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Capitalism and the Death Drive
Byung-Chul Han
Translated by Daniel Steuer
polity
Originally published in German as Kapitalismus und Todestrieb © MSB Matthes & Seitz Berlin Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Berlin 2019. All rights reserved.
This English edition © Polity Press, 2021
Excerpt from ‘Tur mir Leid, aber das sind die Tatsachen’ by Niels Boeing and Andreas Lebert in Die Zeit 5 (August 2014) © Die Zeit. Reprinted with permission of Die Zeit.
Interview ‘Byung-Chul Han: COVID-19 has reduced us to a “society of survival”’ by Carmen Sigüenza and Esther Rebollo, published on EURACTIV in May 2020 © EFE with EURACTIV. com. Reprinted with permission of EURACTIV.
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All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.
ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-4502-5
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Han, Byung-Chul, author. | Steuer, Daniel, translator.
Title: Capitalism and the death drive / Byung-Chul Han ; translated by Daniel Steuer.
Other titles: Kapitalismus und Todestrie. English
Description: Cambridge, United Kingdom ; Medford, MA : Polity Press, [2021] | “Originally published in German as Kapitalismus und Todestrieb © MSB Matthes & Seitz Berlin Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Berlin 2019”--Title page verso. | Includes bibliographical references. | Summary: “A leading cultural theorist examines the inherent destructiveness of capitalism”--Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020053305 (print) | LCCN 2020053306 (ebook) | ISBN 9781509545018 (hardback) | ISBN 9781509545001 (paperback) | ISBN 9781509545025 (epub) | ISBN 9781509547661 (pdf)
Subjects: LCSH: Capitalism--Moral and ethical aspects. | Capitalism--Social aspects.
Classification: LCC HB501 .H33413 2021 (print) | LCC HB501 (ebook) | DDC 330.12/2--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020053305
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020053306
The publisher has used its best endeavours to ensure that the URLs for external websites referred to in this book are correct and active at the time of going to press. However, the publisher has no responsibility for the websites and can make no guarantee that a site will remain live or that the content is or will remain appropriate.
Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been overlooked the publisher will be pleased to include any necessary credits in any subsequent reprint or edition.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
‘Capitalism and the Death Drive’ appears for the first time in this volume.
‘Why Revolution Is Impossible Today’ was first published in Süddeutsche Zeitung, 3 September 2014.
‘The Total Exploitation of the Human Being’ was first published in Süddeutsche Zeitung, 20 June 2016.
‘Inside the Digital Panopticon’ was first published in Der Spiegel 02/2014.
‘Only What Is Dead Is Transparent’ was first published in Die Zeit 03/2012.
‘Dataism and Nihilism’ was first published in Die Zeit 40/ 2013.
‘Torturous Emptiness’ was first published in Die Welt, 30 December 2015, under the title: ‘Quälende Leere: Narzissmus ist der Grund für Selfies und Terror’ [Torturous Emptiness: Narcissism Is the Reason for Selfies and Terror].
‘Jumping Humans’ was first published in Die Zeit 04/2016.
‘Where Do the Refugees Come From?’ was first published in Der Tagesspiegel, 17 September 2015.
‘Where the Wild Things Are’ was first published in Die Welt, 8 September 2015.
‘Who Is a Refugee?’ was first published in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 24 January 2017.
‘Beauty Lies Yonder, in the Foreign’ was first published in Die Welt, 24 November 2017, under the title ‘Deutsche sollten Deutsche bleiben’ [Germans Should Remain Germans].
‘The Big Rush’ was first published in Die Zeit 25/2013, under the title ‘Alles eilt: Wie wir die Zeit erleben’ [The Big Rush: How We Experience Time].
‘In Your Face’ was first published in Blau: Ein Kunstmagazin No. 9, March 2016, pp. 13–14.
‘The End of Liberalism: The Coronavirus Pandemic and Its Consequences’ appears for the first time in this volume.
‘It Is Eros That Defeats Depression’ was first published in Philosophie Magazin 05/2012 © Philosophie Magazin, Berlin 2012.
‘Capitalism Dislikes Silence’ was first published in 1. Spielzeitheft der Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz 2013/14 © Florian Borchmeyer and Thomas Ostermeier, Berlin 2013.
The interview ‘Byung-Chul Han: COVID-19 Has Reduced Us to a “Society of Survival”’ by Carmen Sigüenza and Esther Rebollo was first published on EURACTIV in May 2020 © EFE with EURACTIV.com. Reprinted with permission of EURACTIV. At https://www.euractiv.com/section/global-europe/interview/byung-chul-han-covid-19-has-reduced-us-to-a-society-of-survival