{"product_id":"the-demon-of-writing-powers-and-failures-of-paperwork-paperback","title":"The Demon of Writing: Powers and Failures of Paperwork - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eBen Kafka\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\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.\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 184\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.7 x 9 x 6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e April 14, 2020\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51760034316576,"sku":"9781942130352","price":24.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/c4f6f0953b371488da1db80e79922a2b.webp?v=1780169567","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/the-demon-of-writing-powers-and-failures-of-paperwork-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}