Download or read book Agonistic Democracy written by Mark Wenman and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2013-09-26 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A pioneering analysis of agonistic democracy, its history, central thinkers and contribution to contemporary political theory.
Download or read book Institutionalizing Agonistic Democracy written by Ed Wingenbach and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-05-23 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first book length study of agonism as a mature account of democratic politics, Institutionalizing Agonistic Democracy provides a lucid overview of agonistic democratic theories and demonstrates the viability of this approach for institutional politics. Situating agonistic democracy within and against debates about radical democracy, foundationalism, liberal democracy, and pluralism, Institutionalizing Agonistic Democracy engages the texts of Mouffe, Connolly, Ranciere, Tully, Honig, Owen, and others to fully map the contours of agonistic democratic theories. Organizing this diverse literature into a coherent typology enables sophisticated analysis of the assumptions, distinctions, and aspirations of the often conflicting theoretical positions gathered within the constellation of agonistic democratic theory. Using this framework to explore the concrete institutional possibilities appropriate to agonistic democracy, Wingenbach argues that a modified version of Rawlsian political liberalism describes the institutional conditions most likely to sustain agonistic political practices. Once shorn of metaphysical commitments and detached from aspirations to consensus, political liberalism offers a contingent and historically viable framework within which agonistic contestation can occur. Such a reinterpretation of Rawls produces not the sublimation of agonism but a transformation of liberalism, so that it more adequately accommodates the deep pluralism of the post-foundational condition.
Download or read book Agonistic Democracy written by Marie Paxton and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-11-06 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Agonistic Democracy explores how theoretical concepts from agonistic democracy can inform institutional design in order to mediate conflict in multicultural, pluralist societies. Drawing on the work of Foucault, Nietzsche, Schmitt and Arendt, Marie Paxton outlines the importance of their themes of public contestation, contingency and necessary interdependency for contemporary agonistic thinkers. Paxton then delineates three distinct approaches to agonistic democracy: David Owen’s perfectionist agonism, Mouffe’s adversarial agonism and William Connolly and James Tully’s inclusive agonism. She demonstrates how each is fundamental to enabling citizens to cultivate better virtues for themselves and society (Owen), motivating democratic engagement (Mouffe) and enhancing relations of respect and understanding between conflicting citizens (Connolly and Tully). Situated within the context of a deeply polarised post-Trump America and post-Brexit Britain, this book reveals the need to rethink our approach to conflict mediation through democratic institutions. Pulling together insights from experimental research with deliberative democratic innovations, Paxton explores how agonistic theory might be institutionalised further. By discussing ways in which agonistic institutions might be developed to render democracy more virtuous, more engaging, and more inclusive, this book provides a unique resource for students of contemporary political theory.
Download or read book The Democratic Paradox written by Chantal Mouffe and published by Verso Books. This book was released on 2020-05-05 with total page 154 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the theory of 'deliberative democracy' to the politics of the 'third way', the present Zeitgeist is characterized by attempts to deny what Chantal Mouffe contends is the inherently conflictual nature of democratic politics. Far from being signs of progress, such ideas constitute a serious threat to democratic institutions. Taking issue with John Rawls and Jrgen Habermas on one side, and the political tenets of Blair, Clinton and Schrder on the other, Mouffe brings to the fore the paradoxical nature of modern liberal democracy in which the category of the 'adversary' plays a central role. She draws on the work of Wittgenstein, Derrida, and the provocative theses of Carl Schmitt, to propose a new understanding of democracy which acknowledges the ineradicability of antagonism in its workings.
Download or read book Law and Agonistic Politics written by Dr Andrew Schaap and published by Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. This book was released on 2013-02-28 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Ancient Greek notion of agonism, meaning struggle, has been revived in radical legal and political theory to rethematize class conflict and to conceptualize the conditions of possibility of freedom and social transformation in contemporary society. Insisting that what is ultimately at stake in politics are the terms in which social conflict is represented, agonists highlight the importance of the strategic, affective and aesthetic aspects of politics for democratic praxis. This volume examines the implications of this critical perspective for understanding law and considers how law serves either to sustain or curtail the democratic agon. While sharing a critical perspective on the deliberative turn in legal and political theory and its tendency to depoliticize social conflict, the various contributors to this volume diverge in arguing variously for pragmatic, expressivist or strategic conceptions of agonism. In doing so they question the glib assumptions that often underlie a sometimes too easy celebration of conflict as an antidote to de-politicizing consensus. This thought provoking volume will be of interest to students and researchers working in legal and political theory and philosophy.
Download or read book Law and Agonistic Politics written by Andrew Schaap and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-04-15 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Ancient Greek notion of agonism, meaning struggle, has been revived in radical legal and political theory to rethematize class conflict and to conceptualize the conditions of possibility of freedom and social transformation in contemporary society. Insisting that what is ultimately at stake in politics are the terms in which social conflict is represented, agonists highlight the importance of the strategic, affective and aesthetic aspects of politics for democratic praxis. This volume examines the implications of this critical perspective for understanding law and considers how law serves either to sustain or curtail the democratic agon. While sharing a critical perspective on the deliberative turn in legal and political theory and its tendency to depoliticize social conflict, the various contributors to this volume diverge in arguing variously for pragmatic, expressivist or strategic conceptions of agonism. In doing so they question the glib assumptions that often underlie a sometimes too easy celebration of conflict as an antidote to de-politicizing consensus. This thought provoking volume will be of interest to students and researchers working in legal and political theory and philosophy.
Download or read book The Return of the Political written by Chantal Mouffe and published by Verso Books. This book was released on 2020-04-07 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this work, Mouffe argues that liberal democracy misunderstands the problems of ethnic, religious and nationalist conflicts because of its inadequate conception of politics. He suggests that the democratic revolution may be jeopardized by a lack of understanding of citizenship, community and pluralism. Mouffe examines the work of Schmidt and Rawls and explores feminist theory, in an attempt to place the project of radical and plural democracy on a more adequate foundation than is provided by liberal theory.
Download or read book Agonistic Democracy written by Mark Wenman and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2013-09-26 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This pioneering book delivers a systematic account of agonistic democracy, and a much-needed analysis of the core components of agonism: pluralism, tragedy, and the value of conflict. It also traces the history of these ideas, identifying the connections with republicanism and with Greek antiquity. Mark Wenman presents a critical appraisal of the leading contemporary proponents of agonism and, in a series of well-crafted and comprehensive discussions, brings these thinkers into debate with one another, as well as with the post-structuralist and continental theorists who influence them. Wenman draws extensively on Hannah Arendt, and stresses the creative power of human action as augmentation and revolution. He also reworks Arendt's discussion of reflective judgement to present an alternative style of agonism, one where the democratic contest is linked to the emergence of a militant form of cosmopolitanism, and to prospects for historical change in the context of neoliberal globalisation.
Download or read book Radical Democracy and Its Limits written by David Matijasevich and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2019-08-26 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over the last several decades, many political theorists have touted the banner of “radical democracy” to view the agonistic—that is, non-coercive—struggle against power as the correct way forward for progressive political actors, rather than the antagonistic acquisition or use of it. The belief that such engagements respect the political equality of all and are thus more democratic lies at the heart of this trend; and yet, recent developments have shown that events with such agonistic beginnings, such as Occupy, the Arab Spring, and Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement have the clear potential of ending antagonistically. Comparing four historical cases of popular uprising that fluctuated between agonistic and antagonistic moments, this book establishes the circumstances under which such agonistic engagements with power can both take off and persist. Revealing the many limitations that agonistic politics is shown to face, Radical Democracy and its Limits makes a needed intervention into contemporary democratic theory and argues that radical democracy should not be held up as a model for those pursuing a more egalitarian future.
Download or read book Agonistic Democracy and Political Practice written by Fuat Gürsözlü and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-08-29 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the implications of agonistic democratic theory for political practice. Fuat Gürsözlü argues that at a time when political parties exacerbate political division, political protesters are characterized as looters and terrorists, and extreme partisanship and authoritarian tendencies are on the rise, the agonistic approach offers a much-needed rethinking of political practice to critically understand challenges to democracy and envision more democratic, inclusive, and peaceful alternatives. Inspired by Chantal Mouffe’s agonistic theory and drawing on insights of other prominent agonistic scholars, Gürsözlü offers a distinctive approach that develops the connections between the agonistic approach and political practice. His main claim is that approaching democratic politics from an agonistic perspective changes the way we understand the nature of democratic society, the place of political protest in democracy, the nature of adversarial engagement, and the democratic function of political parties. The book also advances an account of agonistic peace that is best fitted to the pluralistic and inherently conflictual nature of democratic societies. This book should be of interest to anyone working in the field of contemporary political theory, political philosophy, peace studies, and philosophy of peace.
Download or read book Political Theory In Transition written by Noel O'Sullivan and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-07-04 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the past two decades there has been increasing dissatisfaction with established political categories, on the grounds that they no longer fit many of the facts of contemporary life, or adequately express many contemporary political ideals. Political Theory in Transition explores the principal reasons for this dissatisfaction and outlines some of the most influential responses to it. Key features of this textbook: * covers many of the important areas in political theory including: Communitarianism; Identity; Feminism; Liberalism; Citizenship; Democracy; Power; Authority; Legitimacy; Nationalism; Globalization; and the Environment * includes chapters written by some of the foremost authorities in the field of political theory * divided into four useful sections, beginning with the concept of the individual, and progressing to beyond the nation-state.
Download or read book Agonistics written by Chantal Mouffe and published by Verso Books. This book was released on 2013-07-02 with total page 138 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Political conflict in our society is inevitable, and its results are often far from negative. How then should we deal with the intractable differences arising from complex modern culture? Developing her groundbreaking political philosophy of agonistics – the search for a radical and plural democracy – Chantal Mouffe examines international relations, strategies for radical politics, the future of Europe and the politics of artistic practices. She shows that in many circumstances where no alternatives seem possible, agonistics offers a new road map for change. Engaging with cosmopolitanism, post-operaism, and theories of multiple modernities she argues in favour of a multipolar world with real cultural and political pluralism.
Download or read book Chantal Mouffe written by James Martin and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-07-18 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book The Law of Deliberative Democracy written by Ron Levy and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-11-03 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Laws have colonised most of the corners of political practice, and now substantially determine the process and even the product of democracy. Yet analysis of these laws of politics has been hobbled by a limited set of theories about politics. Largely absent is the perspective of deliberative democracy – a rising theme in political studies that seeks a more rational, cooperative, informed, and truly democratic politics. Legal and political scholarship often view each other in reductive terms. This book breaks through such caricatures to provide the first full-length examination of whether and how the law of politics can match deliberative democratic ideals. Essential reading for those interested in either law or politics, the book presents a challenging critique of laws governing electoral politics in the English-speaking world. Judges often act as spoilers, vetoing or naively reshaping schemes meant to enhance deliberation. This pattern testifies to deliberation’s weak penetration into legal consciousness. It is also a fault of deliberative democracy scholarship itself, which says little about how deliberation connects with the actual practice of law. Superficially, the law of politics and deliberative democracy appear starkly incompatible. Yet, after laying out this critique, The Law of Deliberative Democracy considers prospects for reform. The book contends that the conflict between law and public deliberation is not inevitable: it results from judicial and legislative choices. An extended, original analysis demonstrates how lawyers and deliberativists can engage with each other to bridge their two solitudes.
Download or read book Why Democracy Is Oppositional written by John Medearis and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2015 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: John Medearis argues that democracies face challenges which go beyond civic lethargy and unreasonable debate. Democracy is inherently a fragile state of affairs because citizens create the very institutions that overwhelm them. Hostile threats are the product of their own collective activities, and preserving democracy will always entail struggle.
Download or read book Public Things written by Bonnie Honig and published by Fordham Univ Press. This book was released on 2017-03-01 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the contemporary world of neoliberalism, efficiency is treated as the vehicle of political and economic health .State bureaucracy, but not corporate bureaucracy, is seen as inefficient, and privatization is seen as a magic cure for social ills. In Public Things: Democracy in Disrepair, Bonnie Honig asks whether democracy is possible in the absence of public services, spaces, and utilities. In other words, if neoliberalism leaves to democracy merely electoral majoritarianism and procedures of deliberation while divesting democratic states of their ownership of public things, what will the impact be? Following Tocqueville, who extolled the virtues of “pursuing in common the objects of common desires,” Honig focuses not on the demos but on the objects of democratic life. Democracy, as she points out, postulates public things—infrastructure, monuments, libraries—that citizens use, care for, repair, and are gathered up by. To be “gathered up” refers to the work of D. W. Winnicott, the object relations psychoanalyst who popularized the idea of “transitional objects”—the toys, teddy bears, or favorite blankets by way of which infants come to understand themselves as unified selves with an inside and an outside in relation to others. The wager of Public Things is that the work transitional objects do for infants is analogously performed for democratic citizens by public things, which press us into object relations with others and with ourselves. Public Things attends also to the historically racial character of public things: public lands taken from indigenous peoples, access to public goods restricted to white majorities. Drawing on Hannah Arendt, who saw how things fabricated by humans lend stability to the human world, Honig shows how Arendt and Winnicott—both theorists of livenesss—underline the material and psychological conditions necessary for object permanence and the reparative work needed for a more egalitarian democracy.
Download or read book For a Left Populism written by Chantal Mouffe and published by Verso Books. This book was released on 2018 with total page 113 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We are currently witnessing in Western Europe a “populist moment” that signals the crisis of neoliberal hegemony. The central axis of the political conflict will be between right- and left-wing populism. By establishing a frontier between “the people” and “the oligarchy,” a leftpopulist strategy could bring together the manifold struggles against subordination, oppression and discrimination.This strategy acknowledges that democratic discourse plays a crucial role in the political imaginary of our societies. And through the construction of a collective will, mobilizing common affects in defence of equality and social justice, it will be possible to combat the xenophobic policies promoted by right-wing populism.
