A manifesto for liberating desire from the grip of capital and colonial violence in Palestine
Could a psychoanalytic theory of masochism help us to understand the politics of protest? A socially engaged psychoanalysis of 2024's widespread student uprisings in support of Palestine, Divest posits that masochism, as theorized by Freud in his later years, is a fundamental structure at the heart of anticapitalist and anticolonial resistance. Conceptualizing masochism as a radical form of divestment, Steven Swarbrick theorizes the affective economies of solidarity, self-sacrifice, and collective struggle. Through vivid film readings and sharp critique of state and university violence, Swarbrick explores the emancipatory potential of masochism in the protest movement and the sadistic machinery of capitalist governance it has laid bare.
Divest is both a politically urgent manifesto and a theoretical companion to the global movement for Palestinian liberation. Asserting that the politics of left-wing solidarity must reckon with the libidinal investments that sustain both power and resistance, this bold volume argues that divestment from global capitalism may begin with a revolution in our psychic attachments.
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| ISBN: | 9781517921484 |
| Publication date: | 20th April 2026 |
| Author: | Steven Swarbrick |
| Publisher: | University of Minnesota Press an imprint of University Of Minnesota Press |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Pagination: | 104 pages |
| Series: | Forerunners: Ideas First |
| Genres: |
Social and political philosophy Social, group or collective psychology Political science and theory |
A manifesto for liberating desire from the grip of capital and colonial violence in Palestine
Could a psychoanalytic theory of masochism help us to understand the politics of protest? A socially engaged psychoanalysis of 2024's widespread student uprisings in support of Palestine, Divest posits that masochism, as theorized by Freud in his later years, is a fundamental structure at the heart of anticapitalist and anticolonial resistance. Conceptualizing masochism as a radical form of divestment, Steven Swarbrick theorizes the affective economies of solidarity, self-sacrifice, and collective struggle. Through vivid film readings and sharp critique of state and university violence, Swarbrick explores the emancipatory potential of masochism in the protest movement and the sadistic machinery of capitalist governance it has laid bare.
Divest is both a politically urgent manifesto and a theoretical companion to the global movement for Palestinian liberation. Asserting that the politics of left-wing solidarity must reckon with the libidinal investments that sustain both power and resistance, this bold volume argues that divestment from global capitalism may begin with a revolution in our psychic attachments.
Retail e-book files for this title are screen-reader friendly with image accompanied by short alt text and/or extended descriptions.
Divest features in the following genres: Social and political philosophy, Social, group or collective psychology, Political science and theory
Divest is available in Paperback
Divest was written by Steven Swarbrick and published by University of Minnesota Press an imprint of University Of Minnesota Press
Divest has 104 pages
Yes it is part of Forerunners: Ideas First series
£8.10