To Discover The Truth Of Democracy In Antagonism And Agonism

This article elaborates on the Chantal Mouffe's concept of democracy——Agonistic Pluralism Democracy. Mouffe is a political philosophy of Post-Marxism. In her mind, a democratic society is a community filled with power, agonism and conflict. It is dangerous to conceive that conflict will be eliminated. Agonistic pluralism democracy includes such a paradox:the realization of a full democracy society signifies its upcoming disintegration. Therefore a Agonistic Plualism Democracy model is always a future tense democracy.In the 1980s to 1990s, the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the radical changes in Eastern Europe made the left-wing politics fall into the depression. Therefore, the most pressing priority should be given to rethink and replan the future strategy of left-wing politics to save it from the depression. As a leader of Post-Marxism, by Mouffe's reflection and criticism of the essentialism concept such as the economic determinism and the class reductionism of classic Marxism, and combining the reality such as the complication of social relation in the political field, the diversification of struggle form of the subordinate group, political situation monopolized by Neo-liberalism and Neo-conservatism, Mouffe put forward a radical democracy mode of Agonistic Pluralism Democracy. This mode identifies liberal society's value. On the basis of it, Mouffe intensifies the value in a complete and comprehensive way——i.e. "radicalization" of its value. Mouffe believes, in a liberal society, the rule that "Everyone is created liberal and equal" is the most radical rule in the current political field. However, this rule has not been fully realized until now. Therefore, Mouffe talks with the core concept of liberalism, criticizes that in the deliberative democracy mode rational consensus is impossible, re-define the concept of "politics" and "left-wing", emphasize that "conflict" is ineradicable in the political life, and reveal the tension between the liberalism and democracy. On the basis of all these efforts, Mouffe put forward and elaborate on the "Agonistic Pluralism Democracy" mode.However, Mouffe never rejects the classical Marxism. Her main theory still follow the classic Marxism's tradition by analyzing the social problems widely existed in the reality, criticizing the capitalist institution and pursuing the socialist value. The only difference is that Mouffe insists Socialism should not reject the liberal and democratic value.There are still some dilemmas in Mouffe's democracy theory, such as whether Mouffe misinterprets the connotation of liberal deliberative democracy, the boundary line between "enemy" and "adversary" still exist some disputes. However, we cannot deny that during the left-wing politics falling into depression, "Agonistic Pluralism Democracy" save some precious content of classic Marxism, carry forward the Karl Marx's radical criticism spirit, defend the value of Socialism and Democracy, and inherits Karl Marx's liberation cause.