On October 8, 2015, NYU Washington, DC hosted an event with Slavoj Žižek, one of Europe’s most influential intellectuals. The event, MORE ALIENATION, PLEASE! A Critique of Cultural Violence, was an inspiring opportunity for students to engage with this dynamic thinker. Two students, Bella Chia and Arielle Hersh, reflect on the experience.
About Slavoj Žižek
Slavoj Žižek’s thinking is rooted in the European Enlightenment, with a strong basis on German Idealism, Hegel, Marx, and Lacan. He is a senior researcher at the Institute of Sociology, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, and a visiting professor at a number of American Universities (Columbia, Princeton, New School for Social Research, New York University, University of Michigan). SŽižek received his Ph.D. in Philosophy in Ljubljana studying Psychoanalysis. He also studied at the University of Paris. He is a cultural critic and philosopher who is internationally known for his innovative interpretations of Jacques Lacan. He has been called the ‘Elvis Presley’ of philosophy as well as an ‘academic rock star’.
Žižek writes on a diverse range of topics, including political theory, theology, and psychoanalysis. His lectures and appearances around the globe underline his position as a leading contemporary thinker and cultural theorist. He is valued for his critique of global capitalism and as an intellectual figurehead for the leftist protest movement.
The shock over the terrorist attacks in Paris in January 2015 inspired Žižek to write an essay on Islam and modernism. In it, he addresses the rupture between the Western world’s advocacy for tolerance and the fundamental hatred of Western liberalism within radical Islam. Žižek makes a plea for the West to insist on the legacy of the Enlightenment, with its strengths of criticism and self-reflection. He argues for a renaissance of individual autonomy and the sovereignty of the people.
Bella Chia, NYU ‘19
I had the privilege of hearing Slavoj Žižek speak in person at More Alienation Please! A Critique of Cultural Violence, an event hosted jointly by EUNIC and NYUDC. As a first-year international college student studying away from home back in Singapore for the first time, this talk reminded me of the importance of taking the time to better understand and learn about the different cultures I encounter on a daily basis.
Žižek made a few interesting points about the culturally patronising attitudes held by many societies today, and how efforts to be politically correct may result in unintended disrespect. He argued that the European tendency to deprecate Western economic and cultural imperialism while extolling the environmentally and spiritually holistic lifestyles of foreign cultures is in many cases an indication of underlying racism. He gave a notable example of how Native Americans burned down many more forests and killed more bison than modern myths give them credit for, and how misguided interpretations of these events have resulted in people missing the mark when it comes to displaying sincere respect towards this community.
At first, acknowledging this point was rather counter-intuitive, as the need for politically correct respect towards foreign (and this is an entirely relative term) cultures and marginalised groups in society has been repeatedly emphasised both in my home country and in the United States. But as I mulled over the idea, it became clear to me that politically correct gestures often don’t succeed at their intended goal because it is simply impossible to show genuine respect towards cultures unfamiliar to us without taking the time to deeply know and understand them. Without such knowledge, we are susceptible to making false assumptions and vulnerable to accepting hasty generalisations made by the media. These beliefs may influence our daily interactions with individuals from foreign communities, and our inability to deal with people as they truly are would stunt our relationships with them.
During a research presentation I attended at my college, the audience was shown two films with identical images but different voiceovers. The effect of this was that the narrative of each film was vastly different in tone and character. Just like voiceovers, our attribution of misconceived motivations and mindsets to foreign cultures may have the potential to perpetuate misrepresentations of reality. Besides, as Žižek rightfully pointed out, even the act of proclaiming that other cultures are less selfish than our own due to their unacquaintance with the ills of technology and civilisation dehumanises them by portraying them as being too simple to be ‘evil’.
I realised that we have to be aware that showing politically correct ‘respect’ is a well-meaning but risky gesture that can backfire by uncovering extremely parochial mindsets. In an globalised world where we are faced with the prospect of increasing transnational collaboration to solve problems on a planetary scale, patronisation of this sort should be given a wide berth. Not only is it offensive, but it also hinders our abilities to communicate about and resolve international conflicts.
Given this, how may we gain an intimate understanding of cultures other than our own? Ultimately, I think we have to remember that beyond the differences in language, ethnicity and socio-economic background, we are all humans born with the same nature and constitution; the differences in our lifestyles and outlooks are merely diverse manifestations of similar principles that guide us within. The bottomline is that we need to be sincere in our thoughts and speech. I realised after Žižek’s talk that respecting other cultures doesn’t involve mere sentimentality, but that real respect is intelligent and knowledgable. When we’ve got this down, it will show through regardless of how politically correct we try to appear.
As the Iconoclash series continues, I hope to be able to be exposed to even more perspectives and ideas on culture that challenge the ways I live and communicate with the people around me. I am thankful for the opportunity to have been a part of the audience for this event, and hope that I would be able to attend many more talks in this series.
Arielle Hersh ‘19:

When I heard the name “Slavoj Zizek,” my face lit up and I may or may not have squealed a little bit, much to the puzzlement of my roommates. Sometimes I forget that it’s not an everyday event to have your friends send you video clips of philosophy lectures on everything from ethics to world crises to figuring out exactly what Kant is saying, ever. I signed up immediately and couldn’t have been happier that I did.
At the event itself, NYU DC’s Auditorium was jam packed with intellectuals, students, and even the Slovenian ambassador. Zizek took the stage to applause and then immediately denied it. He respectfully disagreed with enticement of Slovenian wine after the talk, claiming that he doesn’t drink wine, which may have been the most respectful thing he said all night. Slavoj Zizek does not speak like other writers, professors, or intellectuals. What the audience expected to be “A Critique of Cultural Violence” lecture style with Q&A was overrun by the sheer magnitude of having a character in the room like Zizek. From start to end he told jokes and anecdotes, making his points through humor where we all thought to ourselves at times, “I shouldn’t be laughing at this.” But everyone else was laughing, and so was Zizek, and so it goes.
Amidst quotes like “the true test of radical change is the morning after” and “the most intelligent kind of Stabucks idealism” Zizek proves his point – obscenities cross boundaries and create a kind of necessary exchange to break down cultural barriers and get to the heart of an issue. And he does exactly that. After sitting through an hour and a half of anecdotes and euphemisms, it doesn’t seem like there’s an end point in sight, but I walked away from the event understanding exactly what Zizek was trying to say.
While I don’t claim to understand the grander intricacies of modern philosophical thought and its implications on the world around us, “MORE ALIENTATION, PLEASE! A Critique of Cultural Violence” with Slavoj Zizek opened my eyes a little bit more to the issues at hand and what can be done by stripping away everything that is inessential and getting to the important stuff, with, of course, a few jokes thrown in for good measure