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

• Main Author: Daniel de Mendonça
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade Estadual de Londrina 2010-12-01
• Series: Mediações: Revista de Ciências Sociais
• Subjects: Democracia deliberativa; Pós-Estruturalismo; Teoria do discurso; Normatividade.
• Online Access: http://www.uel.br/revistas/uel/index.php/mediacoes/article/view/8234

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.