And, now for something completely different…
…Well, at least someone who disagrees with some of Arendt’s main points – Chantal Mouffe.
Our discussions around Arendt’s political writings, as thought provoking in informative as they are, often left some attendees wondering what options we have for political structures in this brave new modern capitalist world. Perhaps Mouffe can provide an approach for those left wondering, “What now?”
Chantal Mouffe is a political thinker who has been critical of many political thinkers including Marx, Rawls, Habermas, and Butler. In ‘Deliberative Democracy or Agonistic Pluralism”, Mouffe argues that antagonism is inextricable from democracy, and that “a model of democracy in terms of ‘agonistic pluralism’ can help us to better envisage the main challenge facing democratic politics today: how to create democratic forms of identifications that will contribute to mobilize passions towards democratic designs.”
To discuss antagonism as an inextricable element of democracy, please read “Deliberative Democracy or Agonistic Pluralism” for the next CTC discussion Monday, April 10th.
Reading is available here.
Extra Reading: An interview with Mouffe after recent western elections
An Agonistic Model of Democracy – Mouffe v. Arendt
Monday April 10 6-8 pm
6th Floor North Study Room
Critical Theory Chicago 