Chantal Mouffe: Hegemony, Radical Democracy, and the Political (Routledge Innovators in Political Theory)

Chantal Mouffe's writings have been innovatory with respect to democratic theory, Marxism and feminism. Her work derives from, and has always been engaged with, contemporary political events and intellectual debates. This sense of conflict informs both the methodological and substantive propositions she offers. Determinisms, scientific or otherwise, and ideologies, Marxist or feminist, have failed to survive her excoriating critiques. In a sense she is the original post-Marxist, rejecting economisms and class-centric analyses, and also the original post-feminist, more concerned with the varieties of ‘identity politics'than with any singularities of ‘women's issues'. While Mouffe's concerns with power and discourse derive from her studies of Gramsci's theorisations of hegemony and the post-structuralisms of Derrida and Foucault, her reversal of the very terms through which political theory proceeds is very much her own. She centres conflict, not consensus, and disagreement, not finality. Whether philosophically perfectionist, or liberally reasonable, political theorists have been challenged by Mouffe to think again, and to engage with a new concept of ‘the political'and a revived and refreshed notion of ‘radical democracy'. The editor has focused on her work in three key areas: Hegemony: From Gramsci to ‘Post-Marxism'Radical Democracy: Pluralism, Citizenship and Identity The Political: A Politics Beyond Consensus The volume concludes with a new interview with Chantal Mouffe. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents Acknowledgements Introduction: democracy and conflict in the work of Chantal Mouffe Gramscian interventions Rethinking democracy Structure of the book Hegemony: from Gramsci to post-Marxism Radical democracy: pluralism, citizenship and identity The political: a politics beyond consensus References Part I: Hegemony: from Gramsci to ‘post-Marxism’ 1. Hegemony and ideology in Gramsci (1979) Economism and ideology Principles of a non-reductionist conception of ideology The Second International and economism Leninism and its consequences Gramsci and hegemony Hegemony and ideology The problematic of ideology A non-reductionist conception Hegemony and war of position Conclusion Notes References 2. Hegemony and new political subjects: toward a new concept of democracy (1988) Theoretical positions New antagonisms and hegemonic formations New antagonisms and democratic struggle The new antagonisms and socialism Note 3. Post-Marxism without apologies (1987) Discourse Geras’s four theses Idealism and materialism The instability of objects Either/or Autonomy and determination The history of Marxism An atemporal critique Radical democracy The transformation of political consciousness Democratic revolution Notes References Part II: Radical Democracy: pluralism, citizenship and identity 4. Radical democracy: modern or postmodern? (1988) The democratic revolution Practical reason: Aristotle versus Kant Tradition and democratic politics Radical democracy, a new political philosophy Notes References 5. Democratic citizenship and the political community (1992) Liberalism versus civic republicanism Modern democracy and political community The political community: universitas or societas? A radical democratic citizenship Notes References 6. Politics and the limits of liberalism (1993) Political liberalism Liberalism and the negation of the political Rationality and neutrality Pluralism and undecidability Morality, unanimity and impartiality What kind of consensus? Notes References 7. Feminism, citizenship and radical democratic politics (1992) The question of identity and feminism Citizenship and feminist politics A radical democratic conception of citizenship Feminist politics and radical democracy Notes 8. For a politics of nomadic identity (1994) Notes References Part III: The political: a politics beyond consensus 9. The radical centre: a politics without adversary (1998) Conflict and modern democracy Politics and the political Which globalisation? A new left-wing project Notes References 10. Carl Schmitt and the paradox of liberal democracy (1997, rev. 2000) Democracy, homogeneity and the boundaries of citizenship The democratic logic of inclusion-exclusion Deliberative democracy and its shortcomings Pluralism and its limits Schmitt’s false dilemma Notes References 11. Politics and passions: the stakes of democracy (2002) The shortcomings of liberal democratic theory Agonistic pluralism Beyond left and right Politics in the moral register Notes References 12. For an agonistic model of democracy (2000) Deliberative democracy: its aims The flight from pluralism Which allegiance for democracy? An ‘agonistic’ model of democracy Notes References 13. Cultural workers as organic intellectuals (2008) From Fordism to post-Fordism A hegemonic approach An agonistic politics Agonistic public spaces References 14. Democracy in a multipolar world (2009) An agonistic model Towards a multipolar world Which democracy for a multipolar/‘agonistic’ world? Note References 15. An interview with Chantal Mouffe: questions by James Martin Index "Chantal Mouffe's writings have been innovatory with respect to democratic theory, Marxism and feminism. Her work derives from, and has always been engaged with, contemporary political events and intellectual debates. This sense of conflict informs both the methodological and substantive propositions she offers. Determinisms, scientific or otherwise, and ideologies, Marxist or feminist, have failed to survive her excoriating critiques. In a sense she is the original post-Marxist, rejecting economisms and class-centric analyses, and the original post-feminist, more concerned with the varieties of 'identity politics' than with any singularities of 'women's issues'. While Mouffe's concerns with power and discourse derive from her studies of Gramsci's theorisations of hegemony and the post-structuralisms of Derrida and Foucault, her reversal of the very terms through which political theory proceeds is very much her own. She centres conflict, not consensus, and disagreement, not finality. Whether philosophically perfectionist, or liberally reasonable, political theorists have been challenged by Mouffe to think again, and to engage with a new concept of 'the political' and a revived and refreshed notion of 'radical democracy'. The editor has focused on her work in three key areas: - Hegemony: From Gramsci to 'Post-Marxism' - Radical Democracy: Pluralism, Citizenship and Identity - The Political: A Politics Beyond Consensus The volume concludes with a new interview with Chantal Mouffe. James Martin is Professor of Politics at Goldsmiths, University of London, UK. He has published widely on Italian political thought, contemporary political theory and rhetoric."-- Provided by publisher Chantal Mouffe's writings have been innovatory with respect to democratic theory, Marxism and feminism. Her work derives from, and has always been engaged with, contemporary political events and intellectual debates. This sense of conflict informs both the methodological and substantive propositions she offers. Determinisms, scientific or otherwise, and ideologies, Marxist or feminist, have failed to survive her excoriating critiques. In a sense she is the original post-Marxist, rejecting economisms and class-centric analyses, and the original post-feminist, more concerned with the varieties of 'identity politics' than with any singularities of 'women's issues'. While Mouffe's concerns with power and discourse derive from her studies of Gramsci's theorisations of hegemony and the post-structuralisms of Derrida and Foucault, her reversal of the very terms through which political theory proceeds is very much her own. She centres conflict, not consensus, and disagreement, not finality. Whether philosophically perfectionist, or liberally reasonable, political theorists have been challenged by Mouffe to think again, and to engage with a new concept of 'the political' and a revived and refreshed notion of 'radical democracy'. The editor has focused on her work in three key areas: - Hegemony: From Gramsci to 'Post-Marxism' - Radical Democracy: Pluralism, Citizenship and Identity - The Political: A Politics Beyond Consensus The volume concludes with a new interview with Chantal Mouffe. James Martin is Professor of Politics at Goldsmiths, University of London, UK. He has published widely on Italian political thought, contemporary political theory and rhetoric.--Résumé de l'éditeur Chantal Mouffe's writings have been innovatory with respect to democratic theory, Marxism and feminism. This work brings together her key writings, concluding with a new interview with Chantal Mouffe.