3 The discourse theory of Ernesto Laclau
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Niels Åkerstrøm Andersen
Abstract
The Argentinian Ernesto Laclau has conducted one of the most comprehensive rewritings of Foucault’s discourse analysis. Ernesto Laclau currently works in the Department of Government, Essex University, UK; throughout his career he has been interested in questions of politics and the state. He was associated with the Marxist criticism of the 1970s and had a similar perspective to those of Louis Althusser and Antonius Gramsci. In 1985, he published the book Hegemony and socialist strategy, written together with Chantal Mouffe (1985). In this book, he formulates his final departure from Marxism and defines a new critical project, constructed around a discourse-analytical reconstruction of the concept of hegemony. With Chantal Mouffe, he conducts a genealogical analysis of the concept of hegemony and reaches an entirely new definition of the concept detached from the Marxist figures. At the same time, he reconstructs Foucault’s discourse analysis in order to define a general, pure discourse analysis in which all the non-discursive elements found in Foucault’s work have been removed. By defining the concept of hegemony as central to discourse theory, it is restored as a political theory. As far as I am aware, Ernesto Laclau is alone in defining discourse analysis as a political theory. I will return to this point later in this chapter.
Ernesto Laclau has maintained his political discourse theory since 1985. His work is exclusively theoretical and, to my knowledge, he has conducted no empirical discourse analyses, although he has performed certain deconstructions of concepts, which are of empirical importance (for example, the concept of representation; Laclau, 1993b).
Abstract
The Argentinian Ernesto Laclau has conducted one of the most comprehensive rewritings of Foucault’s discourse analysis. Ernesto Laclau currently works in the Department of Government, Essex University, UK; throughout his career he has been interested in questions of politics and the state. He was associated with the Marxist criticism of the 1970s and had a similar perspective to those of Louis Althusser and Antonius Gramsci. In 1985, he published the book Hegemony and socialist strategy, written together with Chantal Mouffe (1985). In this book, he formulates his final departure from Marxism and defines a new critical project, constructed around a discourse-analytical reconstruction of the concept of hegemony. With Chantal Mouffe, he conducts a genealogical analysis of the concept of hegemony and reaches an entirely new definition of the concept detached from the Marxist figures. At the same time, he reconstructs Foucault’s discourse analysis in order to define a general, pure discourse analysis in which all the non-discursive elements found in Foucault’s work have been removed. By defining the concept of hegemony as central to discourse theory, it is restored as a political theory. As far as I am aware, Ernesto Laclau is alone in defining discourse analysis as a political theory. I will return to this point later in this chapter.
Ernesto Laclau has maintained his political discourse theory since 1985. His work is exclusively theoretical and, to my knowledge, he has conducted no empirical discourse analyses, although he has performed certain deconstructions of concepts, which are of empirical importance (for example, the concept of representation; Laclau, 1993b).
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front Matter I
- Contents III
- List of tables and figures IV
- Acknowledgements V
- Glossary VI
- Introduction IX
- The discourse analysis of Michel Foucault 1
- Reinhart Koselleck’s history of concepts 33
- The discourse theory of Ernesto Laclau 49
- Niklas Luhmann’s systems theory 63
- A hall of mirrors or a pool of analytical strategies 93
- References 119
- Examples of other analytical strategies 125
- Further reading 127
- Index 131
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front Matter I
- Contents III
- List of tables and figures IV
- Acknowledgements V
- Glossary VI
- Introduction IX
- The discourse analysis of Michel Foucault 1
- Reinhart Koselleck’s history of concepts 33
- The discourse theory of Ernesto Laclau 49
- Niklas Luhmann’s systems theory 63
- A hall of mirrors or a pool of analytical strategies 93
- References 119
- Examples of other analytical strategies 125
- Further reading 127
- Index 131
