The suicide of populism: a reading of Ernesto Laclau from the thought of Augusto Del Noce

Abstract

This paper presents a critical study of the philosophical and political proposal of Ernesto Laclau, recognized post-Marxist and neo-Gramscian. For this purpose the concepts and methodology developed by Augusto Del Noce in his critical analysis of Gramsci’s thought in Italy in the second half of the twentieth century are particularly appropriate. His recognized thesis of the "Suicide of the Revolution" argues that the Gramscian Marxist thought was already in a process of self-dissolution and self-denial by its own internal logic, long before its historical and political collapse. Given that Gramsci’s thought is fundamental in the conformation of the philosophy of Laclau, we may ask if something similar applies to his theory of populism. Can Laclau's populism actually lead to the objectives proposed, or is it intended to commit suicide, to dissolve itself? Starting from these questions, we will carry out a critical reading of strictly philosophical nature, analyzing the metaphysical foundations and internal consistency of the laclauian thought.