Author
Güçler, Arda
Publication Date
2020-02-01
Publication Place
-
Sage
Subject
Democratic theory, Jacques Derrida, Nadia Urbinati, Political representation, Untimeliness
Type
Periodical
Language
English
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Library
Özyeğin University
Library Asset ID
0191-4537
Record ID
51c0dee9-4119-49c0-b8a3-f784ac09aa98
Library Location
International Relations
Date
2020-02-01
Sample Text
What gives representation its democratic essence? The recent democratic theory literature, particularly spearheaded by Nadia Urbinati, defends representative mediation as a facilitator of ongoing democratic contestation and revision. While I agree with this agonistic defence, I take issue with how Urbinati construes it. For her, representative contestation works in the teleological sense of testing opinions over time and sublimating them into ideological forms as a safeguard against the threat of immediacy (i.e. arbitrariness and authenticity). This article locates the traces of such presentism within Urbinati's own teleological framework, which I see as compromising her commitment to the agonistic vein in representative politics. When our relationship to the future is imagined from such a teleological angle, I argue, the scope of our representative options becomes significantly narrowed down and the possibility of beginning anew looks quite slim. I develop this critique by tapping into Jacques Derrida's affirmation of untimeliness.
DOI
10.1177/0191453719839452
Cilt
46
