New format, new boots,and that shop The World of Leather as an experience in Lacanian confusion/dissent as you wander around it, looking at the sofas and easychairs with fold out drinks tables in the arms and wonder about this World of The New in which we live; have we really got into a contemporary situation not where we have gone too far, but have done everything there is to do, and there is no where else to go?
Red leather in particularly can have an arousing effect on me and within the premises of Commercial Retail Outlets this can be an exciting if potentially embarrassing experience. I had to leave the World of Leather under a cloud of taunt, unrequited lust. It had a certain delicious quality of denial and despicable restraint but I was too weak to face the possibility of police questioning, as intriguing as that may have been...
Jacques Rancière's idea of dissensus being at the core of true democratic practise is an alluring concept; it's diametrical opposite, consensus, is of course the default position for most western democratic establishments from the late 20th century onwards. We are led to belief that we are governed by consensus; focus groups, poll takers, survey administrators, blog pages, a million posts on thousands of ISP and other media message boards, all point to us as being able to Have Our Own Say. We live with this illusion, believing we truly are now part of the democratic process- we clearly are listened to, a majority is assessed and its wishes acted upon- when in fact it is just another establishment technique to do as it wishes, but with the added twist that it can make the population believe that it guided it's course of action, that the government is only undertaking the people's wishes. A focus group told us to do this; got nothing to do with us, guv.
In this way an illegal war in Iraq was executed; the folly of Afghanistan was embarked upon [although interestingly when public opinion reverses itself and opposes the position it once took, the Government/Establishment find it very easy to ignore this form of consensus]. Consensus is therefore a sham, a media Exploitor of National Socialist proportions. It is a meaningless political concept, which is no doubt why it is so popular with the now ubiquitous neoliberal elite which runs the world economy. Welcome to Super-Cannes.
Dissensus- the principle of conflict, argument and the pursuit of political self-determination, voice and action outside of [and therefore at times legitimately opposed to] the governance of a dominant elite is not only communally affirming, but vital for the development of harmony and equality in our society, without sacrificing diversity. At first laugh at anyone who says they wish to manage/govern through consensus, then undermine them. The aim is not to then have the last laugh, but to dismantle one more cog of neoliberal dogma in the edifice of global capitalism. You no longer need to burn party cards; shoplifting from Toys 'r Us and surreptitiously scratching the side of police cars with a carefully concealed key will suffice. For now.
Iain Banks in his latest novel 'Transitions' promotes the idea of a multiverse, through which a central body- The Concern- flits it's operatives in order to maintain order. He describes this particular world we live in, along with other materialist realities that exist parallel to it- as 'Greedist' societies. This is of course an accurate assessment.
This is Iain Bank's first book that attempts to fuse his 'mainstream' literature with the science fiction of his Iain M. Banks persona. It only partly succeeds; only his -at times obscenely- quite brilliant literary ease at painting environments and describing concepts through conversation, pulls one through to the end of the novel. This is not something I have ever experience with any other of Bank's work. It reads more like a manifesto of a couple of his political science ideas melded with a strain of speculative hard science,without any hint of a plot, and could be a third of its length. Of course few writers these days can pull this off and keep people reading and Banks is one of these, but this does not excuse him bouts of laziness and self-indulgence such as are apparent in this book. Yes, I am a hard taskmaster...the bitter sweet taunting denial of the World of Leather still fugs my senses...I need to pursue some further investigations into the strictures and idea-shifts of the hauntological movement...I'll get back to you on that one.
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