Book Review: Britain and Ireland
| Date | 01 May 2007 |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1478-9299.2007.00132_2.x |
| Published date | 01 May 2007 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
Radical Democracy: Politics Between
Abundance and Lack by Lars Tønder and
Lasse Thomassen (eds). Manchester: Manches-
ter University Press, 2005. 268pp.,£60.00, ISBN
07190 7044 9
While debates about deliberative democracy
dominate mainstream democratic theory, post-
structural and psychoanalytic theorists have been
developing more radical democratic ideals.
Tønder and Thomassen’s edited collection is the
first volume dedicated to such ideals. Containing
fifteen chapters by major proponents of and com-
mentators on radical democracy, the book deals
with the ontological foundations and the politics
of radical democracy (Parts I and II, respectively),
and concludes with afterwords by William
Connolly and Ernesto Laclau.
Two key themes run through the book. First,
the editors suggest that radical democrats must
grapple with the question of whether sources of
radical democratic change are immanent to or
transcend existing social practices. Secondly, the
editors distinguish between radical democratic
thought derived from Lacan’s ‘ontological imagi-
nary of lack’ and that derived from Deleuze’s
‘ontological imaginar y of abundance’ (p. 2). For
both ontologies, they suggest, there is always a
difference that exceeds any order,but whereas this
leads Lacanians to see democracy as providing the
conditions for ongoing contest between hege-
monic blocs, it leads Deleuzians to see radical
democracy as entailing negotiations between a
multiplicity of divergent groups.These are impor-
tant themes; the distinction between the ontolo-
gies of lack and abundance is particularly useful
for analysing radical democratic thought. Most of
the chapters, therefore,are structured by or discuss
these themes, with some contributors supporting
or demonstrating the validity of the editors’ dis-
tinctions, and others contesting them.
Above all, however, this volume illustrates the
diversity of radical democratic theory.To discuss
but a few of the ideas offered here, Mouffe sees
radical democracy as entailing a contestatory
public sphere, Critchley associates it with resis-
tance by the excluded,Stavrakakis envisions it as a
radical democratic ethos enabling citizens to
accept the indeterminacy of politics and Bennett
suggests that radical democracy must be open to
political participation by non-sentient beings and
‘things’.
Radical Democracy does neglect some important
issues.Connolly and Tønder excepted,there is too
little discussion of the compatibility of radical
democracy and capitalism. There is no engage-
ment with alternative conceptions of democracy.
Moreover, one is left unsure as to what is so
radical about radical democracy, especially
Lacanian conceptions. However,for postgraduates
and scholars interested in radical thought and its
implications for democratic politics, this is an
excellent book. It brings together key theorists,
interesting commentaries and foregrounds new
ideas. It is a significant contribution to contem-
porary democratic theory.
Giles Simon
(University of Salford)
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Britain and Ireland
Leading the Localities: Executive Mayors in
English Local Governance by Colin Copus.
Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2006.
230pp., £55.00,ISBN 0 7190 7186 0
This major text is the result of an assessment of
England’s directly-elected mayors and the coun-
cillors that serve in those authorities. The work
draws on Colin Copus’s extensive experience of
the politics of local government and a substantial
academic literature about local government
reform both in relation to the UK and overseas.
The book explores how directly-elected
mayors and mayoral authorities are functioning
and how the office could evolve. Mayors are
viewed in the ‘context of the long-term debate
BOOK REVIEWS 269
© 2007The Authors. Journal compilation © 2007 Political StudiesAssociation
Political Studies Review: 2007, 5(2)
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