Beyond deliberation? onsiderations about the normativity of the post-structuralist theory of radical democracy

Abstract

The present article has the objective of presenting and discussing – in the sphere of post-structuralist theories of radical democracy, mainly those identified through the “Theory of speech of the Essex School” – the recent effort in order to reduce what the authors themselves admit to be a normative deficit in relation to their contemporary discussions about democracy. More concretely, this work focuses on two political-normative models that have arisen from this theoretical tradition, especially the works of Chantal Mouffe and Aletta Norval. The aim is to point out the eventual advances obtained through post-structuralism, an alternative theoretical model to the deliberative focus on the contemporary democratic debate.