> From: "Mike Ballard" > > The Pleasurable Revolution > > from the Wobbly Review of Books > by > Mike Ballard > > THE BOOK OF PLEASURES, by Raoul Vaneigem > ISBN 0 904665 03 8 > Published by Pending Press, London, 1983 > > > Warning: this book will squeeze your adrenal glands. It is the > very personal statement of a French revolutionary, who's > organizational history and political profile can be found in the > Situationist movement of the 1960's, a movement which carved > its niche in history with the paving stones dug from Parisian > streets during the heady days of May, 1968. It is a > psychological snapshot of one, Raoul Vaneigem, circa 1979. LE > LIVRE DES PLAISIRS was translated into English, as the BOOK OF > PLEASURES, by John Fullerton in 1983. Its latest incarnation can > by purchased from Left Bank Books, at 4142 Brooklyn Ave. N.E., > Seattle, Washington 98105. It's a fairly expensive 105 > pages--$12 in paperback-- but considering its lack of > availability in most libraries, being able to read it is usually > going to be limited to being able to buy or steal it; an irony, > I'm sure, M. Vaneigem would appreciate. > > "All pleasure is creative", he writes, "if it avoids exchange. > Loving what pleases me, I have to build a space in life as little > exposed as possible to pollution by business, or I will not find > the strength to bring the old world down, and the fungus among us > will rot my dreams. While the state is in disarray, strike hard > at business and its friends." > > Raoul Vaneigem sees the social relations and the consciousness > which springs from them under the rule of capital, as turning the > real world upside down. Human desires, traits, labor, > creativity, indeed human beings themselves, come increasingly to > be viewed as attainable in exchange for money: sexiness through > soap commodities, joy through the purchase of brand named > alcoholic commodities, self-esteem by buying a certain car or > truck. This upside down (reified, if you will) world permeates > human communication and therefore, consciousness in modern > industrial societies. It stifles human self-awareness and blocks > the road to social revolution, the road toward what M. Vaneigem > describes as "universal self-management". It is culminating > today in the almost total commodification of human relations. > > "There will be no proletarian emancipation unless we strike the > shackles off pleasure.", Vaneigem writes. In order to crack > one's way out of this multifaceted shell, he proposes that the > individual worker focus first on her/ his need for pleasure and > then to use it as the engine of psychological emancipation. > Duty, guilt, and sacrifice-- the traditional left, liberal, and > religious motivators-- tend to produce less than liberating > results and in fact, according to Vaneigem, are counterproductive > or worse, reactionary in nature. > "Doing exactly what you feel like is pleasure's greatest weapon, > connecting individual acts with collective practice; we all do > it. If rejecting survival made the 1968 movement taking hold of > life will open the era of universal self- management." > > Agree? Disagree? Curious? Pick up the BOOK OF PLEASURES. > Follow M. Vaneigem's id though the psychological thicket of our > collective super-egos. You may see yourself and your co-workers > inside, suspended within this sphere of self induced repressions, > reinforced by the admonitions of all the official authorities of > modern ideology: religion, the State, the Economy, media > pundits... Choose your poison. Raoul Vaneigem would have you > choose pleasure. > > Admittedly, this can be a dangerous path and Vaneigem deals with > many of your objections as he argues, appeals, and taunts. > Sometimes a Freudian/Reichian map would seem helpful; but in all > commonsense and a tuned-in critical faculty is all you really > need. It is true that M. Vaneigem can sound pompous at times. > His aphoristic phrasing can put one off too. His pronouncements > pooh-poohing organization in favor of spontaneous autonomy left > me cold after awhile. While this notion may be appealing, it > will never satisfy the desire of those who wish for more than a > psychic liberation from the rule of capital. Generalized > self-management can only be realized on a societal level as a set > of social relations based on democratic practice. Individuals > can only go so far by themselves. A cooperative commonwealth > requires democratic mediation of individual differences and > individual desires. This is sometimes hard work which is not > always immediately pleasurable. C'est la vie, non M. Vaneigem? > > I don't mean to throw cold water on the BOOK OF PLEASURES though. > The insights which pack this book are extremely useful. They > continually stimulate and challenge the reader. I think > Vaneigem's observations can help us as, "we are forming the > structures of the new society within the shell of the old." > This review is reprinted from the April, 1993 edition of the "Industrial Worker", the newpaper of the Wobblies. Subs to the "IW" can be had for a mere $10 per year. There are 12 issues per year. Snail mail to Industrial Worker 1095 Market St. #204 San Francisco, Ca 94103 U.S.A.