laclau- socialism, the people, democracy the transformation of hegemonic logic

8/12/2019 Laclau- Socialism, The People, Democracy the Transformation of Hegemonic Logic

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"Socialism," the "People," "Democracy": The Transformation of Hegemonic LogicAuthor(s): Ernesto LaclauSource: Social Text, No. 7 (Spring - Summer, 1983), pp. 115-119Published by: Duke University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/466458.

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Socialism, he People, Democracy :TheTransformationfHegemonic ogicWhat oes transitiono ocialism' ignifynWesternuropen he ast ecades f he20th entury?hequestionwish oraise oesnot oncernhe hances f uch transitioncomingopass,butratherheverymeaningr sensethat hould e ascribedosuchquestion. t he ime fmarxism'slassic ebates fromhe iscussionnrevisionismothe reat ivisionf heworkers' ovementhich ollowedpon heRussian evolutionat east ertainointseemed aken or rantedy llparticipants:hatapitalismoundtshistoricalegationn theworkinglass,which yabolishingheprivate wnershipf themeans fproductionould aythegroundworkor superiorocialorganization.his

would ethe reludeofull umaniberation,hich ould eaccomplishednder ommu-nism. nspite fall the ossible ifferencesfopinionhatxisted etween ernsteinndKautsky,enin ndPlekhanov,uratindBordiga,hese ifferencesere omprehensibleonlywithinhe rameworkf fundamentalgreementegarding,irst,he ltimateirec-tion f apitalistociety's istorical ovement;econd,he istoricalubject theworkingclass- whichwouldaccomplishhetransitiono socialism; ndthird,heunityndcomplementaryharacterfthe iverseontentsf ocialism,nasmuchs the atters thefinal ointnhumanrehistorynd he tartingoint orhe uildingf societyhat ouldmake ll sources f alienationisappear.Today,however,ixty earsfterheRussian evolution,hirtyearsfterhe hineseRevolution,nd fteraving one hroughuch xperiencessStalinism,he equels othecommunistriumphsn Vietnam ndCambodia, nd the nvasion fAfghanistan,hatframeworkf sharedmeanings as turnednto terrainfdangerousolysemics. hequestion whichocialism? returnsith new orce nd newdimension.hetimespastwhen twaspossible odefendna convincing ay he deaof dialectic f socialiststate,whichwould arrywithintselfhe eedsof tsowndestruction,rthe dea ofthefragmentingfobjectivesnd tages,whichwould indheiruturenityn reconciliationof contrariesromwhich ll contradictionsouldbe eliminated.ombinedndunequaldevelopmentas odeeply enetratedhe onstructionf ocialismn ll ts spectsswellas the trugglesor ocialism,hat he o-called aradigmaticstages ofunequalombina-tionhave ost ll meaning. owever,hemeaningndunityfthe ransitionrocess osocialismrenot alled nto uestionolely y ur ost llusionsndby hewarpedmirrorfwhat s called actually xistingocialism,which resumablyeflectsack ousthemageofsocialisms proposed yclassicalmarxism.urmodels' hortcomingslso reflectsubstantialet fpositive henomena:he evolt f he hirdWorld eoples nd he uddenappearancenadvancedapitalistountriesfnew ocial ndpoliticalubjects ave ddednewdimensionsnd a newpotentialo the nti-capitalisttruggle. lthoughiscourseconcerningocialismppearsodayobedefinedy deconstructiveovement,he attersonly he reludeo econd tage freconstruction,hich houldllowus tocomeupwithnew trategynd new onceptionf ocialismhatwill riticallybsorb he xperiencefthe econd alf f he 0th enturyndwill bandonor ood heingeringtale lavorf neconomistnd essentialistonceptionfhistory.

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116 LaclauI would iketoplay part n this rocess f reformulationith hefollowinghreepropositions:(1) Thehistoryfmarxisman bepresenteds a growingivorce etweenwoperspec-tives: nessentialisterspective,hich educesifferenceo dentity;nd second erspec-tivegroundednthenecessity, hich istoryndpolitics ave mposed,facceptingheirreducibleatureonstitutivef difference.he first ositionedtodifferentorms feconomism;he econd ed to thedissolutionf thebase/superstructureistinction,oaconceptfpoliticssarticulation,nd o hencreasingentralityf he onceptfhegemo-ny.(2) The rreducibleaturefdifferencesposed nside f ocial gents,nd hey o nothaveanessentialdentityonstitutedround rivilegednterestsndpositionsitherfaclassnature r ofanyother ind;ratherhey aveonly precariousdentity,hich sdependentponhegemonicrticulationruponpower elationsxistingnsociety. hat

implies, oo,thatwe must eject he priori eterminationfa privilegedgent or hetransitiono socialism.(3) Socialism,ccordingly,as no other ontentrunityhan hatwithwhich heveryprocessfhegemoniconstructionndowst.Whenssentialismith especto ubjectndprocess isappear,o toovanisheshe erydea hatocialism's ontentsnjoy n essentialunity.o it s false oassume hat he bolitionftheprivatewnershipf themeans fproductionolds hepromiseftotal umaniberation.n fact he attersdependentponthe onstructionfa historicalubjectwhose dentityannot egroundednanykind fproductivistetaphysics.FIRSTPROPOSITION

From he ery eginningfmarxism'sransformationnto systematicoctrine andhere amreferringo the econd nternationalndtoKautskyndPlekhanov's orksocialisttrategyonfrontedcrucial roblem:owtodealwith uestionsfdifference,howtoacton historicalerrain here hatwhichwasradicallytherwith espectothestartingoint idnotyield oeffortstassimilation.owcan thenationaluestion,heproblemoncerningntellectuals,ndthehistoricalhallengeepresentedythepeasantquestion e reduced o a commondentity,o determinateontentsrom purelylassperspective?rom he nd f he19thenturyn, hemultiplicationfdifferencesrreduci-bleto simpleogic f lasswasposed n ermsf growingomplexityf he ocialfield,which esistedll effortsowards reductivedentification.n the irsttages fthe ebateonrevisionismntonioabriola sserted:. . . Actually, nderlyinghe lamorfdebateis a serious nd ubstantialroblem.heardent,urning,ndrash xpectationsf severalyears go- expectationsooprecisendetail nd olor arenow unningpagainsthemorentricateesistancesf economic elationsndthemore omplexmachineryfthepoliticalworld. ' These intricateesistances illonlymultiplyn the ater hases fsocialisttruggle.eninwasdestined operceiveheproblemromnopposing,houghcomplementary,ngle:whereas,ccordingo classical conomism,hereouldnotbeanyresistancesn erms f nessentialistogic f tages,he verdeterminationharacteristicf

I Antonio abriola, Polemiche ulsocialismo, nScrittifilosoficipolitici, d. Franco barberiTurin:Einaudi,1973), I, 918.



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TransformationfHegemonic ogic 117themperialistraofferednprecedentedoliticalistas.Gramsci,n the ontrary,raspedthe trengthndstabilityfthe ystemfresistances,ftraditions,ndofcomplexities,which tthe evelofcivilsocietyharacterizedapitalistocial formations.et the woperspectivesrerigorouslyomplementary:eitheravorableircumstancesor ources fresistanceanbe fullyxplainedyclass ogic.All of which onfrontss with clear-cutlternative.acedwith growingocialcomplexityndwith heexpansion f the field fdifferences,e havetwopossiblesolutions:itherodeny hemutrightnd oreducehemoa real dentity,r orecognizetheirundamentallyrreducibleaturend ounderstandoliticaltruggles the rocessftheirifferentialrticulation.hefirstrocedures characteristicf onventionaleduction-ism nd s groundedn a rigid eparationfbase andsuperstructures.ne level fsocialrealityexpresses r represents realityhats constitutedta differentevel.Socialclasses constitutedtthe evel fproductiveelations speak throughormsf thestate, ormsfpoliticaltruggle,nd ormsf onsciousness.here sone evel twhich hereal sconstitutednd notherherehe eryame eal xpressesrhidestself.Withinhistheoreticalontextwo rgumentsnableus to brushsidethe nsurmountablepacityfdifferencesnd o reduceocietyothe autologicalransparencef logic f dentity.hefirst, hich ecan allthe ppearancergument,resentsuperstructuress somanyormsgeneratedya social ogicthat eceives onfirmationromnotheruarter.hesecond,whichwe will call thecontingencyrgument,onsistsnrecognizinghe pecificityfdifferencehile tthe ame imessigningt secondaryphemeralharacterhich llowsus to ignoret. (ThusKautsky,or xample, onsideredhat hemiddle lassesand thepeasantry ere ondemnedodisappear ythe ogicofcapitalistevelopmentndthat,consequently,heworkinglasscould corn hemnthe ormulationfany nti-capitaliststrategy.)acedwith his eductionisterspective,he lternativeonsistsn he ull ccep-tance fdifferencess constitutivefthe ocialfield nd ntheunderstandingfpoliticalstruggles practices hich rticulatehose ifferences.f,for xample, ationaldentitysnot henecessaryuperstructuref determinateocial lass, he act hatt urnsptied ocertain,pecificocial ectors nd not o othersn the esult fpoliticaltrugglendofapoliticalonstruction.Thiskind f articulation whichscompatible ith he ecognitionfdifferencendwhich onstructshe cceptabilityf ertain iscoursesnthe asis f he econstructionfother iscourses iswhatwe call a hegemonicrticulation.t s not coincidencehat heconceptfhegemony ade ts uddenppearancenthemarxistraditiont thosemomentswhen conomism'sogic f dentityncounteredts imits:nLeninism,nasmuchs itwasanattemptodepict heworkinglassnot s themere ehicle f ts wn nterestsut s apower rticulatinglarge opularerrain;nd nGramsci,nso far s herecognizedhespecificesistanceshich heLeninistvant-gardeameup againstn themost evelopedcapitalistountries,nd nasmuchs herecognizeds well he ast rocessfrearticulationof themasses' ommonense,whichwas concomitantith he oming f fascism.SECOND PROPOSITION

Classicalmarxism asgroundednthe ostulatef unitaryubjectf he ransitionosocialism. hisclass,ofcourse,was theworkinglass united roundpecificnterests.What s more, herewas a fundamentalapbetween he errain herets nterests ereconstituted productiveelations andthat ther errain here hese nterestsere



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118 Laclaurepresentedpoliticsnd deology. nthe ther and, he otionf lass nterestasonlya newvariantf homo economicus,ehind hich esurfacedll the dealistssentialismthatmodem hilosophyasusing oposethe roblemfthe ubject. nthe ontrary,urproblemodays how o constructheunityfthe ocialistubjectncewehave dmittedthatt omprehendsvarietyfpositionsnd annotereducedo he ocial gent's ositioninproductiveelations. orexample,whatkind fcorrelations there etween whiteworker'sositionn onflictshat ake lace nthe hop loorndhispositionn xperiencesofracial iolencentheneighborhoodhere e ives?Doestherexist necessaryelationbetween nionmilitancynd he trugglegainstacism?ontemporaryxperience fromthat f SouthAfricannions o that fGeorgesMarchaisnd hisbulldozers clearlydemonstrateshat uch correlations problematictbest.Theconclusionhatmust edrawns thathe eryrticulationf he ubject's iverse ositionss the esultf struggleforhegemony,nd that, onsequently,egemonys theveryprocess f constructingpoliticallyhemasses' ubjectivityndnot he racticef pre-constitutedubject. ere swhere ur xperienceas eadusfurthestfield romlassicalmarxism;orhe attertwastaken or rantedhat here as an exact it etweenhysicallyndividuatedgentsnd heunitarytructuref heirositions.Inpassingtmay e said hat alse onsciousnessidnotimplyhe ossibilityf ontradictoryositions:he ole ontradictionllowed or rose romthe ubject's onrecognitionfhisorher interests ressentialositionnddidnot risefrom he cceptancefa contradictoryifferenceetweennesubject's wopositions.)Today, he undamentalroblemsthe onstitutionftheunityfthe ubjectfhistoricalchangenthe asis fdifferent,ven ontradictory,ositionshat representnone nd hesame ndividual. hecleavage fthe ubjects the errainndstartingoint or oliticalaction: egemonysnothingther han he ttempt bydefinitionncompletendopen-ended toperformnimpossibleuture.Thestartingoint,hen,must ethe dentificationfpositions ithwhich egemonyconstructsdifferentialystemfrelations. ewill allany osition hichsthe eat f nantagonismhe emocraticosition,hats,thatositionnwhichubjectivitysconstructedthroughhecontradictorylayofpower nd resistanceopower.We will then all thepopularposition hatpositionwhich,beginning ith he constructionf a systemfequivalencesetween emocraticositions,ivides ocietynto wo ntagonisticerrains.This ast s theevel fhegemonicractices,hichupposes ccordinglyhe onstructionfa complex ubject s agent f historicalhange.The emergencef the people -understoods the lebs themasses) ndnot s the opulusthenation) as historicalprotagonistas the reatransformationfpolitics ccomplishedy he ourgeoisevolu-tions.nsofars itbegan othreatenhe oundationsfbourgeoisowerhis ew actor asthe argetfbourgeoisttemptstdeconstruction.israeli's ocialpolitics,he onservativePrussianevolution,iolitti's monarchistocialism onstitutedransformism's2ariedattemptstdeconstructingopularquivalencesnd t ettingp politicalystemased nthe ifferentialbsorptionfdemocraticositions.lassicalmarxismonfrontedhe rob-

2Aterm erived romtalian olitical ocabulary.uintin oarewrites:Thisterm as usedfromhe 880sonwardso describe heprocesswherebyhe o-calledhistoric'eft ndRight arties hichmergedrom heRisorgimentoendendedo onvergen ermsfprogrammeuringhe earswhichollowed,ntilhereeased obeany ubstantiveifferenceetweenhem. ee Antonio ramsci,electionsromhe risonNotebooks,d.andtrans.QuintinHoareandGeoffreyowellSmithNew York: nternationalublishers,971),p. 58n.[TranslatedyRoddeyReid]



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TransformationfHegemonicogic 119lemfrom n economisterspective:apitalist evelopmentasunderstoodobe leadingtowardshencreasingroletarianizationf hemiddle lasses ndpeasantry,nsuch waythat ythe ndof thisprocess he onfrontationetweenpeople and power wouldcoincidewith heonebetween heproletariatnd thebourgeoisie.t is atthismoment,however,hat he hortcomingsf conomismnd lassreductionismrerevealed or lltosee. All ofcontemporaryxperience the ise f fascismonstitutinghemost otoriousexample has clearly hown, irst,hat lass positions njoyno essential entrality;second, hat t s possible oisolate he attern a corporatistashion;nd,third,hat heconstructionf nanti-capitalistopular ositionroundheworkinglass,far romeingthe onsequencef some nfrastructure,s theresult fa complex oliticalonstruction,which,moreover,s fairlyxceptionalnthehighlyndustralizedountries.Letusexaminehe aradox hichocialisttruggleonfrontss withn he ountriesfadvancedapitalism.n the nehand, he otentialornti-capitalisttrugglesgreaterhanever.Newpoliticalubjectsthe eministnd cologymovements,acialminorities,ation-alist nd exual roups, trugglesithinnstitutions)ave risennthe oliticalerrainndhave ccupied mass fdemocraticositionsnfinitelyore iversehan hose xistingtthe eginningfthe enturyreven n the ve ofthe econdworldwar.Yet,on the therhand, o ink hese ositionsogether thats, to transformhem nto opular ositionstowards hegoal of constituting people - is moredifficulthan ver.Anynewhegemony ust eginwith hisfundamentalact nd must onstructorms fpopularequivalences hich xclude ll authoritariannification.heseformsmust ecompatible,then,with hepluralityndautonomyfsocialmovements.hismeans hat he partycannot e the nlyform fstrugglend the nly ormfsocialist rganization.THIRDPROPOSITIONIn thisighthe roblemf he ransitiono ocialismeems ut fplace. t s no ongerquestionfworkinguta range fpossibilitiesn thebasis ofa pre-constitutedubjectwhichwouldnaturallyndspontaneouslyend oaccomplishertainocialist bjectives.But ince heresno onger pre-constitutedubject,he nityf ocialism's ontentsannotbeguaranteedy nynecessary ovementithinhe nfrastructure.n other ords,heresnoeschatologyhich ssures sthat, eyond process fpoliticalonstructionhichs,strictlypeaking,creation, istorysworkingtsway o happy nding. heconstructionof he oliticalubjectnd he onstructionf he nityf he ontentsf ocialism,hen,retwodifferentays odesignatehe ameprocess.Gramsci's otionfthewarofpositioncan thus emonstratell itsrich mplications. hy mplications?ecausethat oncept'spossible evelopmentsnd xtensions erenot lear o Gramsci imself.fcivil ociety'sresistances annot efrontallyttacked,hismeans heyannot edestroyedut atherdismantled,econstructed.heres no deconstructionithouthe reationfnew rticula-tions. olitical ractices articulationndhegemonyhusmplytonce more emocraticvision f ocialismnd he efensef new adicalism.he atter,ydenyinghe xistenceofprivilegedointsf ttackrom hich ne an ssure continuoushain f ffectseadingnecessarilyo socialism, resentss theuniqueguarantorf socialismhe xtension fpoliticaltruggleothe ntiretyf civil ociety. EmrnestoaclauTranslatedy RoddeyReid


laclau- socialism, the people, democracy the transformation of hegemonic logic

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