Chantal Mouffe: The Intellectual Activist
After an introduction to the theoretical aspects of agonistics, Mouffe delved into concrete examples. She expressed concern for the type of anti-institutional strategies that the indignados in Spain and the various forms of Occupy have adopted:
They share a total rejection of representative democracy. Moreover, they also believe in the possibility for social movement on their own. To bring about a new type of society where a so-called real democracy could exist without need for the state or any form of political institution. Well, I'm afraid that without any institutional relay, they will not be able to bring about any significant changes in the structure of power.Instead of the "power to the people" interpretation, she argues that the recent protests instead reflect a crisis of representation, a consequence of the consensus at the center that has come to dominate politics in most liberal democractic societies.
Watch the lecture in full below.