The Economy As Cultural System—Theory, Capitalism, Crisis

This is a collection of critical essays in cultural theory that examine several popular notions and sets of practices that reproduce capitalism. The essays focus on contemporary capitalism and its tendency to be haunted by various metaphors and stories. They take the form of critical analyses and explore: "psychiatric capitalism and the economics of happiness," metaphoric wealth and the end of narrative, Marx's vampire metaphor between populist politics and the dialectics of capitalist abstraction, critical theory against the dispossession of needs, the work idea, biopower and biopolitics, the aesthetics of economic development, and an ominous plea by Franco "Bifo" Berardi's to "run along the line of catastrophe." Bloomsbury Academic is an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing. Annotation c2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Clara Sacchetti is an Adjunct Professor for Philosophy and a sessional lecturer for Women's Studies at Lakehead University, Canada. Her areas of interest include studies in feminist theory, post-colonial history, and postmodernism. She has published feature articles and reviews in FUSE Magazine, Boston Book Review, CAN, and The Semiotic Review of Books.Todd Dufresne is Professor of Philosophy at Lakehead University, Canada. He is the author and editor of numerous books, includingTales from the Freudian Crypt (Stanford UP).