Abstract
In surveying the influential work of Badiou, Žižek, Rancière, Laclau and Mouffe, and Hardt and Negri, it is argued that left thought today is undergirded by an ontology of multiplicity. Taken together, the theorists considered here present three courses for political action: a reform of existing liberal democracy driven by social movements; actions taken against the state to force change and a total disengagement from the state through exodus. The latter is seen to have prevailed in the case of Occupy, although a synthesis of the first two positions—when bound to a concrete theorisation of the state and political economy—would have been of more strategic use.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Bibliography
Arrighi, G. (1990). Marxist Century, American Century: The making and remaking of the world labour movement. New Left Review, 79, 29–63.
Badiou, A. (2005a). Being and event (O. Feltham, Trans.). London: Continuum.
Badiou, A. (2005b). Metapolitics. London: Verso.
Badiou, A. (2009a). The lessons of Jacques Rancière: Knowledge and power after the storm. In G. Rockhill & P. Watts (Eds.), Jacques Rancière: History, Politics, Aesthetics. Durham: Duke University Press.
Badiou, A. (2009b). Logics of worlds: Being and event, 2 (A. Toscano, Trans.). London: Continuum.
Badiou, A. (2010). The communist hypothesis (D. Macey & S. Corcoran, Trans.). London: Verso.
Badiou, A. (2012). The rebirth of history (G. Elliott, Trans.). London: Verso.
Badiou, A., & Finkielkraut, A. (2014). Confrontation: Conversations with Aude Lancelin. Cambridge: Polity.
Badiou, A., & Hallward, P. (2001). Politics and philosophy: An interview with Alain Badiou. In P. Hallward (Ed.), Ethics: An essay on the understanding of evil. London: Verso.
Butler, J., Laclau, E., & Žižek, S. (2000). Contingency, hegemony, universality: Contemporary dialogues on the left. London: Verso.
Dews, P. (2007). Logics of disintegration: Post-structuralist thought and the claims of critical theory. London: Verso.
Dyer-Witheford, N. (1999). Cyber-Marx: Cycles and circuits of struggle in high-technology capitalism. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
el-Ojeili, C. (2003). From left communism to post-modernism: Reconsidering emancipatory discourse. Lanham: University Press of America.
Foucault, M. (2000). Ethics: Subjectivity and truth (Vol. I). London: Penguin.
Foucault, M. (2004). Society must be defended. London: Penguin.
Geras, N. (1988). Ex-marxism without substance: Being a real reply to Laclau and Mouffe. New Left Review, I(169), 34–61.
Hardt, M., & Negri, A. (1994). Labour of Dionysis: A critique of the state form. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Hardt, M., & Negri, A. (2001). Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Hardt, M., & Negri, A. (2005). Multitude. New York: Penguin.
Hardt, M., & Negri, A. (2009). Commonwealth. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Jameson, F. (1991). Postmodernism, or, the cultural logic of late capitalism. Durham: Duke University Press.
Johnston, A. (2009). Badiou, Žižek and political transformations: The candence of change. Evantson: Northwestern University Press.
Keucheyan, R. (2013). The left hemisphere: Mapping critical theory today. London: Verso.
Laclau, E. (2004). An ethics of militant engagement. In P. Hallward (Ed.), Think again: Alain Badiou and the future of philosophy. London: Continuum.
Laclau, E. (2005). On populist reason. London: Verso.
Laclau, E. (2014). The rhetorical foundations of society. London: Verso.
Laclau, E., & Mouffe, C. (2005). Hegemony and socialist strategy: Towards a radical democratic politics. London: Verso.
Lyotard, J.-F. (1984). The postmodern condition: A report on knowledge. Minneapolis: University of Minnessota Press.
May, T. (2008). The political thought of Jacques Rancière: Creating equality. University Park (PA): The Pennsylvania State University Press.
May, T. (2009). Rancière in South Carolina. In G. Rockhill & P. Watts (Eds.), Jacques Rancière: History, politics, aesthetics. Durham: Duke University Press.
May, T. (2010). Wrong, disagreement, subjectification. In J.-P. Deranty (Ed.), Jacques Rancière: Key concepts. Acumen: Durham.
Mouffe, C. (1993). The return of the political. London: Verso.
Mouffe, C. (2005). The democratic paradox. London: Verso.
Mouffe, C. (2013). Agonistics: thinking the world politically. London: Verso.
Negri, A. (1999). Insurgencies: Constituent power and the modern state. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Negri, A. (2010). Communism: Some thoughts on the concept and practice. In C. Douzinas & S. Žižek (Eds.), The idea of communism. London: Verso.
Rancière, J. (1999). Disagreement: Politics and philosophy. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Rancière, J. (2009). Hatred of democracy. London: Verso.
Therborn, G. (2010). From Marxism to post-Marxism? London: Verso.
Žižek, S. (2000a). Class struggle or postmodernism? Yes, Please! In J. Butler, E. Laclau, & S. Žižek (Eds.), Contingency, Hegemony, Universality: Contemporary dialogues on the Left. London: Verso.
Žižek, S. (2000b). Holding the place. In J. Butler, E. Laclau, & S. Žižek (Eds.), Contingency, hegemony, universality: Contemporary dialogues on the left. London: Verso.
Žižek, S. (2000c). The ticklish subject: The absent centre of political ontology. London: Verso.
Žižek, S. (2004a). Afterword: Lenin’s choice. In S. Žižek (Ed.), Revolution at the gates: Selected writings of Lenin from 1917. London: Verso.
Žižek, S. (2004b). From purification to subtraction: Badiou and the real. In P. Hallward (Ed.), Think again: Alain Badiou and the future of philosophy. London: Continuum.
Žižek, S. (2006). The parallax view. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Žižek, S. (2008a). The sublime object of ideology. London: Verso.
Žižek, S. (2008b). Violence: Six sideways reflections. New York: Picador.
Žižek, S. (2014). Event. London: Penguin.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Taylor, D. (2017). Reconceptualising Political Strategy. In: Social Movements and Democracy in the 21st Century . Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39684-2_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39684-2_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-39683-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-39684-2
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)