Changes

A new century, new [[threats ]] to [[love ]] . . .

Love without risks is like war without deaths – but, today, love is threatened by an alliance of [[liberalism ]] and hedonism. Caught between consumerism and casual [[sexual ]] encounters devoid of [[passion]], love – without the key ingredient of [[chance ]] – is in [[danger ]] of withering on the vine.

In ''In Praise of Love'', [[Alain ]] [[Badiou ]] takes on contemporary ‘dating agency’ conceptions of love that come [[complete ]] with zero-risk insurance – like US zero-casualty bombs. He develops a new take on love that sees it as an adventure, and an opportunity for re-invention, in a constant exploration of [[otherness ]] and [[difference ]] that leads the [[individual ]] out of an [[obsession ]] with [[identity ]] and [[self]].

[[Liberal]], libertine and libertarian reductions of love to instant [[pleasure ]] and non-commitment bite the dust as Badiou invokes a supporting cast of thinkers from [[Plato ]] to [[Lacan ]] via Karl [[Marx ]] to [[form ]] a new [[narrative ]] of romance, relationships and sex – a narrative that does not [[fear ]] love.