What is the contemporary legacy of Gramsci's concept of Hegemony? How can universalism be redefined now, after such an extensive critique of its hollow versions? In this groundbreaking project, Judith Butler, Ernesto Laclau, and Slavoj Žižek engage in a dialogue on central questions of modern philosophy and politics. Their essays, organized as distinct texts responding to one another, address issues such as Hegelian heritage in contemporary critical theory, the theoretical dilemmas of multiculturalism, the debate between universalism and particularism, the strategies of the Left in a globalized economy, and the related benefits of deconstruction and Lacanian psychoanalysis for critical social theory. The vigor and intelligence with which the authors approach their work are remarkable, and the volume at hand clearly benefits from the energy and enjoyment they derive from a revealing and often unexpected exchange of views.

Expanding the boundaries of the philosophical Left, Judith Butler, Ernesto Laclau, and Slavoj Žižek engage in a fiery dialogue around points of tension, pressing questions, and the black boxes of contemporary thought. At the heart of this intellectual synthesizing experiment is the effort to clarify differences in method and understanding within a shared political trajectory. Through a series of texts on the value of Hegelian and Lacanian heritage, the dilemmas of multiculturalism, and the political challenges of a global economy, Butler, Laclau, and Žižek give new meaning to the core philosophical categories of the previous century, while simultaneously proposing a new model for dialogue around the Left.

Contents:

Introduction
Questions
Judith Butler
Rebuilding the Universal: Hegemony and the Limits of Formalism
Ernesto Laclau
Identity and Hegemony: The Role of Universalism in Shaping Political Logic
Slavoj Žižek
Class Struggle or Postmodernism? Gladly!
Judith Butler
Competing Universalisms
Ernesto Laclau
Structure, History, and the Political
Slavoj Žižek
Da capo senza fine
Judith Butler
Dynamic Conclusions
Ernesto Laclau
Constructing Universalism
Slavoj Žižek
Holding the Position