent in capital itself. This impossibility is embodied by what Žižek identifies as the 'part with no part', that surplus of labour which is the ultimate site of universality within global capitalism. Indexing Žižek's communism to the utopian demand inherent in this disperate and desperate grouping allows for the development of a political platform alternate to capitalism without mediating against the anxiety of the Real which is central to Žižekian political practice