A systematic genealogical treatment of Laclau's antagonism
Ernesto Laclau's conception of antagonism is described as one of the main achievements in contemporary social thought. Antagonism is not only the cornerstone of his theory of hegemony, it also involves a political ontology. Oliver Marchart presents the main features of this ontology, tracks the development of antagonism from German Idealism via Marx to today's post-Marxism and demonstrates Laclau's significant contribution to the current 'ontological turn' in political thought. By carving out the philosophical implications of antagonism, Marchart proposes a novel theory of 'thinking' as a collective, political and conflictual practice.
Oliver Marchart is Professor of Political Theory at the Department of Political Science, University of Vienna. He is the author of Post-Foundational Political Thought: Political Difference in Nancy, Lefort, Badiou and Laclau and co-editor, with Simon Critchley, of Laclau: A Critical Reader.

Oliver Marchart is Professor of Political Theory in the Department of Political Science at University of Vienna.

List of Abbreviations; Introduction: What Is Antagonism?: 1. 'What's Going on With Being?': Laclau and the Return of Political Ontology; Part I Thinking the Political: 2. Marx on the Beach: An Intellectual History of Antagonism; 3. Beyond the 'War Hypothesis': Polemology in Foucault, Stiegler and Loraux; Part II Thinking Politics: 4. The Restless Nature of the Social: On the Micro-Conflictuality of Everyday Life; 5. Politics and the Popular: Protest and Culture in Laclau's Theory of Populism; 6. On Minimal Politics: Conditions of Acting Politically; Part III Politicising Thought: 7. The Final Name of Being: Thinking as Reflective Intervention; 8. Being as Acting: The Primacy of Politics and the Politics of Thought; Conclusion: Ostinato Rigore, or, The Ethics of Intellectual Engagement; Notes; Bibliography; Index.