Table Of ContentPoststructuralism and After
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Poststructuralism and After
Structure, Subjectivity and Power
David R. Howarth
ReaderinSocialandPoliticalTheory,DepartmentofGovernment,
UniversityofEssex,UK
©DavidR.Howarth2013
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2013 978-1-137-26697-2
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Contents
PrefaceandAcknowledgements vi
Introduction 1
1 ThePoststructuralistProject 24
2 ProblematizingPoststructuralism 56
3 OntologicalBearings 87
4 DeconstructingStructureandAgency 116
5 Structure,Agency,andAffect 150
6 RethinkingPowerandDomination 187
7 Identity,Interests,andPoliticalSubjectivity 225
Conclusion 265
Notes 277
Bibliography 293
Index 317
v
Preface and Acknowledgements
This book has taken a long time to finish. It was first commissioned
by Ian Craib as part of his ‘Traditions in Social Theory’ series, and
its overall form and content was then developed by the helpful prod-
dings of Rob Stones. Initially conceived to include a discussion of
postmodernism, as well as developments in poststructuralist theory, it
wasquicklyevidentthatthiswasmuchtoobigabriefforonevolume.
Indeed, even the attempt to discuss the ever-expanding contributions
inthepoststructuralisttraditionoftheorizingprovedtobeadaunting,
if not overwhelming, task. Not only are the poststructuralist contribu-
tions in the fields of social and political theory extensive, complex,
and increasingly diverse, but they have tended to break down tradi-
tionaldisciplinaryboundariesinthehumanandsocialsciences,whilst
insinuatingthemselvesineachofthem.
At the same time, I began to harbour a growing scepticism about
the uses and abuses of the concept of postmodernism in social the-
ory, as well as the acrimonious and largely unproductive debates the
term has provoked. At the very least, in my view, postmodernism
and poststructuralism are not the same concepts, nor do they desig-
nate a common style of thinking and approach in the social sciences.
As the book developed, it also became evident that my focus on the
dialectics of structure and agency, power and domination, affect and
subjectivity was too narrowly focussed to serve as a general discussion
of poststructuralist theory, even when restricted to social and political
theory.Afterdiscussionswithmyeditors,itwasdecidedthatthismono-
graph would be accompanied by a more introductory text on selected
topicsinpoststructuralismandsocialtheory.
In many senses, Poststructuralism and After: Structure, Subjectivity and
Power represents the culmination of an ongoing research project that
stretchesbacktomyfirstendeavourstouseErnestoLaclauandChantal
Mouffe’s poststructuralist interpretation of Marxist theory to analyse
aspectsofSouthAfricanpoliticsunderapartheiddominationandthen
(in close collaboration with Steven Griggs) to explore the dynamics of
environmental movements and policymaking practices in the field of
UKaviation.Anumberofargumentsinthisbookareintendedtoflesh
outandbuilduponsomeoftheontologicalassumptionsandtheoretical
vi
PrefaceandAcknowledgements vii
insightsthatweresetoutinearliertexts,especiallytheLogicsofCritical
Explanation in Social and Political Theory, which I co-wrote with Jason
Glynos.Theyhavealsobeenenrichedbymyempiricalstudyofthepol-
iticsofUKairportsoverthelast10or15years,whichIhaveconducted
withStevenGriggs;ourthoughtsonthistopicarepresentedinThePol-
itics of Airport Expansion in the United Kingdom: Hegemony, Policy and the
Rhetoric of ‘Sustainable Aviation, as well as other articles and chapters.
Tracesandreiterationsoftheideasthatwereadumbratedinthesebooks,
and in previous and subsequent journal articles, are evident at various
places in Poststructuralism and After, and they are acknowledged in the
text.IwouldliketoexpressmygratitudetoErnestoLaclauandChantal
Mouffe, for disclosing these new possibilities in the Marxist tradition,
and to Jason Glynos and Steven Griggs for helping me to develop and
applypoststructuralistpoliticaltheoryinthewayIhave.
In developing my arguments, I have been fortunate to benefit from
questions,comments,andcriticismsfromanumberofpeopleinvarious
forums.Attheoutset,Iwouldliketothankthetwoanonymousreaders
of my original manuscript, who offered many important insights and
thoughts about the arguments put forward in this book. The materials
that form the problematization of poststructuralism and the elabora-
tion of the poststructuralist project in the first two chapters have been
discussed in a number of public workshops and seminars. Elements
of the approach were presented at an Expert Seminar on Critical Dis-
courseAnalysisinOctober2008,whichwasconvenedintheCentrefor
TheoreticalStudiesattheUniversityofEssex.ItformedpartofanESRC-
sponsored Seminar Series on Methodological Innovation. Others were
elaboratedinaseriesoflecturesandseminarspresentedatRoskildeUni-
versityinDenmarkandVictoriaUniversityinWellington,NewZealand.
AllanHansen,PeterKitchenman,EvaSørensen,andJacobTorfingmade
our visits doubly enjoyable. Steven Griggs and I presented lectures and
workshops on these themes at Charles University in Prague in March
2011 and at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin in October
2012; our thanks to Anna Durnova and Daria Isachenko for inviting
us.Mythankstotheparticipantsoftheseseminarsfortheirchallenging
questionsandforthestimulatingdiscussionstheyprovoked.
With respect to my discussion of ontology, which is examined
in Chapter 3, I presented some initial thoughts on the problem of
immanence and transcendence in contemporary discussions of ontol-
ogy and politics at the Annual American Political Science Association
Conference in Washington in 2005. William Connolly, Lars Tønder,
Daniel Smith, and Jodie Dean offered helpful thoughts and comments
viii PrefaceandAcknowledgements
ontheideaspresentedthere.Ialsodiscussedsomeofthestrengthsand
potential weaknesses of the ‘new materialism’ at the annual Western
Political Science Association conference in April 2011, as well as a
keynoteaddressattheUniversityofHamburginJulyofthesameyear.
I am grateful to Jane Bennett, William Connolly, Joshua Dienstag, Lars
Tønder,andUrsStähelifortheirveryusefulreflectionsandcomments.
Questions about the importance of practice, which are also discussed
in the chapter on ontology, were discussed in a seminar convened by
the Centre for Theoretical Studies on ‘Policy as Practice’ in May 2012.
IwouldliketothankChristianBueger,RichardFreeman,StevenGriggs,
DavidLaws,VictoriaLoughlan,JoMaybin,TamaraMetze,AlettaNorval,
Ted Schatzki, Merlijn van Hulst, and Henk Wagenaar for providing an
opportunitytoexploretheconnectionsbetweenpoststructuralismand
contemporary‘practicetheory’.
In many respects, the problem of structure and agency, and its inti-
mateconnectiontoourunderstandingofhumanaffectandsubjectivity,
aswellquestionsaboutpower,domination,andhegemony,constitutes
the heart of Poststructuralism and After. Some of the arguments that are
presented in this regard in Chapters 4–6 were discussed at the Annual
PSA Conference in Bath in April 2007 in a discussion of interpretivist
approachestopoliticalanalysis,andthisessay(co-authoredwithJason
Glynos) was published in Political Studies Review in 2008. I would like
to thank Mark Bevir and Rod Rhodes for their verbal and written
comments on the ideas that were developed in this debate. Further
opportunitiestoelaborateonthethemeofstructure,agency,andpower
wereprovidedbyinvitationstopresentkeynoteaddressesattheFourth
Annual Interpretivist Conference in Kassel in June 2009 and to deliver
theAnnualHinkleyLectureatJohnsHopkinsUniversityinApril2010.
Frank Fischer, Frank Nullmeier, Bob Jessop, and Dvora Yanow offered
helpfulcommentsandcriticisms.Apublishedversionoftheseaddresses
appeared in Critical Policy Studies in 2010. Some of the thoughts on
hegemonywerefirstelaboratedinapaperentitled‘Deconstructingthe
RhetoricofSustainableAviationintheUK’,whichwasdeliveredtothe
AnnualPSAConferenceatManchesterinApril2009.
My initial thoughts on French regulation theory and Foucauldian
ideas of governmentality, which are developed in Chapter 6, were pre-
sented at a Workshop on the Financial Crisis at Cardiff University in
May 2009. Christopher Norris, Colin Wight, and Hugh Willmott made
helpful comments on the paper and approach employed. An earlier
versionwasco-writtenwithStevenGriggsandwasappliedtotheprob-
lem of ‘sustainable aviation’, whilst a later version was presented to
PrefaceandAcknowledgements ix
graduate students at Johns Hopkins University in the spring of 2010,
where I taught a course on Rethinking State-Capitalism with William
Connolly. It goes without saying that the course and its participants
proved highly stimulating and helpful to me in preparing this new
draft of the paper. A more final and lengthy version was presented
at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association
Conference in Washington in September 2010. I would like to thank
Jane Bennett, Jairus Grove, Steven Griggs, and Aletta Norval for their
thoughtsandcommentsonthepaper.Someoftheideasandthoughts
formyengagementwiththepoliticsofidentity/difference,whichcon-
stitutesChapter7ofthebook,werefirstpresentedasakeynoteaddress
entitled ‘Identity, Identification, and Political Subjectivity’. The paper
was originally delivered at the Identities under Construction Con-
ference in October 2008 at the University of Liège. Nico Carpentier
and Erik Spinoy were wonderful hosts and offered helpful comments
and thoughts about the paper. Some of the thoughts on the rela-
tionship between identities and interests were first aired in an article
(co-authored with Steven Griggs), which was published in Mobiliza-
tion in 2002. Other parts of this chapter, especially those dealing with
the intertwining of interests, identities and ideas, were presented at
a Workshop on ‘The Role of Ideas in Welfare State Change: Critical
Realist Analysis versus Poststructuralist and Interpretative Approaches’
at Leiden University in November 2012. I would like to thank Anja
Eleveld for convening this workshop and for raising many interesting
questions, both in her Doctoral Thesis and in the seminar discus-
sions. Of course, the final responsibility for the arguments and claims
developed in this book are mine, as are the remaining difficulties and
tensions.
Throughoutthisperiod,Ihavebenefittedimmenselyfrommyinter-
actions with the students enrolled on the Doctoral Programme in
Ideology and Discourse Analysis in the Department of Government at
theUniversityofEssex;manyoftheideasputforwardinthebookwere
firstpresentedanddiscussedinthedoctoralseminarsconvenedbythis
programme.Theircommentsandcriticismshavealwaysspurredmeto
try and clarify my thoughts and arguments. I would also like to thank
theparticipantswhoattendedtheIntroductiontoDiscourseTheoryand
ApplyingDiscourseTheorycoursesattheEssexSummerSchool,which
Ihaveinthepastco-taughtwithJasonGlynosandAlettaNorval.Peter
Josse has done a splendid job in helping me to edit the final text and
compile the final bibliography. I would like to thank the production
teamatPalgraveMacmillanfortheirpatienceandsupportingettingmy
