{"product_id":"the-demon-of-writing-powers-and-failures-of-paperwork-9781942130352","title":"The Demon of Writing: Powers and Failures of Paperwork","description":"\u003cp\u003eSince the middle of the eighteenth century, political thinkers of all kinds -- radical and reactionary, professional and amateur -- have been complaining about \"bureaucracy.\" But what, exactly, is all this complaining about? \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Demon of Writing\u003c\/i\u003e is a critical history and theory of one of the most ubiquitous, least understood forms of media: paperwork. States rely on records to tax and spend, protect and serve, discipline and punish. But time and again this paperwork proves to be unreliable. Examining episodes from the story of a clerk who lost his job and then his mind in the French Revolution to Roland Barthes's brief stint as a university administrator, the book reveals the powers, failures, and even pleasures of paperwork. Many of its complexities, the book argues, have been obscured by the comic-paranoid style that characterizes so many of our criticisms of bureaucracy. At the same time, the book outlines a new theory of what Marx called the \"bureaucratic medium.\" Returning first to Marx, then to Freud, \u003ci\u003eThe Demon of Writing\u003c\/i\u003e argues that this theory of paperwork must be attentive to both praxis and parapraxis.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKafka, Ben:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - Ben Kafka is an Assistant Professor of Media History and Theory at New York University and a candidate at the Institute for Psychoanalytic Training and Research (IPTAR), a component society of the International Psychoanalytical Association. He works with adult and adolescent patients through the IPTAR Clinical Center and the NYC Free Clinic.","brand":"Zone Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50725572411666,"sku":"9781942130352","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_dbe49cfa-84ec-4e95-9489-c0930fa60994.jpg?v=1734834828","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-demon-of-writing-powers-and-failures-of-paperwork-9781942130352","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}