Maquiavelo, Laclau y Mouffe. Encounters and misunderstandings between populism and republicanism

Authors

  • Julián González Scandizzi

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18042/cepc/rep.205.02

Abstract

Conventional invocations of republicanism and populism presuppose their absolute incompatibility. However, several recent works question this opposition by highlighting important points of continuity in the axiological orientations that animate each of these traditions. Under what theoretical and normative assumptions does the conjugation of republican populism become viable? This paper explores the internal diversity contained in both political traditions in order to explore their possible convergences. We argue that such an assembly would require specific variants of republicanism and populism that simultaneously accommodate the constitutive antagonism of the social and the unifying institutional frameworks for the res publica. This double condition is traced in some readings of Machiavelli’s republicanism, as well as in populist thought that connects with Mouffe’s agonist theory and contrasts with Laclau’s rupturist and anti-institutionalist approach

Published

2024-11-22

Issue

Section

ARTICLES