Carl Schmitt's thought serves as a warning against the dangers of complacency entailed by triumphant liberalism. His conception of politics is a sharp challenge to those who believe that there is a third way between the left and right and that the increasing moralization of political discourse constitutes a great advance for democracy. Schmitt reminds us forcefully that the essence of politics is struggle and that the distinction between friend and enemy cannot be abolished.

Contributions: Gregoris Ananiadis, Agostino Carrino, Catherine Colliot-Thélène, Jorge Dotti, David Dyzenhaus, Paul Hirst, Jean-François Kervégan, Chantal Mouffe, Ulrich Preuss, Slavoj Zizek and an important essay by Carl Schmitt available in English for the first time.

Chantal Mouffe is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Study of Democracy at the University of Westminister. She is author of, among other works, The Return of the Political, Hegemony and Socialist Strategy (with Ernesto Laclau), Dimensions of Radical Democracy, Gramsci and Marxist Theory, Deconstruction and Pragmatism, and The Democratic Paradox.

Praise for Dimensions of Radical Democracy:

“A wide-ranging, inspired and yet prudent collection of essays.” — Feminist Review

 

 

 
Publication
May 1999

Phronesis Series

256 pages
Paper
1 85984 244 5
US$20 / £15 / CAN$28
Cloth
1 85984 704 8
US$60 / £40 / CAN$85