The Failure of Success: Genealogy of “Success” and “Failure”

Success in modern Western society has become an object of aspiration for many, who construct their self-worth—and in many respects their very identity—according to accepted criteria of success, primarily in the professional and economic spheres. When the pursuit of success takes hold across all areas of life, many people find it difficult to live with failure or to acknowledge it. Where, then, did the race for success in the West begin? Is it a phenomenon unique to our time? This book examines the cultural value of success and its origins in Western society through the genealogical method. As a critical methodology, genealogical inquiry is driven by an interest in understanding contemporary reality and subjecting it to critique through a reinterpretation of the past. Uncovering the past confronts us with contingency and diminishes the dominance of necessity in our lives. The central thesis advanced in this book is that the concepts of “success” and “failure,” which function as foundational cultural structures, are rooted at the very heart of Western culture. They are deeply embedded in its origins and should not be understood as late products of consumer capitalist culture.

Bina Nir identifies three components that played a central role in the formation of these structures within Western culture: the separation of humanity from nature, Judeo-Christian judgment, and the Western conception of time. Even if these elements cannot be understood in terms of clear causal relations, they can be identified and marked as part of the forces that led to the emergence of the current condition. It is impossible to arrive at a definitive list of all the structures and forces that shaped the overarching constructs under discussion. However, exposing three of them allows us to understand that the prevailing structures of success and failure did not have to take the form they did. In other words, what often appears inevitable is not a historical necessity.

Dr. Bina Nir is a cultural scholar and lecturer at the Sammy Ofer School of Communications at Reichman University and in the Multidisciplinary Studies Department at the Western Galilee Academic College. She is the author of The Failure of Success [in Hebrew] (Resling, 2016) and Deconstructing Culture from Anxiety to Hope [in Hebrew] (Niv Books, 2025).

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Udgivelsesdato

Lydbog: 3. juli 2026