From Class Paradox to Discursive Gap: Reviewing the Classic Marxist from Laclau and Mouffe Post-marxist View
Subject Areas : Research in Theoritical Politics
1 - Ferdosi University
2 -
Keywords: Economic determinism Class Discourse Articulation Social class gap Discoursive gap Radical democracy,
Abstract :
Any school of thought throughout its history undergoes many changes and fluctuations. The complexity of the recent modern capitalist societies made the new Marxists to revive the opponents’ position of capitalist system. Laclau and Mouffe are among post-Marxists who are engaged in this attempt. Their criticism of the classical Marxism is due to its dogmatic features and its one-sided and biased analyses. By proposing the concepts of discourse, articulation, mobile identities, hegemony and discursive gaps and conflicts, Laclau and Mouffe try to compensate for the one-sidedness of Classical Marxism which summarizes in economic determinism, class identities, class struggles, and social class gap. These changes are made to increase the effectiveness of Marxism in their analysis of recent modern and complex capitalist societies. The aim of this article is to survey the process of change of Classical Marxist thoughts to Laclau and Mouffe’s post-Marxism. Firstly, there will be a discussion about decentralization of the society following the Post-Marxist perspective, which substitutes the economic determinism in the formation of social order, and secondly, the study points to the idea of antagonism which is a shared concept in both Marxism and Post-Marxism views. The Classical Marxism viewed politics as the class conflict which is lost in the ultimate Communism of class conflict that resulted in a classless society. However, Laclau and Mouffe’s post-marxism points to the endless political conflict and considers it as an everlasting element of the society, and it deems the radical democratic policy as an element that preserves such a conflict.