Laclau, Ernesto

(1935– )

   Noted for his work with Chantal Mouffe in formulating a “post-Marxism,” Ernesto Laclau has been a leading figure in attempts to revise Marxism in the light of contemporary conditions and to integrate new theoretical insights into Marxist thought. Laclau was born and educated in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and worked in various Argentinean universities before moving to Great Britain and lecturing at Essex University. His key works include Hegemony and Socialist Strategy: Towards a radical democratic politics (1985, with Chantal Mouffe), Post-Marxism without apologies (New Left Review, 166, 1987), and The Making of Political Identities (1994). He made the distinction between “Post- Marxism” and “Post-Marxism.” The former, according to Laclau, refers to viewpoints of ex-Marxists who have rejected Marxism, and the latter to approaches by Marxists who seek to reexamine all aspects of Marxism, rejecting those aspects no longer relevant or valid and incorporating new theoretical developments into the Marxist framework.

   Laclau sees Marxism as in crisis and in danger of ossifying, with “evident truths” of classical Marxism, such as notions of a universal class and historical inevitability, called into question, and change or revision an imperative. The kind of change to Marxism Laclau envisages involves going beyond Marxism, via Antonio Gramsci’s notion of hegemony to a new form of socialist politics based on “radical democracy.” The key elements of radical democracy are indeterminacy and pluralism: an approach that embraces diversity, encourages and celebrates the actions and protests of the range of new social movements (feminism, environmentalism, anti-racism, etc.), and that seeks to deepen and expand liberal democracy rather than reject it. Mainstream Marxists have criticized Laclau for demolishing rather than deconstructing Marxism, and see his perspective as ex- rather than neo-Marxist.