Postmodernist Politics: William E. Connolly’s Agonistic Democracy

Postmodernism, by deconstructing all the foundations and meta-narratives, has created a situation in which pluralism is the basis for policy-making. While some scholars have spoken of the refusal to form politics in the postmodern space, and have considered the lack of a basis for establishing political theory inappropriate, others have sought to establish a policy appropriate to this space, both theoretically and practically. Among them is "William Connolly", who, by inventing concepts such as multidimensional pluralism, onto-politics, politics of becoming, critical responsiveness, and agonistic respect, explained postmodern politics, and proportionate with multiplicity, pluralism, dispersion, and diversity of identities has proposed a practical solution. Agonistic democracy, which of course includes other founders and proponents such as Chantal Mouffe, David Owen, and James Tully, is a viable alternative to deliberative democracy and attends it as an inclusive, contingent, and accountable political life, by respectful contestation of wonderful, different and even contradictory new identities. Uncertainty, unpredictability, juxtaposition of divine and atheistic beliefs in the context of the multiplicity of gender, linguistic, racial and cultural identities are some of the components that Connolly has considered and explained in postmodern politics.