Acknowledgements The chapters of this book cover a range of social, political and intellectual phenomena that have affected and informed cultural production since the early 2000s. In particular, the advent of social practice or socially engaged art encapsulates the sense that postmodern theory and culture wars were not adequate responses to the crises of global capitalism. As cultural research on the left, this book does not present the various reasons why, to cite Clement Greenberg's famous

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... im in 'Avant-Garde and Kitsch,' socialism is the best means to keep modernist culture moving, but rather, in neoliberal times, the ways in which contemporary culture is able or not to sustain the vision of a world beyond capitalism. This book is dedicated to the comradely encouragement of those people who have helped me make a small contribution to this end. My deepest gratitude goes to Cayley Sorochan for her cheerful companionship and support over the years. During the Quebec student strike, Cayley and I formed the Badiou-Žižek book bloc, a unit of two in a sea of red militancy. My affections also extend to my dearest friend, Rosika Desnoyers, with whom I have had the pleasure to discuss my ideas and research. Thanks are due to the many people who have been involved in one way or another with the original publication of the texts in this book, in particular