The Failure of Success - Genealogy of “Success” and “Failure” #978494

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).