From Marxist to Post-Marxist Populism: Ernesto Laclau's Trajectory within the National Left and Beyond

Abstract

Ernesto Laclau’s Marxist and Post-Marxist works are best understood when they are embedded in the history of Argentina’s National Left. This socialist-populist current has continued to underpin his strategic horizons since at least 1963. Although purely theoretical interpretations can sometimes be enlightening, they tend to lose sight of the historical density of Laclau’s thought. In the course of his working life, Laclau’s theories challenged in diverse ways the Argentinean left’s engagement with Peronism: ¿how to develop a leftist hegemonic project while the working-class remains stubbornly linked to Peronist political identity? Laclau’s political trajectory and his understanding of Marxism are analyzed in order to explain the nature of his post-Marxism.