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Radical democracy redux Dla Wojtka Life is living: you cannot describe it to someone who does not know it. It is friendship and enmity, enthusiasm and disenchantment, peristalsis and ideology. Thinking has, among other functions, to establish an intellectual order in life. As well as to destroy that order. Robert Musil, Posthumous Papers of a Living Author Örebro Studies in Political Science 29 Örebro Studies in Conditions of Democracy 5 KATARZYNA JEZIERSKA Radical democracy redux Politics and subjectivity beyond Habermas and Mouffe © Katarzyna Jezierska, 2011 Title: Radical Democracy Redux. Politics and Subjectivity beyond Habermas and Mouffe Publisher: Örebro University 2011 www.publications.oru.se [email protected] Print: Intellecta Infolog, Kållered 05/2011 ISSN 1650-1632 ISBN 978-91-7668-801-4 Abstract Katarzyna Jezierska (2011): Radical democracy redux. Politics and subjectivity beyond Habermas and Mouffe. Örebro Studies in Political Science 29, 231 pp. This thesis investigates two contemporary theories of radical democracy, Jürgen Habermas’s deliberative and Chantal Mouffe’s agonistic democracy. By bringing the two scholars together and constructing a debate between them, their respective strengths and weaknesses are highlighted and the similarities and differences are pointed out. Habermas and Mouffe are seldom dealt with simultaneously as they represent different theoretical traditions, critical theory and post-structuralism respectively. This thesis argues that we can learn from both of them. The aim of the thesis is to clarify and critically assess Chantal Mouffe’s and Jürgen Habermas’s versions of radical democracy, their disparate vi- sions of democratic politics and subjectivity, in order to clear the ground for a third position that draws inspiration from both of them. The metho- dological inspiration comes from the deconstructive approach to interpre- tation, and thus the study aspires to a ‘just reading’ while being conscious of the elements of violence inherent to any instances of reading. The main bulk of the thesis is dedicated to an analysis of the two au- thors’ theories of democracy and subjectivity, which leads on to the third position situated beyond the two. From Habermas the stress on political communication and intersubjectivity is taken, while both these concepts are extensively reformulated. The elements rejected from his position are the orientation to consensus and the strong requirements of coherence and transparency of the subject. From Mouffe the accent on the agonistic spirit of democracy is taken, while the ontological status of antagonism is set aside. Her conception of split subjectivity is included, but supplemented with a more explicit theorization of the unity of the subject in the element of intersubjective meetings. The third position on radical democracy em- braces the fundamental status of undecidability, which calls for an ethos of questioning. Keywords: radical democracy, Jürgen Habermas, Chantal Mouffe, deliberative, agonistic, consensus, conflict, antagonism, agonism, subjectivity Katarzyna Jezierska, Akademin för humaniora, utbildning och samhällsvetenskap Örebro University, SE-701 82 Örebro, Sweden, [email protected] Förord Many people have contributed to the shape of this thesis. First of all, I would like to thank Lasse Thomassen who put much effort into reading large parts of my manuscript twice during 2010. Lasse, your meticulous and indeed very informed opinions delivered in Madrid in early spring and at my final seminar in autumn have been invaluable! Thank you for your time and encouragement. Den ofta åberopade doktorandresan har varit bokstavlig i mitt fall. An- tagningen till forskarutbildningen innebar nämligen en flytt till Sverige och Örebro. Tack Gullan Gidlund, min första handledare, för att du inspirera- de mig till att söka forskarutbildningen i Örebro. Tack Mikael Carleheden och Mats Lindberg som tog över handledaransvaret. Mikael, du har alltid varit en generös och noga läsare och motiverat mig till fortsatt arbete. Utan ditt stöd och uppmuntran hade jag inte vågat mig in på Habermas ”den Store”. Din kunskap kombinerad med ödmjukhet har också underlättat mycket i handledningssituationen. Mats, genom ditt ifrågasättande av det som för mig var självklart tvingade du mig till precisare och mer stringenta formuleringar. Tack även mina vetenskapliga cheerleaders Moira von Wright och Bernt Gustavsson, som genom sitt engagemang och intresse för projektet peppat mig under hela resan. Varmt tack! Ett stort tack till de som vid olika tidpunkter har agerat kommentatorer på mina utkast på seminarier, särskilt Moira von Wright, Charlotte Fri- dolfsson, Meriam Chatty, Jenny Gunnarson Payne och Jan Olsson. Min dagliga arbetsmiljö har bestått av den mångvetenskapliga Fors- karskolan Demokratins villkor vid Örebro universitet. Jag är mycket tack- sam för att ha kunnat arbeta där. Det har varit många intressanta möten, diskussioner och bekantskaper. Det visade sig, att Forskarskolan inte bara bjöd på goda kollegor, men även på nära vänner – tack Jenny Ahlberg, Meriam Chatty och Jan-Magnus Jansson för er vänskap och kritisk håll- ning. Utan er hade doktorandtiden varit mycket gråare och mycket mindre stimulerande. Meriam, tack för otaliga telefonkonferenser och Jenny, tack för din omtanke, som kändes särskilt viktig i slutskedet. Tack går även till andra korridorkollegor som har gjort fikapauserna och det dagliga arbetet roligare, särskilt Mats Öhlén, Rúna í Baianstovu, Markus Klinton och Peter Berglez. Sist men först i hjärtat, tack Wojtek Jezierski, min intellektuella- och kärlekspartner. Min tacksamhet till dig är mycket större än den här genren tillåter mig att uttrycka. Din egen forskning och dina kommentarer på min har på ett självklart sätt format den här avhandlingen. Tack för att du smittade av dig med ständigt nya teoretiska fascinationer, ditt engagemang i allt du gör är imponerande. Jag har inte alltid kunnat ta till mig dina fiffi- ga idéer på rubriker, men tack ändå. Du vet ju att de flesta spår av fiffighet i den här texten är din förtjänst. Dziękuję Ci kochanie za to, że jesteś moją inspiracją i motywacją. Tack också våra underbara barn, Ronja och Ivar, som kom till under doktorandtiden. Ni har säkert inte gjort arbetet med avhandlingen lättare men samtidigt berikat våra liv så oändligt. Dziękuję Wam słoneczka za to, że jesteście. CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................... 11 AIM OF THE STUDY ............................................................................................... 12 FOCUSING THE DEBATE .......................................................................................... 13 FORGING THE COMMON GROUND ........................................................................... 17 PREVIOUS RESEARCH ............................................................................................. 26 OUTLINE OF THE THESIS ......................................................................................... 30 CHAPTER 2 FORCE OF READING ................................................. 33 JUST AND VIOLENT READING ................................................................................... 34 POLYPHONIC TEXTS ............................................................................................... 35 CHAPTER 3 HABERMAS’S AND MOUFFE’S FOUNDATIONS ................ 41 HABERMAS: RATIONAL RECONSTRUCTION ................................................................. 42 MOUFFE: RETRODUCTION ..................................................................................... 52 BEYOND FACTS AND NORMS: PERSPECTIVES ON NORMATIVITY ....................................... 57 CONCLUDING REMARKS ......................................................................................... 63 CHAPTER 4 HABERMAS ON DEMOCRACY ..................................... 67 DELIBERATIVE DEMOCRACY – INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ............................................... 69 POLITICS AS DELIBERATION ..................................................................................... 73 OPENING DELIBERATION ........................................................................................ 76 CLOSING DELIBERATION ......................................................................................... 79 CONSENSUS ........................................................................................................ 90 CONFLICT AND DIFFERENCE .................................................................................... 95 CONCLUDING REMARKS ....................................................................................... 101 CHAPTER 5 MOUFFE ON DEMOCRACY ...................................... 107 AGONISTIC DEMOCRACY – INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ................................................ 109 PLURALISM AND ITS LIMITS ................................................................................... 119 POLITICS AND THE POLITICAL ................................................................................ 124 AGONISM AND ANTAGONISM ............................................................................... 127 PASSIONS ......................................................................................................... 137 COMMONALITY AND SOCIAL COHESION ................................................................... 140 CONCLUDING REMARKS ....................................................................................... 145 CHAPTER 6 THE SUBJECT AND ITS OTHER .................................
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