Dean, JM (2014) Radicalism restored? communuism and the end of left melancholia. Contemporary Political Theory. ISSN 1476-9336
Abstract
Since the onset of the 2008 economic crisis and the resurgence of various forms of transnational radical politics (the Arab Spring, Occupy etc), several left-wing thinkers have argued that the era of left melancholia is now over. This paper examines such claims, paying particular attention to the recent re-engagement with the idea of communism in contemporary critical theory. Foregrounding the recent work of Alain Badiou, Slavoj Žižek and (especially) Jodi Dean, I suggest that the attempt to re-invigorate and revitalise the academic left is welcome, but I question some of the political and theoretical investments that characterise this (re)turn to communism. In particular, I interrogate the new communists’ tendency to contrast a vision of a melancholic and deradicalised left beholden to feminism, anti-racism, single issue politics and identity politics with an alternative vision of an authentically radical left emboldened by the re-emergence of the idea of communism. Such a distinction is not only analytically problematic, but also reflects, and shores up, a range of inequalities and exclusions within academic left theory and practice. These elisions, hierarchies and exclusions are, I argue, testament to much of the academic left’s continued unease about, or even outright resistance to, feminism, anti-racism and queer politics. Overall, my intention is to trace some of the effects and consequences of the new communists’ claim that they offer a newly radicalised left theory and politics: in so doing, I offer a preliminary rethinking of how we narrate the contemporary history of radical left politics.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | (c) 2014, Palgrave Macmillan. This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Contemporary Political Theory. The definitive publisher-authenticated version [insert complete citation information here] is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/cpt.2014.45 |
Keywords: | Melancholia; communism; feminism; intersectionality; identity politics; radicalism |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Education, Social Sciences and Law (Leeds) > School of Politics & International Studies (POLIS) (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 03 Mar 2015 10:29 |
Last Modified: | 09 May 2016 19:57 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/cpt.2014.45 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Palgrave Macmillan |
Identification Number: | 10.1057/cpt.2014.45 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:83499 |