The post-political and its discontents - Japhy Wilson

Our age is celebrated as the triumph of liberal democracy. Yet it is also marked by a narrowing of party differences, a decline in voter participation, a rise in nationalist and religious fundamentalisms and an explosion of popular protests that challenge technocratic governance and the power of markets in the name of democracy itself. This book seeks to make sense of this situation by critically engaging with the influential theory of 'the post-political' developed by Chantal Mouffe, Jacques Rancire, Slavoj Zizek and others. Through a multi-dimensional and fiercely contested assessment of contemporary depoliticization, 'The Post-Political and Its Discontents' urges us to confront the closure of our political horizons, and to re-imagine the possibility of emancipatory change.

An excellent collection of theoretically innovative and empirically rich essays on practices of depoliticisation and repoliticisation, ranging from the everyday to the spectacular, The Post-Political and Its Discontents shows that liberal democracy and consensus building do not exhaust all political possibilities and futures.
Mustafa Dike, Institut Franais d'Urbanisme, Paris