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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, Claude Lefort, Sheldon Wolin, Michael Hardt, and Antonio Negri, and Giorgio Agamben. By examining critically the accounts of democracy advanced by these theorists, this volume explores how a more radically conceived theory of democracy might be extended in a more egalitarian and inclusive direction.The strand of radical democracy examined in this book is defined by a number of characteristics:Democracy is conceptualised understood as a fugitive condition, being open to perpetual disruption and reinventionThe relationship between the state and civil society is regarded as the site where the open-ended 'promise' of democracy is fought outThere is an emphasis on questions of political renewalThere is a deep suspicion of identity-based political claimsPolitics 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 disagreementDemocracy is regarded as always at least partially conflictual and not a means through which violence and conflict can be permanently eradicatedThere is a deep suspicion of identity-based political claimsThe political is assumed to be ontologically conflictual, with such conflict being understood as ultimately ineradicable from politics, though the form it takes necessarily varies from time to time and context to contextThe 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 (e.g. 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) in order to illustrate its practical nature.Key FeaturesDraws on the work of a range of thinkers including including Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, Judith Butler, William Connolly, Jacques Rancière, Claude Lefort, Sheldon Wolin, Michael Hardt, and Antonio Negri, and Giorgio AgambenUses case studies such as 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 - this blending of theory with practical political analysis helps locate and explain sophisticated theoretical ideasClear exposition of key arguments in radical democratic theoryExplains the implications of radical democracy for different levels of political organisation

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- Analytical Table of Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Notes on the Contributors -- General Introduction: What are Political Concepts? -- PART I POLITICAL PRINCIPLES -- Introduction -- 1. Justice -- 2. Liberty -- 3. Equality -- 4. Rights -- PART II POLITICAL LEGITIMACY -- Introduction -- 1. Democracy -- 2. Representation -- 3. Toleration -- 4. Multiculturalism -- PART III GOVERNING THE POLITICAL -- Introduction -- 1. The State -- 2. Rule of Law -- 3. Civil Society -- 4. Power -- PART IV POLITICAL IDENTITIES -- Introduction -- 1. Human Nature -- 2. Community -- 3. Nation -- 4. Globalisation -- PART V STRUCTURING THE POLITICAL -- Introduction -- 1. Ideology -- 2. Discourse -- 3. Difference -- 4. The Body Politic -- Notes on the Authors of the Selected Readings -- Bibliography -- Further Reading -- Copyright Acknowledgements -- Index