Lacan, Laclau, and the impossibility of free trade

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aut.relation.journalMediaNZen_NZ
aut.researcherOwen, Thomas
dc.contributor.authorOwen, Ten_NZ
dc.date.accessioned2018-01-29T23:00:10Z
dc.date.available2018-01-29T23:00:10Z
dc.date.copyright2017en_NZ
dc.date.issued2017en_NZ
dc.description.abstractThis paper applies Lacan’s ‘negative ontology’ to mediated representations of ‘free trade’, and, in particular, the intellectual property aspects of free trade agreements. More specifically, the paper adopts Lacan’s conception of the ‘Real’ as radically inaccessible, and Laclau’s conception of discourses as contingent and always-already dislocated, to examine how the mediated objects of ‘free trade’ and intellectual property are unfixed, paradoxical, and perpetually haunted by their negative outsides. Free trade agreements and intellectual property protections are key nodal points in contemporary political economy. However, the historic elaboration of ‘free trade’ reveals the internal incoherence of an object experiencing continued rupture, suture, and contingent impossibility. This paper deploys a historico-contextual analysis of patent protection and free trade agreements to illustrate such contingency. It then compares Lacanian negative ontology to the positive realism of mainstream journalism, argues such realism is ill-equipped to accurately capture contingency, and, finally, suggests alternative ways journalism may engage with negatively constituted social phenomena.
dc.identifier.citationMEDIANZ: Media Studies Journal of Aotearoa New Zealand, 16(2).
dc.identifier.doi10.11157/medianz-vol16iss2id207
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10292/11143
dc.publisherMEDIANZ
dc.relation.urihttps://medianz.otago.ac.nz/medianz/article/view/207
dc.rightsThis journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. MEDIANZ abides by the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International Public Licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode
dc.rights.accessrightsOpenAccessen_NZ
dc.titleLacan, Laclau, and the impossibility of free tradeen_NZ
dc.typeJournal Article
pubs.elements-id315106
pubs.organisational-data/AUT
pubs.organisational-data/AUT/Design & Creative Technologies
pubs.organisational-data/AUT/Design & Creative Technologies/Communication Studies
pubs.organisational-data/AUT/PBRF
pubs.organisational-data/AUT/PBRF/PBRF Design and Creative Technologies
pubs.organisational-data/AUT/PBRF/PBRF Design and Creative Technologies/PBRF Communication Studies
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