Theology and Marxism in Eagleton and Žižek

Theology and Marxism in Eagleton and Žižek

Theology and Marxism in Eagleton and Žižek A Conspiracy of Hope Ola Sigurdson

THEOLOGY AND MARXISM IN EAGLETON AND ŽIŽEK Copyright Ola Sigurdson, 2012. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2012 978-0-230-34011-4 All rights reserved. First published in 2012 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN in the United States a division of St. Martin s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-34274-7 ISBN 978-1-137-10311-6 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/9781137103116 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sigurdson, Ola, 1966 Theology and Marxism in Eagleton and Žižek: a conspiracy of hope / Ola Sigurdson. pages cm Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978 0 230 34011 4 1. Philosophical theology. 2. Philosophy, Marxist. 3. Eagleton, Terry, 1943 4. Žižek, Slavoj. I. Title. BT40.S56 2012 261.2 1 dc23 2011046766 A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: May 2012 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To Johannes

Contents Acknowledgments ix 1 Introduction 1 2 Ideology as Idolatry or Vice Versa 27 3 The Need for Faith 63 4 God, Evil, and Freedom 109 5 An Arrested Dialogue: Eagleton and Žižek 145 6 An Anatomy of Hope 163 Notes 205 Bibliography 231 Index of Names 241

Acknowledgments This book has been written in an office with a view of Trinity Church in Princeton, New Jersey, not far from the house where Thomas Mann spent a productive couple of years between 1938 and 1941. It is thus with some symbolic significance of place that I express my gratitude to the Center of Theological Inquiry (CTI) for their hospitality during the academic year 2010 2011. Its director Willam Storrar, its associate director Thomas J. Hastings, and its assistant Jeanie Mathew have all been constantly at work during this year, creating the utmost conditions for scholarly work in a multidisciplinary setting, and my colleagues and friends! at CTI, Ann Astell, Brian Daley, and Gijsbert van den Brink, have kept the spirit of discussion and debate high. I thank them all. I am grateful to The Birgit and Gad Rausing Foundation for a start-up grant that made it possible to write the application to the Swedish Research Council that eventually provided funding for a three-year research project, the result of which is this book and my sincere thanks. Many thanks also to the Swedish Fulbright Commission for facilitating our entrance to the United States with a visiting scholarship as well as the generous support of Riksbankens Jubileumsfond that made the stay possible for our entire family. The Wenner-Gren Foundation as well as Helge Ax:son Johnson s Foundation contributed kindly to the same aim. My best ideas are usually, to begin with, the ideas of my friends, so I thank Jayne Svenungsson, Stockholm, for suggesting that I should read Žižek in the first place; although this project, it needs to be said, is my own responsibility. Appreciated is also the helpful suggestions I have received from the following friends and colleagues in earlier or later stages of the process: Niels-Henrik Gregersen, Copenhagen, Eric Gregory, Princeton, Jan-Olav Henriksen, Oslo, Werner G. Jeanrond, Glasgow, Hans Joas, Berlin, Maria Johansen, Göteborg, Sven-Eric Liedman, Göteborg, Charles T. Mathewes, Charlottesville, George

x Acknowledgments Parsenius, Princeton, Marcus Pound, Durham, Mats Rosengren, Göteborg, Jesper Svartvik, Lund/Jerusalem, Kathryn Tanner, New Haven, Cornel West, Princeton, and Björn Wittrock, Uppsala. Peter Carlson and Hjalmar Falk, both Göteborg, merit a special mention for reading and suggesting improvements on the next-to-last version of the manuscript. Without the support of my colleagues at the Department of Literature, History of Ideas, and Religion at the University of Gothenburg, it would not have been possible to be absent from all departmental duties for a year. My gratitude is not limited to what they do for me when I am away, however, but extends most of all to their continuing academic as well as personal friendship. I would especially like to thank Ingemar Nilsson, Marita Öhman, Mats Jansson, and Pernilla Josefson,for helping out with things that needed urgent attention during my absence. Last but not least, I owe this book, perhaps more than my previous, to my family who unselfishly accompanied me to Princeton. This was an adventure to all of us, and we are sincerely grateful for all the friends we made there. This book is dedicated to my son Johannes to whom the whole adventure seemed somewhat absurd, but at least he found a good soccer team to play in.