I don't read much political theory, but am very interested in Chantal Mouffe so recently bought this. Just started reading it last night and great to find that someone has properly theorised some issues where I've had my own half-baked thoughts. This stuff should be compulsory reading for those anaesthetised by the "we're all on the same side, all interests align" guff that is everywhere in ESG land.
"[P]olitical questions are not mere technical issues to be solved by experts. Proper political questions always involve decisions that require making choices between conflicting alternatives. This is something that cannot be grasped by the dominant tendency in liberal thought, which is characterised by a rationalist and individualist approach. This is why liberalism is unable to adequately envisage the pluralistic nature of the social world, with the conflicts that pluralism entails. These are conflicts for which no rational solution could ever exist, hence the dimension of antagonism that characterises human societies."
And...
"A well-functioning democracy calls for a confrontation of democratic political positions. If this is missing, there is always the danger that this democratic confrontation will be replaced by a confrontation between non-negotiable moral values or essentialist forms of identifications. Too much emphasis on consensus, together with an aversion towards confrontations, leads to apathy and to a disaffection with political participation. This is why a liberal democracy requires a debate about possible alternatives. It must provide forms of identifications around clearly differentiated political positions."
PS The band.
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