Prefigurative Democracy
Protest, Social Movements and the Political Institution of Society
- Develops a theory of prefigurative democracy as a way of thinking critically about contemporary protest movements
- Engages with the work of various radical political theorists, such as Arendt, Laclau and Mouffe and (post-)anarchist theory
- Combines an analysis of activist practices with both state-of-the-art and canonical radical theory
In the wake of protest movements such as Occupy Wall Street and the Spanish 15-M movement, the past decade has seen an increased interest in prefigurative politics: the attempt of activists to already realise or embody their ideal of a future society within their own movements and practices. Engaging with the concept and its history, this book establishes a radical-democratic theory of prefiguration. Van de Sande builds on the work of political theorists as diverse as Hannah Arendt, Ernesto Laclau, Claude Lefort, Rosa Luxemburg, and Judith Butler to reveal the radical and representative role of protest and social movements today. He gives various accounts of how prefigurative practices and movements may continue to have political relevance long after they have ended.
AcknowledgementsIntroduction: ‘It’s Prefigurative, So to Speak.’Chapter One: A New Society In the Shell of the Old.Chapter Two: Beginnings Without Ends.Chapter Three: From The Assembly to Council Democracy: Towards a Prefigurative Form of Government?Chapter Four: Embodiment: Prefiguration and Synecdochal Representation.Chapter Five: Sedimentation and Crystallisation: Two Metaphors for Political Change.Conclusion: What is Prefigurative Democracy?Bibliography
What do "Occupy" and other such protests really accomplish? This eloquent book disarms that question, terming them "prefigurative"—direct action that affords participants an immediate experience of freedom and unsettles prevailing social identities and alliances. Prefigurative Democracy both honors activism and engages scholars, by unexpectedly pairing Hannah Arendt with Ernesto Laclau.
I recommend this book, from which I have learned a lot, which pushed my thoughts on some issues much further and opened some new fields I yet have to think through, to all readers interested in democracy theories and/or Hannah Arendt studies. I’m sure Prefigurative Democracy is worth your time and attention.
