From broadsheet newspapers to television shows and Hollywood films, capitalism is increasingly recognised as a system detrimental to human existence. Colin Cremin investigates why, despite this de-robing, capitalism remains a powerful and seductive force. Using materialist, psychoanalytic and linguistic approaches, Cremin shows how capitalism, anxiety and desire enter into a mutually supporting relationship. He identifies three ways in which we are tied in to capitalism -- through a social imperative for enterprise and competition; through enjoyment and consumption; and through the depoliticisation of ethical debate by government and business. Capitalism's New Clothes is ideal for students of sociology and for anyone worried about the ethics of capitalism or embarrassed by the enjoyments the system has afforded them.

About the Author

Colin Cremin lectures in sociology at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, teaching social theory and visual culture. He has written in the areas of cultural sociology, critical management studies, postmodern theory, ideology and subjectivity. He is on the editorial board of the International Journal of Zizek Studies.

Reviews

Slicing through the evasions and double think of contemporary accounts of pleasure, Colin Cremin has produced a must-read text on the sociology of enjoyment. Accessible, penetrating, unmissable. -- Chris Rojek, Professor of Sociology & Culture, Brunel University, West London With a ruthless elegance, Colin Cremin exposes the vacuousness of 'creative' capitalism's pretensions to newness. Cremin shows that 'entrepreneurialism' and 'enterprise' are relics of a system that has run out of time, and dares to proclaim that, once again, the future belongs to the left. -- Mark Fisher, Visiting Fellow at Goldsmiths, University Of London, and author of Capitalist Realism (2010) Engaging, accessible, timely and relevant. -- Dr Calum Neill, Lecturer in Critical Psychology, Edinburgh Napier University 'Engaging, accessible, timely and relevant'