Deseo y destino : Lo woke, el ocaso de la cultura y la victoria de lo kitsch

In an age when political literature and cultural criticism are dominated by a steamroller of moralistic orthodoxy, David Rieff’s essays offer a stimulating antidote. Besides being one of the world’s most insightful commentators on global issues, Rieff has emerged in recent years as one of the most outspoken and courageous critics of the pathologies of identity politics, particularly its grossly simplistic understanding of what it means to belong to a culture or community, its fundamental failure to grasp the true value of the arts, and its growing contempt for freedom of expression and legal channels. The essays in *Desire and Fate* stand as both a crucial testimony and a fierce protest against this trend. They cover topics as diverse as censorship in contemporary publishing, the cultural ubiquity of the notion of trauma, and the future of democracy in the world, all characterized by incisive intelligence and a refreshing lack of magical thinking. Together, they confirm Rieff’s status as an indispensable writer and thinker.