The Politics of Radical Democracy

Adrian Little is Associate Professor and Reader in Political Theory at the University of Melbourne.

The Politics of Radical Democracy Edited by Adrian Little and Moya Lloyd This book addresses the idea of radical democracy and, in particular, its poststructuralist articulation. It analyses the approach to radical democracy taken by a number of contemporary theorists and political commentators, including Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, Judith Butler, William Connolly, Jacques Rancière, Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri. By examining critically the accounts of democracy advanced by these theorists, this volume explores how a more radically conceived theory of democracy might be developed. The strand of radical democracy examined in this book is defined by a number of characteristics: * Democracy is conceptualised as a fugitive condition, open to perpetual disruption and reinvention *The relationship between the state and civil society is regarded as the site where the open-ended 'promise' of democracy is fought out *There is an emphasis on questions of political renewal *There is a deep suspicion of identity-based political claims *Politics is conceived as either the site of or as one of the mechanisms for identity construction * Democratic politics is understood as a politics of contestation and disagreement * Democracy is regarded as always at least partially conflictual and not a means through which violence and conflict can be permanently eradicated The book clarifies the concept of radical democracy by mapping the field, and elaborates it further through a critical engagement with the works of its key proponents. In addition, it draws on the insights of radical democratic theory to explore a range of concrete political cases including the struggles of indigenous people, same-sex marriage, societies emerging from prolonged social and political strife, and the role of social movements in opposing processes of globalization. Adrian Little is Associate Professor and Reader in Political Theory at the University of Melbourne. He is author of several b

Introduction (Moya Lloyd and Adrian Little); 1. Rhetoric and Radical Democratic Political Theory (Alan Finlayson, Swansea); 2. Performing radical democracy (Moya Lloyd, Loughborough); 3. Aboriginal Sovereignty and the Democratic Paradox (Andrew Schaap, Exeter); 4. Judith Butler, Radical Democracy and Micro-Politics (Birgit Schippers, St Mary's, Belfast); 5. Poststructuralism, Civil Society, and Radical Democracy (James Martin, Goldsmiths); 6. Hegemony and Globalist Strategy (Mark Wenman, Nottingham); 7. Is 'Another World' Possible? Laclau, Mouffe and Social Movements (Andy Robinson and Simon Tormey, Nottingham); 8. Friends and Enemies, Slaves and Masters: Fanaticism, Wendell Phillips and the Limits of Agonism (Joel Olson, Northern Arizona); 9. The Northern Ireland Paradox (Adrian Little, Melbourne); Conclusion (Adrian Little and Moya Lloyd); Bibliography; Index.