Ernesto Laclau

Ernesto Laclau (6 October 1935, Buenos Aires, Argentina – 13 April 2014, Seville, Spain) was an Argentine political theorist and philosopher. He is well known for his collaborations with his long-term partner, Chantal Mouffe.

He studied History in Buenos Aires, graduating from the University of Buenos Aires in 1964, and received a PhD from the University of Essex in 1977. From 1986 he served as Professor of Political Theory in the Department of Government, University of Essex, where he founded and directed for many years the graduate programme in Ideology and Discourse Analysis, as well as the Centre for Theoretical Studies in the Humanities and the Social Sciences. He was also Distinguished Professor for Humanities and Rhetorical Studies at Northwestern University.

Publications

Books

• co-author, Modos de producción en América Latina, Córdoba: Pasado y Presente, 1973, 242 pp. (Spanish)

• with Rodolfo Stavenhagen and Ruy Mauro Marini, Tres ensayos sobre América Latina, Barcelona: Anagrama, 1973, 135 pp; 2nd ed., 1980, 135 pp. (Spanish)

• Crítica sobre el origen y naturaleza social de Latinoamérica, Buenos Aires: Cuervo, 1977, 49 pp. (Spanish)

• Politics and Ideology in Marxist Theory: Capitalism, Fascism, Populism, London: New Left Books, 1977, 203 pp; Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities Press, 1977, 203 pp; repr., London: Verso, 2012, 208 pp. Analysis of the role of ideology in political movements. Publisher. Review: Boris (Am Pol Sci Rev). (English)
  • Política e ideología en la teoría marxista: capitalismo, fascismo, populismo, Madrid: Siglo XXI, 1978, 233 pp. Excerpt. Publisher. Review: De Ípola (Rev Mex Soc). (Spanish)
  • Política e ideologia na teoria marxista: capitalismo, fascismo e populismo, trans. João Maia and Lucia Klein, Rio de Janeiro: Paz e Terra, 1978, 204 pp. (Brazilian Portuguese)
  • Politik und Ideologie im Marxismus. Kapitalismus, Faschismus, Populismus, trans. Gudrun Schmahl and Eckhard Volker, Berlin: Argument, 1981, 208 pp. (German)
  • Politikē kai ideologia stē marxistikē theōria: kapitalismos, phasismos, laikismos [Πολιτική και ιδεολογία στη μαρξιστική θεωρία: Καπιταλισμός, λαϊκισμός, φασισμός], trans. Grigoris Ananiadis (Γρηγόρης Ανανιάδης), Thessaloniki: Ekdoseis Synchrona Themata (Εκδόσεις Σύγχρονα Θέματα), 1983, 249 pp. (Greek)
  • İdeoloji ve politika, trans. Hüseyin Sarıca, Istanbul: Belge Yayınları, 1985. (Turkish)
  • Shihon shugi fashizumu popyurizumu: marukusu shugi riron ni okeru seiji to ideorogī [資本主義・ファシズム・ポピュリズム: マルクス主義理論における政治とイデオロギー], trans. Ōsaka Keizai Hōka Daigaku Hōgaku Kenkyūjo, Tokyo: Tsuge Shobō, 1985, 272 pp. (Japanese)
  • Marksist teoride politika ve ideoloji: kapitalizm, faşizm, halkçılık, trans. Faruk Gültekin, ed. Haluk Yurtsever, Istanbul: Doruk Yayınları, 2015, 201 pp. (Turkish)

• with Chantal Mouffe, Hegemony and Socialist Strategy: Towards a Radical Democratic Politics, trans. Winston Moore and Paul Cammack, London: Verso, 1985, 197 pp; 2nd ed., new pref., 2001, HTML; repr., 2013. Examines the workings of hegemony and contemporary social struggles, and their significance for democratic theory. (English)
  • Hegemonía y estrategia socialista, Madrid: Siglo XXI, 1987. (Spanish)
  • Hegemonija in socialistična strategija: k radikalni demokratični politiki, trans. Jelica Šumič-Riha, Ljubljana: Partizanska knjiga, 1987, 157 pp. Review: Kobe (Fil vestnik). (Slovenian)
  • 사회변혁과 헤게모니, trans. Kim Sung-ki, Seoul, 1990, 302 pp. [1] (Korean)
  • Hegemonie und radikale Demokratie. Zur Dekonstruktion des Marxismus, eds., trans. & intro. Michael Hintz and Gerd Vorwallner, Vienna: Passagen, 1991, 282 pp; 2nd ed., rev., 2000, 258 pp. (German)
  • Posuto marukusu shugi to seiji: Kongenteki minshu shugi no tameni [ポスト・マルクス主義と政治――根源的民主主義のために], trans. Kaoru Yamasaki (山崎カヲル) and Takeshi Ishizawa (石澤武), Tokyo: Ōmura (大村), 1992; repr., 2000. (Japanese)
  • Wen hua ba quan he she hui zhu yi de zhan lue [文化霸權和社會主義的戰略], trans. Zhangjin Chen, Taipei: Yuan liu chu ban shi ye gu fen you xian gong si, 1994, viii+285 pp. (Chinese)
  • Demokrati og hegemoni, ed. & trans. Carsten Jensen, Copenhagen: Akademisk Forlag, 1997, 211 pp. Trans. of selected texts from 1977-1990. Review: Corydon (Politica). (Danish)
  • Det radikale demokrati: diskursteoriens politiske perspektiv, trans. Torben Clausen, Frederiksberg: Roskilde Universitetsforlag, 2002, 274 pp. (Danish)
  • Hegemonyah ṿe-asṭraṭegyah sotsiʼalisṭit: li-ḳerat poliṭiḳah demoḳraṭit radiḳalit, trans. ʻIdit Shorer, Tel Aviv: Resling, 2004, 214 pp. (Hebrew)
  • Hegemonin och den socialistiska strategin, trans. Carl-Michael Edenborg, intro. Klas Gustavsson, Göteborg: Glänta, and Stockholm: Vertigo, 2008, 260 pp. (Swedish)
  • Hegemonya ve Sosyalist Strateji. Radikal Demokratik Bir Politikaya Doğru, trans. Ahmet Kardam, Istanbul: İletişim, 2008. [2] (Turkish)
  • Hégémonie et stratégie socialiste: vers une démocratie radicale, trans. Julien Abriel, Besançon: Les Solitaires Intempestifs, 2009, 336 pp; repr. as Hégémonie et stratégie socialiste: vers une radicalisation de la démocratie, Paris: Fayard, 2019, 320 pp. Review: Grannis (Lectures). (French)
  • Egemonia e strategia socialista. Verso una politica democratica radicale, trans. Fortunato Cacciatore and Michele Filippini, Genova: Il Melangolo, 2011, EPUB. (Italian)
  • Minshu shugi no kakumei: hegemonī to posuto marukusu shugi [民主主義の革命――ヘゲモニーとポスト・マルクス主義], trans. Ryo Nishinaga (西永亮) and Makoto Chiba (千葉眞), Tokyo: Chikuma (ちくま学芸文庫), 2012. (Japanese)
  • 헤게모니와 사회주의 전략: 급진 민주주의 정치를 향하여, trans. Lee Seung Won (이승원), Seoul: Humanitas, 2012, 343 pp. (Korean)
  • Hegemonie a socialistická strategie: za radikálně demokratickou politiku, trans. Rudolf Převrátil, Prague: Karolinum, 2014, 234 pp. Excerpt, Excerpt. TOC. Publisher. Review: Metelec (A2). (Czech)

• New Reflections on the Revolution of our Time, London: Verso, 1990, xvi+263 pp. Critical examination of social struggle in the context of late capitalism. Publisher. (English)
  • Nuevas reflexiones sobre la revolución de nuestro tiempo, Buenos Aires: Nueva Visión, 1993, 269 pp; 2nd ed., 2000, 267 pp. (Spanish)
  • Gia tēn epanastasē tēs epochēs mas: koinōnikē exarthrōsē, ēgemonia kai rizospastikē dēmokratia [Για την επανάσταση της εποχής μας. Κοινωνική εξάρθρωση, ηγεμονία και ριζοσπαστική δημοκρατία], trans. Giannēs Staurakakēs (Γιάννης Σταυρακάκης), Athens: Nēsos (Nήσος), 1997, 263 pp. (Greek)
  • Gendai kakumei no arata na kōsatsu [現代革命の新たな考察], trans. Kei Yamamoto, Tokyo: Hōseidaigakushuppankyoku, 2014, 394 pp. (Japanese)

• with Ralph Miliband and Nicos Poulantzas, Debates sobre el estado capitalista, ed. Horacio Tarcus, Buenos Aires: Imago Mundi, 1991, 203 pp. (Spanish)
  • Kapitalist Devlet Sorunu, trans. Yasemin Berkman, Istanbul: İletişim, 1990, 197 pp. [3] (Turkish)

• editor, The Making of Political Identities, London: Verso, 1994, 308 pp. Abstract and applied analysis of post-Cold War political groupings. Publisher. (English)

• Emancipation(s), London: Verso, 1996; repr., 2006, 128 pp. Argues that the changes of the late twentieth century have altered Enlightenment notions of emancipation. Selection of seven essays from 1989-1995. Publisher. (English)
  • Emancipación y diferencia, Buenos Aires: Ariel, 1996, 214 pp. Excerpt. Review: Burbano (Iconos), Schuster (Rev Cien Soc). (Spanish)
  • La guerre des identités: grammaire de l'émancipation, trans. Claude Orsoni, Paris: La Découverte, 2000, 144 pp; repr., 2015. (French)
  • Evrensellik, kimlik ve özgürleşme, trans. Ertuğrul Başer, Istanbul: Birikim, 2000; repr., Istanbul: İletişim, 2015, 189 pp. [4] (Turkish)
  • Emanzipation und Differenz, Vienna: Turia + Kant, 2002, 223 pp; repr., 2010. Excerpt. Review: Schober (H-Soz-Kult). (German)
  • Emancypacje, trans. Leszek Koczanowicz, et al., Wrocław: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Dolnośląskiej Szkoły Wyższej, 2004, 167 pp. (Polish)
  • Emancipacija, emancipacije, trans. Zdenka Erbežnik, afterw. Rado Riha, Ljubljana: Založba ZRC, ZRC SAZU, 2008, 151 pp. Publisher. Review: Brlek-Slaček (Družboslovne razprave). (Slovenian)
  • Emancipação e diferença, eds. Alice Casimiro Lopes and Elizabeth Macedo, Rio de Janeiro: EdUERJ, 2011, 220 pp. (Brazilian Portuguese)
  • Emancipazione/i, trans. Laura Basile, Naples: Orthotes, 2012. (Italian)
  • Emancipace a radikální demokracie, trans. Jan Bíba and Josef Fulka, intro. Jan Bíba, Prague: Karolinum, 2013, 201 pp. TOC. Publisher. Reviews: Lysoňková (Politologický časopis), Vrba (Referendum), Profant (Politica Slovaca), Blažek (CJIR). (Czech)

• with Judith Butler and Slavoj Žižek, Contingency, Hegemony, Universality: Contemporary Dialogues on the Left, London: Verso, 2000, vi+329 pp; repr., 2010. The Hegelian legacy, Left strategy, and post-structuralism versus Lacanian psychoanalysis. Publisher. Reviews: Roberts (Radical Phil), MacCannell (Umbra), Zerilli (Polit Th), Bowman (Cult Machine), Moreiras (South Atlantic Q). WP. (English)
  • Contingencia, hegemonía, universalidad: diálogos contemporáneos en la izquierda, trans. Cristina Sardoy and Graciela Homs, Buenos Aires: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2003, 329 pp. (Spanish)
  • Guhatsusei hegemoni fuhensei: atarashii taiko seiji eno taiwa [偶発性・ヘゲモニー・普遍性: 新しい対抗政治への対話], trans. Kazuko Takemura and Toshikatsu Murayama, Tokyo: Seidosha, 2002, 441 pp; repr., 2019, 453 pp. (Japanese)
  • Ou ran xing, ba quan he pu bian xing: guan yu zuo pai de dang dai dui hua [偶然性, 霸权和普遍性: 关於左派的当代对话], trans. Daping Hu, Nanjing: Jiangsu ren min chu ban she, 2004, 354 pp. (Chinese)
  • Olumsallık, hegemonya, evrensellik: solda güncel diyaloglar, trans. Ahmet Fethi Yıldırım, Istanbul: Hil Yayın, 2009, 363 pp. (Turkish)
  • Dialoghi sulla sinistra: contingenza, egemonia, universalità, ed. & pref. Laura Bazzicalupo, trans. Tristana Dini, et al., Rome/Bari: Laterza, 2010, xxxii+329 pp. (Italian)
  • Kontingenz – Hegemonie – Universalität. Aktuelle Dialoge zur Linken, Vienna: Turia + Kant, 2013. (German)
  • Przygodność, hegemonia, uniwersalność: współczesne debaty na lewicy, trans. Agata Czarnacka, Maciej Kropiwnicki, and Sławomir Królak, Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Krytyki Politycznej, 2014, 328 pp. Publisher. (Polish)
  • Après l'émancipation: trois voix pour penser la gauche, trans. Philippe Sabot, pref. Jean-Claude Monod, Paris: Seuil, 2017, 432 pp. (French)
  • Kontingenca, hegemonija, univerzalnost, trans. Martin Hergouth, Aljoša Kravanja, and Katarina Rotar, Ljubljana: Krtina, 2019, 343 pp. Review: Kuhar (Družboslovne razprave). (Slovenian)

• Misticismo, retórica y política, Buenos Aires: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2002, 127 pp; repr., 2006. Collection of three essays from 1996-1998. Excerpt (first two essays). Publisher. Reviews: Pacheco & Rosales (Redalyc), Cousinet, Ferrari (Athenea). (Spanish)

• On Populist Reason, London: Verso, 2005, xii+276 pp; repr., 2007; repr., 2018, 288 pp. Philosophical and political exploration of the construction of popular identities. Publisher. Reviews: Kraniauskas (Radical Phil), Žižek (Crit Inquiry), Morris (Sociology), Hodgson (Marx & Phil), Marchart (Diacritics), Arditi (Constellations), Beasley-Murray (Contemp Polit Th), Thomassen (New Polit Sci). (English)
  • La razón populista, Buenos Aires: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2005, 312 pp, EPUB. Reviews: Retamozo, Achaval. (Spanish)
  • Popülist akıl üzerine, ed. M. Serdar Kayaoğlu, trans. Nur Betül Çelik, Ankara: Epos, 2007, 279 pp. (Turkish)
  • La raison populiste, trans. Jean-Pierre Ricard, Paris: Seuil, 2008, 295 pp. (French)
  • La ragione populista, trans. Davide Tarizzo, Rome/Bari: Laterza, 2008, EPUB. (Italian)
  • O populističnem umu, trans. Jelka Kernev-Štrajn, afterw. Boris Vezjak, Ljubljana: Sophia, 2008, v+251 pp. Publisher. Reviews: Trdina (TiP), Žličar (Razpotja). (Slovenian)
  • Rozum populistyczny, trans. Tomasz Szkudlarek, et al., Wrocław: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Dolnośląskiej Szkoły Wyższej, 2009, xviii+215 pp. (Polish)
  • A populista ész, trans. Gábor Csordás, Budapest: Noran Libro, 2011, 308 pp. (Hungarian)
  • Popyurizumu no risei [ポピュリズムの理性], trans. Takeshi Sawasato and Ichirō Kawamura, Tokyo: Akashi (明石書店), 2018, 409 pp. Publisher. (Japanese)
  • Die populistische Vernunft, trans. Boris Kränzel, Vienna: Passagen, 2021, 360 pp. Publisher. (German)

• Debates y combates: Por un nuevo horizonte de la política, trans. Miguel Cañadas, Ernesto Laclau, and Leonel Livchitz, Buenos Aires: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2008, 140 pp; repr., 2016. (Spanish)

• with Álvaro García Linera and Guillermo O'Donnell, Tres pensamientos políticos: conferencias organizadas por las facultades de ciencias sociales y de filosofia y letras de la UBA, Buenos Aires: Universidad de Buenos Aires, 2010, 86 pp. (Spanish)

• The Rhetorical Foundations of Society, London: Verso, 2014, 256 pp, EPUB. Shows how rhetoric constitutes the social order. Publisher. Review: Thomassen (RECP), Wall (Marx & Phil), Gattinara (Lo Sguardo), Glasson (Melbourne J Pol), Jerbić (Politička misao, CR), Martinavichene (Topos, RU). (English)
  • Los fundamentos retóricos de la sociedad, Buenos Aires: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2014, 169 pp. Review: Retamozo (Est Políticos). (Spanish)
  • Le fondamenta retoriche della società, trans. Marco Tabacchini, Milan/Udine: Mimesis, 2017. (Italian)

• co-author, Reinventar la izquierda en el siglo XXI, Buenos Aires: Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento, 2014. (Spanish)

• Post-Marxism, Populism and Critique, ed. David Howarth, Abingdon: Routledge, 2014, 294 pp. Publisher. Review: Thomassen (RECP). (English)

Selected articles

• "Feudalism and Capitalism in Latin America", New Left Review 67, London, May-Jun 1971, pp 19-38; repr. in Laclau, Politics and Ideology in Marxist Theory, 1977, pp 15-50. [5] (English)
  • Feudalismo y capitalismo en América Latina, trans. Francisco Melo, Barcelona: Redondo, 1972, 48 pp. [6] (Spanish)

• with Chantal Mouffe, "Socialist Strategy: Where Next?", trans. Mike Mullan, Marxism Today, Jan 1981, pp 17-22. (English)

• "Psychoanalysis and Marxism", trans. Amy G. Reiter-McIntosh, Critical Inquiry 13, Winter 1987, pp 330-333. (English)

• with Chantal Mouffe, "Post-Marxism without Apologies", New Left Review 166, Nov-Dec 1987, pp 79-106, HTML; repr. in Post-Marxism: A Reader, ed. Stuart Sim, Edinburgh University Press, 1998. [7]. Response to critique by Normas Geras (May-Jun 1987); followed by Geras's reply (May-Jun 1988). (English)
  • "Μετα-μαρξισμός χωρίς διάθεση απολογίας", trans. Δημήτρης Παπαζαχαρίας and Γρηγόρης Ανανιάδης, Σύγχρονα Θέματα 130-131, Jul-Dec 2015, pp 135-155. (Greek)

• "Universalism, Particularism, and the Question of Identity", October 61: "The Identity in Question", Summer 1992, pp 83-90. (English)

• "Democracy and the Question of Power", Constellations 8:1, 2001, pp 3-14. (English)
  • "Demokracie a otázka moci", Sok.bz, 2008. (Czech)

• "Can Immanence Explain Social Struggles?", Diacritics 31:4, Winter 2001, pp 2-10. Critical review of Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri's Empire. (English)

• "An Ethics of Militant Engagement", in Think Again: Alain Badiou and the Future of Philosophy, ed. Peter Hallward, Continuum, 2004, pp 120-137. Critique of Badiou. (English)

• "Why Constructing a People Is the Main Task of Radical Politics", Critical Inquiry 32:4, Summer 2006, pp 646-680. Response to Žižek’s critique of Laclau's On Populist Reason. (English)

• "Bare Life or Social Indeterminacy?", in Giorgio Agamben: Sovereignty and Life, eds. Matthew Calarco and Steven DeCaroli, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2007, pp 11-22. Critique of Agamben. (English)
  • "Golo življenje ali družbena nedoločenost", trans. Rok Benčin, Filozofski vestnik 27:1, 2006, pp 81-91. (Croatian)

Interviews, debates

• "Del post-marxismo al radicalismo democrático: entrevista a Ernesto Laclau", Montevideo: CLAEH, 1987, 41 pp. First published by Materiales de kritica (Santiago de Chile, August 1986) with the title "Ampliar la lucha por la libertad y la igualdad a campos cada vez más vastos". (Spanish)

• with Andreas Huyssen, Homi Bhabha, and Jacques Rancière, "Discussion", October 61: "The Identity in Question", Summer 1992, pp 78-82. (English)

• with Judith Butler, Stanley Aronowitz, Joan Scott, Chantal Mouffe, and Cornel West, "Discussion", October 61: "The Identity in Question", Summer 1992, pp 108-120. (English)

Literature

• Oliver Marchart (ed.), Das Undarstellbare der Politik. Zur Hegemonietheorie Ernesto Laclaus, Vienna: Turia+Kant, 1998, 284 pp. (German)

• Anna Marie Smith, Laclau and Mouffe: The Radical Democratic Imaginary, London: Routledge, 1998, 248 pp. Publisher. (English)

• Jacob Torfing, New Theories of Discourse: Laclau, Mouffe, Zizek, Oxford: Blackwell, 1999. (English)

• Sergio Villalobos-Ruminott (ed.), Hegemonía y antagonismo: el imposible fin de lo político: conferencias de Ernesto Laclau en Chile, 1997, Santiago de Chile: Cuarto Propio, 2002, 211 pp. (Spanish)

• Simon Critchley, Oliver Marchart (eds.), Laclau: A Critical Reader, London: Routledge, 2004, 368 pp, EPUB. Publisher. (English)

• Oliver Marchart, Post-foundational Political Thought: Political Difference in Nancy, Lefort, Badiou and Laclau, Edinburgh University Press, 2007, 198 pp. (English)

• Martin Nonhoff, Diskurs – radikale Demokratie – Hegemonie. Zum politischen Denken von Ernesto Laclau und Chantal Mouffe, Bielefeld: transcript, 2007. (German)

• Lars Distelhorst, Umkämpfte Differenz. Hegemonietheoretische Perspektiven der Geschlechterpolitik mit Butler und Laclau, Berlin: Parodos, 2007. (German)

• Geoff Boucher, The Charmed Circle of Ideology: A Critique of Laclau and Mouffe, Butler and Zizek, Melbourne: re.press, 2008, 275 pp. (English)

• Rahel Sophia Süß, Kollektive Handlungsfähigkeit. Gramsci – Holzkamp – Laclau/Mouffe, forew. Oliver Marchart, Vienna: Turia + Kant, 2010, 183 pp. Publisher. (German)

• Oliver Marchart, Die politische Differenz. Zum Denken des Politischen bei Nancy, Lefort, Badiou, Laclau und Agamben, Berlin: Suhrkamp, 2010. (German)

• Marco Baldassari, Diego Melegari (eds.), Populismo e democrazia radicale. In dialogo con Ernesto Laclau, Verona: Ombre Corte, 2012, 319 pp. TOC. (Italian)

• Oliver Harrison, Revolutionary Subjectivity in Post-Marxist Thought: Laclau, Negri, Badiou, Routledge, 2014, 160 pp. Publisher. (English)

• Oliver Marchart, Thinking Antagonism. Political Ontology after Laclau, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2018. (English)

• Rosa Nidia Buenfil Burgos, Ernesto Laclau y la investigación educativa en Latinoamérica: Implicaciones y apropiaciones del análisis político del discurso, intro. Inés Dussel and Mercedes Ruiz Muñoz, Buenos Aires: CLACSO, 2019, 339 pp, PDF. (Spanish)

See also

• Chantal Mouffe

Links

• Obituaries: Robin Blackburn (Verso, The Guardian), John Kraniauskas (Radical Philosophy).
• Wikipedia