# The Demon of Writing: Powers and Failures of Paperwork - Hardcover

by **Ben Kafka** (Author)

Since 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?

_The Demon of Writing_ 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, _The Demon of Writing_ argues that this theory of paperwork must be attentive to both praxis and parapraxis.

**Number of Pages:** 184

**Dimensions:** 0.8 x 9.1 x 6.2 IN

**Illustrated:** Yes

**Publication Date:** November 27, 2012

## Details

- **Price:** 37.0 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 37.00 USD | In stock |

## Images

- The Demon of Writing: Powers and Failures of Paperwork - Hardcover

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