The Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek, using tools and drawing inspiration from various fields of theory and practice – from Marxist theory and Lacanian psychoanalysis to cinema, music, and consumer products – has managed to offer not only a contemporary critical perspective on the exploitative function and outcomes of late capitalism's dominance but also a self-critical view of the prevailing leftist critique and protest movements.

In his essay "Answers Without Questions," Žižek writes shortly after the outbreak of the global capitalist crisis and the protest movements it sparked worldwide (Occupy, "Indignant Ones," "Arab Spring"), to describe the paradoxical phenomenon of anti-capitalist voices being heard everywhere at the same time that these voices prove to be mute regarding the need to transcend the liberal-democratic framework of capitalism under a liberating perspective.

Is the anti-capitalist answer given to a question that has not yet been posed?

"The recurring story of the modern left is that of a leader or party that is elected amidst the enthusiasm of all, promising a new world – soon, however, usually after two years, they stumble upon the basic dilemma: do we dare to touch the capitalist mechanisms or do we simply decide to 'play their game'? If anyone disturbs the mechanisms, they immediately face the punishment of market turmoil, economic chaos, and all the rest."

Slavoj Žižek