- In her new book, which follows her 2021 book The Collectors of Virtue, Catherine Liu observes the rise of psychological trauma as a tool of social control, which she considers the greatest achievement of surveillance capitalism. I am always eager to hear an accurate analysis of any of the many ways influencers pit audiences against each other (and what we audiences can do about it). *What happens when an idea stemming from real suffering is exploited as a tool of social control? “Trauma” tells the story of how trauma turned into PTSD, how Oprah Winfrey turned pain into profit, and how “authenticity” became the supreme brand. It is the history of the greatest triumphs of surveillance capitalism: convincing us that wounds define us, that accepting each other's traumas is more important than challenging the powerful.Catherine Liu provides an accurate diagnosis of our current crisis, rooted in the collapse of liberal policies, the growing fragility of performance, and the emergence of emotional expression as an alternative to political action. Traumatized is sharp, thought-provoking, and absolutely necessary, arguing that perpetual victim policy should be rejected because it destroys solidarity and leaves us isolated from systems that cause real harm.
Traumatized: The New Politics of Public Suffering
الصدمة النفسية: السياسات الجديدة للمعاناة العامة
Not Translated
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Bibliographic Data
| Author | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | versoWebsite |
| Publisher Address | ' books@avidreader.com.au |
| Country | Britain |
| Primary Category | Ideas and Policies |
| Also In | |
| Published | 2026 |
| Language | English (EN) |
| Pages | 192 pages |
| Edition | First5 |
| Dimensions | 5×8 |
| ISBN | 978-1804296745 |
| Translation | Not Translated |
About Catherine Liu
Catherine Liu is Professor of Film and Media Studies at the University of California, Irvine. She is the author of “Virtue Monopolists: The Case Against the Professional Administrative Class” and“American Ideal Life: Anti-Academic Elitism as a Cultural Critique.” She has numerous publications in critical theory, populism, film and art criticism, psychoanalysis, and leftist historiography. More of her writing can be found at [CLiuAnon.substack.com](http://CLiuAnon.substack.com). Liu is the founder and director ofThe Palm Springs School of Social Research, an educational institution and…
