Demo's riots and the Libidinal Economy of 'desire'.

Lyotard claimed that “desire” always escapes the generalizing and synthesizing activity inherent in rational thought; instead, reason and desire stand in a relationship of constant tension.

Series Foreword

A short circuit occurs when there is a faulty connection in the net-work—faulty,of course,from the standpoint of the network’ssmooth functioning.Is not the shock of short-circuiting,therefore,one of the best metaphors for a critical reading? Is not one of themost effective critical procedures to cross wires that do not usuallytouch:to take a major classic (text,author,notion),and read it in ashort-circuiting way,through the lens of a “minor”author,text,orconceptual apparatus (“minor”should be understood here inDeleuze’s sense:not “of lesser quality,”but marginalized,disavowedby the hegemonic ideology,or dealing with a “lower,”less dignifiedtopic)? If the minor reference is well chosen,such a procedure canlead to insights which completely shatter and undermine our com-mon perceptions.