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Ernesto Laclau

Bio: Ernesto Laclau is an academic researcher from University of Essex. The author has contributed to research in topics: Hegemony & Ideology. The author has an hindex of 34, co-authored 68 publications receiving 22047 citations.


Papers
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Book
01 Apr 1985
TL;DR: The authors traces the genealogy of the present crisis in left-wing thought, from stifling of democracy under Marxist-Lenninism and Stalinism to the contemporary emergence of new forms of struggle and reexamines the idea of hegemony, from the formation of the idea in the writings of Lenin and Gramsci, to the expanded and discursive ideas of Foucault to posit a claim for the new possibilities of a radical democracy.
Abstract: This book traces the genealogy of the present crisis in left-wing thought, from stifling of democracy under Marxist-Lenninism and Stalinism to the contemporary emergence of new forms of struggle; and reexamines the idea of hegemony, from the formation of the idea in the writings of Lenin and Gramsci, to the expanded and discursive ideas of Foucault to posit a claim for the new possibilities of a radical democracy. This is a text for both the understanding of hegemony and for focusing on present social struggles and their significance for democratic theory.

4,968 citations

Book
01 Jan 2005
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a critical reading of the existing literature on populism, demonstrating its dependency on the basic categories elaborated by theorists of "mass psychology", from Taine and Le Bon to Tarde, McDougall and Freud.
Abstract: In this new and highly original work Ernesto Laclau continues the philosophical and political exploration initiated in Hegemony and Socialist Strategy, New Reflections on the Revolution of Our Time and Emancipation(s). his topic here is the construction of popular identities, conceived in a wide sense covering the ensemble of strategies making possible the emergence of the 'people' as a collective actor. The book skilfully combines theoretical analysis with a myriad of empirical references from numerous historical and geographical contexts. The first part presents a critical reading of the existing literature on populism, demonstrating its dependency on the basic categories elaborated by theorists of 'mass psychology', from Taine and Le Bon to Tarde, McDougall and Freud. The second part forms the main theoretical core of the work, where the question of the emergence of the 'people' as a political and social force is treated. Several categories already present in Laclau's work - such as empty and floating signifiers, hegemony and heterogeneity - are developed here in new and innovative directions. In particular, the relation of populism to democracy and to the logic of representation is given special emphasis. The third part is devoted to particular case studies of both the conditions leading to the emergence of the 'people' and the obstacles preventing its formation. Finally, in a concluding chapter, Laclau locates the question of popular identities within the context of a globalized world and differentiates his approach from those of other theoreticians such as Zizek, Hardt and Negri and Ranciere. This book is essential reading for all those interested in the question of political identities in present-day societies.

2,393 citations

Book
01 Jan 1985

2,275 citations

Book
01 Jan 1990
TL;DR: New Reflections on the Revolution of Our Time as discussed by the authors continues the innovative exploration of major issues concerning democracy and socialism which was staked out in Hegemony and Socialist Strategy, examining the meanings of social struggle in the context of late capitalism, Laclau situates the re-making of political identities within a framework of democratic revolution.
Abstract: New Reflections on the Revolution of Our Time continues the innovative exploration of major issues concerning democracy and socialism which was staked out in Hegemony and Socialist Strategy. Examining the meanings of social struggle in the context of late capitalism, Laclau situates the re-making of political identities within a framework of democratic revolution. The critical method is one which describes major structural changes in the contemporary world-system at the same time as it theorizes a coherent and radical interpretative form. This marriage of politics and theory allows the book to embrace topics ranging from the relationship between Marxism and psychoanalysis to the historical significance of May 1968 and forms of political struggle in the third world. In a final section of illuminating interviews the author expounds his most recent thought on politics and philosophy.

1,607 citations


Cited by
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Book ChapterDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a four-volume set brings together seminal articles on the subject from varied sources, creating an invaluable roadmap for scholars seeking to consolidate their knowledge of CDA, and of its continued development.
Abstract: Since the late 1980s, Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) has become a well-established field in the social sciences. However, in contrast with some branches of linguistics, CDA is not a discrete academic discipline in the traditional sense, with a fixed set of research methods. The manifold roots of CDA lie in a myriad of disciplines including rhetoric, anthropology, philosophy and cognitive science, to name a few. This four-volume set brings together seminal articles on the subject from varied sources, creating an invaluable roadmap for scholars seeking to consolidate their knowledge of CDA, and of its continued development. Sculpted and edited by a leading voice in the field, this work covers the interdisciplinary roots, the most important approaches and methodologies of CDA, as well as applications in other disciplines in an updated and comprehensive way. Structured thematically, the four volumes cover a wide range of aspects and considerations: Volume One: Histories, Concepts and Interdisciplinarity Volume Two: Theoretical Approaches and Methodologies Volume Three: 'Doing CDA' - Case Studies Volume Four: Applications and Perspectives - New Trends in CDA

4,972 citations

01 Jan 2011
TL;DR: To understand the central claims of evolutionary psychology the authors require an understanding of some key concepts in evolutionary biology, cognitive psychology, philosophy of science and philosophy of mind.
Abstract: Evolutionary psychology is one of many biologically informed approaches to the study of human behavior. Along with cognitive psychologists, evolutionary psychologists propose that much, if not all, of our behavior can be explained by appeal to internal psychological mechanisms. What distinguishes evolutionary psychologists from many cognitive psychologists is the proposal that the relevant internal mechanisms are adaptations—products of natural selection—that helped our ancestors get around the world, survive and reproduce. To understand the central claims of evolutionary psychology we require an understanding of some key concepts in evolutionary biology, cognitive psychology, philosophy of science and philosophy of mind. Philosophers are interested in evolutionary psychology for a number of reasons. For philosophers of science —mostly philosophers of biology—evolutionary psychology provides a critical target. There is a broad consensus among philosophers of science that evolutionary psychology is a deeply flawed enterprise. For philosophers of mind and cognitive science evolutionary psychology has been a source of empirical hypotheses about cognitive architecture and specific components of that architecture. Philosophers of mind are also critical of evolutionary psychology but their criticisms are not as all-encompassing as those presented by philosophers of biology. Evolutionary psychology is also invoked by philosophers interested in moral psychology both as a source of empirical hypotheses and as a critical target.

4,670 citations

Book
18 Aug 2002
TL;DR: Discourse Analysis as Theory and Method as discussed by the authors is a systematic introduction to discourse analysis as a body of theories and methods for social research, which brings together three central approaches, Laclau and Mouffe's discourse theory, critical discourse analysis and discursive psychology, to establish a dialogue between different forms of discourse analysis often kept apart by disciplinary boundaries.
Abstract: Discourse Analysis as Theory and Method is a systematic introduction to discourse analysis as a body of theories and methods for social research. It brings together three central approaches, Laclau and Mouffe's discourse theory, critical discourse analysis and discursive psychology, in order to establish a dialogue between different forms of discourse analysis often kept apart by disciplinary boundaries. The book introduces the three approaches in a clear and easily comprehensible manner, explaining the distinctive philosophical premises and theoretical perspectives of each approach as well as the methodological guidelines and tools they provide for empirical discourse analysis. The authors also demonstrate the possibilities for combining different discourse analytical and non-discourse analytical approaches in empirical study. Finally, they contextualize discourse analysis within the social constructionist debate about critical social research, rejecting the view that a critical stance is incompatible with social constructionist premises and arguing that critique must be an inherent part of social research.

3,598 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Collective identity has been treated as an alternative to structurally given interests in accounting for the claims on behalf of which people mobilize, an alternative alternative to selective incentives in understanding why people participate, a alternative to instrumental rationality in explaining what tactical choices activists make, and a complementary alternative to institutional reforms in assessing movements' impacts.
Abstract: ■ Abstract Sociologists have turned to collective identity to fill gaps in resource mobilization and political process accounts of the emergence, trajectories, and impacts of social movements. Collective identity has been treated as an alternative to structurally given interests in accounting for the claims on behalf of which people mobilize, an alternative to selective incentives in understanding why people participate, an alternative to instrumental rationality in explaining what tactical choices activists make, and an alternative to institutional reforms in assessing movements’ impacts. Collective identity has been treated both too broadly and too narrowly, sometimes applied to too many dynamics, at other times made into a residual category within structuralist, state-centered, and rationalist accounts.

2,185 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors provide a survey of critical discourse analysis (CDA), a recent school of discourse analysis that concerns itself with relations of power and inequality in language and advocates social commitment and interventionism in research.
Abstract: ▪ Abstract This paper provides a survey of critical discourse analysis (CDA), a recent school of discourse analysis that concerns itself with relations of power and inequality in language. CDA explicitly intends to incorporate social-theoretical insights into discourse analysis and advocates social commitment and interventionism in research. The main programmatic features and domains of enquiry of CDA are discussed, with emphasis on attempts toward theory formation by one of CDA's most prominent scholars, Norman Fairclough. Another section reviews the genesis and disciplinary growth of CDA, mentions some of the recent critical reactions to it, and situates it within the wider picture of a new critical paradigm developing in a number of language-oriented (sub) disciplines. In this critical paradigm, topics such as ideology, inequality, and power figure prominently, and many scholars productively attempt to incorporate social-theoretical insights into the study of language.

2,048 citations