On Populist Reason - Softcover

Ernesto Laclau

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1844671860 ISBN 13: 9781844671861

Publisher: Verso, 2007

Synopsis

This is a tour de force analysis of the forces that drive populism by the renowned political theorist. In this highly original work, Ernesto Laclau continues the philosophical and political exploration initiated in Hegemony and Socialist Strategy. Here, he focuses on the construction of popular identities and how 'the people' emerges as a collective actor., Skilfully combining theoretical analysis with a myriad of empirical references from numerous historical and geographical contexts, he offers a critical reading of the existing literature on populism, demonstrating its dependency on the theorists of 'mass psychology' such as Taine and Freud. He, then focuses on the construction of popular identities and how 'the people' emerges as a collective actor with a political and social force, demonstrating the relation of populism to democracy and to the logic of representation and differentiating his approach from the work of Zizek, Hardt and Negri and Ranciere. This book is essential reading for all those interested in the question of political identities in present-day societies.

About this title

Review:

"What needs to be politically articulated at the present time is the possibility of a leftist populism. This is what makes Laclau's long-awaited book so important. Arguably, populism has always been the governing concept in Laclau's work and in On Populist Reason, he lays out his position with great power and analytical clarity."
--Simon Critchley

"On Populist Reason helped to explain the rise of the new leftist sentiment sweeping Latin America from Venezuela to Ecuador to Argentina--he was a key influence on Kirchner, who valued Laclau's support in reaching out beyond his Peronista base to the grassroots activists who had been occupying hundreds of factories. Laclau's sympathy for the Latin American new left was most unwelcome to those who were alarmed by the mobilisation of the poor and excluded."
--Robin Blackburn

"There is no doubt that Laclau's is an extremely important contribution to political theory. He demonstrates, through exemplification, the workings of populism and, by extension, hegemonic politics. But he also reveals the limits of that politics, not least the way in which it defuses and undoes political difference."
--Jon Beasley-Murray, Contemporary Political Theory

"The work of many of us would have never been the same without the intellectual influence of Ernesto Laclau, one of the most gifted political thinkers of his generation. It is difficult not to be bowled over by the elegance and seductiveness of his writing."
--Benjamin Arditi, Constellations

About the Author:

Ernesto Laclau is Professor of Political Theory in the Department of Government, University of Essex, and in the Department of Comparative Literature, State University of New York Buffalo. He is the author, among other works, of Hegemony and Socialist Strategy (co-authored with Chantal Mouffe) and New Reflections on the Revolution of Our Time.

About this edition

• Publisher: Verso
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1844671860
• ISBN 13: 9781844671861
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288