Patrick De Vos | Erasmus University College Brussels (original) (raw)

Books by Patrick De Vos

eBook (in Dutch) via Amazon.nl of the book "Grenzeloos India: de achterkant van de globalisering"... more eBook (in Dutch) via Amazon.nl of the book "Grenzeloos India: de achterkant van de globalisering" (transl. Unbounded India: the flip side of globalisation) by Patrick De Vos (PhD). First published in 2005 by Van Halewyck in Leuven, Belgium, and simultaneously published in The Netherlands by Elmar in Rijswijk.

AUDIOBOOK (in Dutch) via the Daisy- en Braillecatalogus / De Luisterpunt Bib of the book "Grenze... more AUDIOBOOK (in Dutch) via the Daisy- en Braillecatalogus / De Luisterpunt Bib of the book "Grenzeloos India: de achterkant van de globalisering" (transl. Unbounded India: the flip side of globalisation) by Patrick De Vos (PhD). First published in 2005 by Van Halewyck in Leuven, Belgium, and simultaneously published in The Netherlands by Elmar in Rijswijk.

TABLE OF CONTENTS of the book "Grenzeloos India: de achterkant van de globalisering" (transl. Unb... more TABLE OF CONTENTS of the book "Grenzeloos India: de achterkant van de globalisering" (transl. Unbounded India: the flip side of globalisation) by Patrick De Vos (PhD). Published in 2005 by Van Halewyck in Leuven, Belgium, and simultaneously published in The Netherlands by Elmar in Rijswijk.

Book Chapters by Patrick De Vos

Grenzen aan de Ethiek? Jaarboek Studium Generale 2008-2009. Hertmans, Stefan (ed.), Ghent: Academia Press, 2009

BOOK CHAPTER that was initially written as a prologue for the keynote lecture given by Chantal Mo... more BOOK CHAPTER that was initially written as a prologue for the keynote lecture given by Chantal Mouffe at the 2009 edition of the Studium Generale at the Ghent University College in Belgium. The seventh edition of this Studium Generale addresses the theme of "Limits of Ethics?" The text below is an elaborated version of the prologue. It intends to offer a brief introduction to the political thinking of Chantal Mouffe and relates some of her ideas to the subject matter of the Studium. It also provides some key references for further reading.
see: http://bit.ly/2nfLSHR

Discourse Theory and European Politics: Identity, Policy and Governance. Howarth, David & Jacob Torfing (eds.), London: Palgrave, 2004

PREVIEW BOOK CHAPTER - The chapter engages with mainstream explanations of the electoral growth o... more PREVIEW BOOK CHAPTER - The chapter engages with mainstream explanations of the electoral growth of the xenophobic and separatist Flemish far-right party, Vlaams Blok, in Belgium from the late 1980s onward. The issue of right-wing populism in Flanders is introduced by briefly outlining the genesis of the current political situation, and subsequently explaining the two dominant political positions held by the Vlaams Blok, separatist nationalism and authoritarian xenophobic populism, as they were articulated in Party manifestos and electoral platforms. Thereupon it summarizes and problematizes the two foremost types of analysis that have been put forward to account for the electoral upsurge of the Vlaams Blok, and relate them to strategies employed by the mainstream democratic elites to marginalize this party. From this, it is argued that the current dominant frame of thinking is missing a crucial point. The rise of an ultra-nationalist and authoritarian-populist party in Flanders, as elsewhere in Europe, can be better understood in the context of a hegemonic consensus around the political centre, resulting from an ideological convergence between the established political parties, characterized by the disappearance of antagonism. Such an alternative account has been developed over the years by Chantai Mouffe, and I shall first summarize and expound her thesis, and explain how and why it is applicable to the case of the Vlaams Blok.

Politieke trends en trendbreuken in de jaren negentig. Gaus, Helmut & Carl Devos (eds.), Ghent: Academia Press, 2004

BOOK CHAPTER. In dit hoofdstuk wordt de Europese sociaal-democratie in een historisch perspectief... more BOOK CHAPTER. In dit hoofdstuk wordt de Europese sociaal-democratie in een historisch perspectief geplaatst. Op zoek naar de belangrijkste trendbreuken in de ontwikkeling van de Europese sociaal-democratie wordt nagegaan hoe dit politiek project zich over een periode van één eeuw theoretisch ontwikkeld heeft. Daarin worden drie cruciale breukmomenten geïdentificeerd, drie golven van revisionisme die bepalend waren voor de manier waarop de sociaaldemocratie tot op heden vorm kreeg. In het besluit van dit hoofdstuk worden de belangrijkste implicaties van elk van die drie golven in het licht van de actuele discussie over de zgn. derde weg geëvalueerd. (transl. title: On third and other getaways: social democratic revisionism in the context of reflexive modernity).

Identiteiten: functies en disfuncties. Van den Brande, August (ed.), 2002, Ghent: Academia Press , 2002

BOOK CHAPTER. Gedurende de voorbije twee decennia hebben twee onderling nauw verwante onderwerpen... more BOOK CHAPTER. Gedurende de voorbije twee decennia hebben twee onderling nauw verwante onderwerpen het debat binnen de feministische theorie sterk beïnvloed: postmodernisme en essentialisme. Dit debat werd gekenmerkt door de zoektocht naar en het deconstrueren van een identiteit. Uit de kritiek op voornamelijk het universalisme en essentialisme van de tweede feministische golf ontstond gedurende de laatste decennia de recentste generatie post(moderne) feministen, die de geconstrueerde vrouwelijke en feministische identiteiten kritisch bevragen. Om deze generatiewissel te verduidelijken wordt eerst stil gestaan bij de postmoderne epistemologie en de kwestie van het essentialisme in het bijzonder. Vervolgens wordt geïllustreerd hoe het hele vraagstuk van een feministische politieke identiteit, door een poststructuralistisch non-essentialisme in een alternatief perspectief wordt geplaatst. (transl. title: Essentialism and Political Identity: The Deadlock of a Feminist Problematic)

Articles by Patrick De Vos

DE WITTE RAAF, 2006

JOURNAL ARTICLE (in Dutch) that reviews and explains the relevance of the work of the Belgian pol... more JOURNAL ARTICLE (in Dutch) that reviews and explains the relevance of the work of the Belgian political philosopher Chantal Mouffe (Westminster University, London) for the understanding of contemporary politics in general and the rise of populist politics in particular.

OIKOS - Tijdschrift voor Politiek, Milieu en Cultuur, 2006

JOURNAL ARTICLE. In het vorige nummer van Oikos besprak Patrick De Vos de verleidingskracht van h... more JOURNAL ARTICLE. In het vorige nummer van Oikos besprak Patrick De Vos de verleidingskracht van het extreemrechtse populisme en schetst hij de bepalende kenmerken van het (extreem-rechtse) populisme. Op basis van het werk van de Belgische filosofe Chantal Mouffe argumenteerde hij dat het succes van extreemrechts in verband gebracht kan worden met het dominante liberale consensusdenken en de vervlakking van het partijpolitieke landschap die daarmee gepaard gaat. De Leuvense filosoof Stefan Rummens publiceerde daarop een kritische reactie waarin hij De Vos en Mouffe verwijt het cordon sanitaire in de Belgische politiek te willen opdoeken. In deze reactie-op-de-reactie spreekt De Vos de lezing van Rummens tegen.

OIKOS - Tijdschrift voor Politiek, Milieu en Cultuur, 2006

JOURNAL ARTICLE (in Dutch) that deals with the crisis of democratic representation and the rise o... more JOURNAL ARTICLE (in Dutch) that deals with the crisis of democratic representation and the rise of right-wing populism in Flanders (Belgium) from the early 1990s onwards, comparing various explanatory accounts for this political phenomenon, and eventually contrasting these accounts with Chantal Mouffe's discourse theoretical approach to the study of contemporary right-wing populist mobilisation.

SPW-Zeitschrift für sozialistische Politik und Wirtschaft, 2005

JOURNAL ARTICLE (in German) dealing with Manmohan Singh's first year in government as the prime m... more JOURNAL ARTICLE (in German) dealing with Manmohan Singh's first year in government as the prime minister of India. (transl. title: A Third Way for India: Manmohan Singh's First Year)

KNACK, 2005

PRESS ARTICLE. In de wereld van computers en informatica is het Zuid-Indiase Bangalore een begrip... more PRESS ARTICLE. In de wereld van computers en informatica is het Zuid-Indiase Bangalore een begrip, een schoolvoorbeeld van globalisering en computertechnologie. Politicoloog Patrick De Vos trok er met steun van het Fonds Pascal Decroos heen en kwam terug met een genuanceerder beeld dan de hype laat vermoeden.

indymedia.be, 2004

OPINION ARTICLE. Opinieartikel in reactie op een debat over anti-intellectualisme dat sinds midde... more OPINION ARTICLE. Opinieartikel in reactie op een debat over anti-intellectualisme dat sinds midden april 2004 in De Morgen gevoerd wordt. Artikel werd geweigerd door De Morgen en sluit aan bij het Indymedia interview met Jan Blommaert. In een interview met Christophe Callewaert en Han Soete op de Indymedia website zegt Jan Blommaert dat het intellectueel debat in Vlaanderen niet bestaat. Hierin klaagt hij vooral de rol van de media aan. Zo’n debat leek in de voorbije weken, eventjes althans, op gang te komen in De Morgen, naar aanleiding van een interview met Dirk Holemans, waarop Mark Elchardus en vervolgens Ignaas Devisch reageerden. Om het debat een bijkomende impuls te geven was ook ondergetekende in zijn pen gekropen. Uitgerekend op het moment waarop Indymedia het interview met Blommaert publiceert laat de opinieredacteur van De Morgen weten geen belangstelling te hebben voor deze bijdrage. Blommaert’s kritiek wordt daarmee andermaal bevestigd. De tekst, zoals die ter publicatie werd aangeboden, wordt hier integraal weergegeven: http://archive.indymedia.be/news/2004/05/84487.html

PRAGMATICS - Quarterly Publication of the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA), 2003

JOURNAL ARTICLE in which it is argued that the discourse theory of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mou... more JOURNAL ARTICLE in which it is argued that the discourse theory of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe is a model of discursive conflict: political conflicts are understood as struggles between conflicting discourses that strive to impose their own system of meaning. This article starts by outlining this model as a theoretical framework as well as a set of instruments for political analysis. First the main theoretical concepts are spelled out and clarified. The article then turns to the issue of the rearticulation of the social democratic ideology during the 1990s. The so-called 'crisis of social democracy', a crisis that necessitated a transformation of this political project, is outlined together with some of the articulatory practices through which the renewal of social democracy took shape and the discursive background against which it has been articulated. To illustrate the contingency of the articulatory process, the article concludes with a summary of some contested assumptions of the new social democratic model. The overall aim of the article is to illustrate the feasibility and the added value of discourse theory for political research.

DE MORGEN, May 2, 2002

NEWS PAPER ARTICLE (in Dutch) debating with the editor-in-chief of De Morgen the causes the succe... more NEWS PAPER ARTICLE (in Dutch) debating with the editor-in-chief of De Morgen the causes the success of right-wing populist mobilisation in Europe. The article is a continuation of a previously published article by the author in the same news paper, which has fueled the debate at the time (see: Right-wing Populism and the Radical Centre, De Morgen, April 23, 2002).(transl. title: That Gorgeous Chilean Woman Sends her Regards, Mister Editor-in-Chief).

DE MORGEN, Apr 23, 2002

NEWS PAPER ARTICLE (in Dutch) published in the immediate aftermath of the French presidential ele... more NEWS PAPER ARTICLE (in Dutch) published in the immediate aftermath of the French presidential elections of 2002 in which the right-wing populist candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen (Front National) unexpectedly came out second. This gave rise to a wave of indignation throughout Europe and charged a public debate about what exactly causes the continued success of right-wing populist mobilisation in Europe at the time. (transl. title: Right-wing Populism and the Radical Centre)

Studies in Social and Political Thought (University of Sussex), 2002

JOURNAL ARTICLE. To introduce the issue of right-wing populism in Flanders the article first summ... more JOURNAL ARTICLE. To introduce the issue of right-wing populism in Flanders the article first summarizes and comments on two dominant political positions of the Flemish (Belgian) populist party Vlaams Blok: i.e. separatist nationalism and authoritarian xenophobic populism. After describing the Vlaams Blok’s political positions the article summarise two foremost types of analysis that have been put forward to account for the electoral upsurge of the Vlaams Blok and relate them to strategies employed by the mainstream democratic elites to marginalise them. From this is is argued that the current dominant frame of thinking is missing a crucial point: that the rise of ultra-nationalist and/or authoritarian-populist parties in Europe can be understood in the context of a hegemonic consensus around the political centre, resulting from an ideological convergence between the established political parties. Such an alternative explanation has been articulated by the political philosopher Chantal Mouffe. Elaborating on, as well as problematising the contemporary political phenomenon of centre politics the article then tries to demonstrate the validity of Mouffe's thesis by comparing it with the two aforementioned analyses.

ETHIEK & MAATSCHAPPIJ, 2001

JOURNAL ARTICLE. The discursive gaze: the discourse theory of Laclau and Mouffe as framework and ... more JOURNAL ARTICLE. The discursive gaze: the discourse theory of Laclau and Mouffe as framework and instrumentarium for social analysis. - In this article the political discourse theory developed by Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe is initiated by some brief comments on the most prevalent critiques of their post-structural approach. From this the basic political and philosophical assumptions underlying their theory are elucidated. Thereupon the conceptual framework of discourse theory is spelled out and clarified at length - discourse, antagonism, dislocation and hegemony - together with Laclau and Mouffe's conception of a radical and plural democracy. The authors then deal with some more profound criticisms put forward with regard to discourse theory: the issues of realism/idealism, the primacy of politics, the need for conceptual specification, and the relation between Marxism and post-Marxism are touched upon. Apart from giving a theoretical overview of this macro-contextual discourse theory, the article also aims to refute the common claim that this type of discourse theory is unfit as an instrument for concrete social analysis. In order to achieve this second objective, a description (and brief evaluation) is given of two research projects where discourse theory has been successfully applied. The first project analyses the construction of (audience) participation in audience discussion television programs; the second project deals with the contemporary issue of Third Way politics and the transformation of welfare states.

BROOD & ROZEN - Tijdschrift voor de Geschiedenis van Sociale Bewegingen, 1997

JOURNAL ARTICLE (in Dutch) exploring the historical and theoretical aspects of the Belgian debate... more JOURNAL ARTICLE (in Dutch) exploring the historical and theoretical aspects of the Belgian debate on working-time reduction up to the mid-1990s.

TIJDSCHRIFT VOOR SOCIALE WETENSCHAPPEN (Ghent University - Seminarie voor Sociologie), 1997

JOURNAL ARTICLE (in Dutch). In the present period of mass unemployment several remedies to redist... more JOURNAL ARTICLE (in Dutch). In the present period of mass unemployment several remedies to redistribute the amount of available work are proposed. The most salient among these suggestions is the reduction of working time. Given the massive unemployment problem, it is argued by some that reducing working time in order to supply more jobs should be a labor market policy. Thinking in terms of the present-day global interrelatedness, the author deals with the topic of working-time reduction in the Belgian national economy. First, focus is on the different organizational types and modes under which working-time reduction can be (or actual has been) introduced. The extension of compulsory education, early retirement, career-interruption, job-sharing and the lowering of the average working time are discussed. In addition collective versus individual -, voluntary versus forced - and permanent versus temporary working-time reduction, as well as working-time reduction with or without the maintenance of income are compared. Further three elaborated models/programs for working-time reduction are described. The debate between the advocates and adversaries of working-time reduction is pre¬sented by distinguishing populational from mere economical arguments, the latter concerning problems, limitations and preconditions (regarding income, education and other economic parameters) for achieving compromise among the relevant collective actors involved (unions, employers’ associations, etc.). Finally, the article not only returns to its initial question (whether working-time reduction is a solution for unemployment) but it will also inquire into the nature and effectiveness of working-time reduction as a possible labor market policy. (transl. title: Redistribution of Work Through Working-time Reduction: a Solution for Unemployment?)

Grenzen aan de Ethiek? Jaarboek Studium Generale 2008-2009. Hertmans, Stefan (ed.), Ghent: Academia Press, 2009

Discourse Theory and European Politics: Identity, Policy and Governance. Howarth, David & Jacob Torfing (eds.), London: Palgrave, 2004

Politieke trends en trendbreuken in de jaren negentig. Gaus, Helmut & Carl Devos (eds.), Ghent: Academia Press, 2004

Identiteiten: functies en disfuncties. Van den Brande, August (ed.), 2002, Ghent: Academia Press , 2002

DE WITTE RAAF, 2006

OIKOS - Tijdschrift voor Politiek, Milieu en Cultuur, 2006

SPW-Zeitschrift für sozialistische Politik und Wirtschaft, 2005

KNACK, 2005

indymedia.be, 2004

PRAGMATICS - Quarterly Publication of the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA), 2003

DE MORGEN, May 2, 2002

DE MORGEN, Apr 23, 2002

Studies in Social and Political Thought (University of Sussex), 2002

ETHIEK & MAATSCHAPPIJ, 2001

BROOD & ROZEN - Tijdschrift voor de Geschiedenis van Sociale Bewegingen, 1997

TIJDSCHRIFT VOOR SOCIALE WETENSCHAPPEN (Ghent University - Seminarie voor Sociologie), 1997

STICHTING-LODEWIJK DE RAET, 1999

Full report (in Dutch) of the 1999 colloquium "Stemmen over Brussel" as organised by the Lodewijk... more Full report (in Dutch) of the 1999 colloquium "Stemmen over Brussel" as organised by the Lodewijk de Raet Foundation at the VLEKHO Business School in Brussels on January 23 with the support of the Flemish Community (Vlaamse Gemeenschap) and the Flemish Community Commission of the Brussels Capital Region VGC (Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie van het Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest). The colloquium focused on the complex socio-political situation of the Brussels Capital Region and brought together a number of leading scholars and experts that approached the matter from different disciplinary angles such as cultural anthropology, urban geography, political science and policy studies. Keynote speakers were: Brigitte Grouwels (Minister of Brussels Affairs), Prof. Dr. Els Witte (Rector VUB), Prof. Dr. Eugeen Roosens (KULeuven), Prof. Dr. Walter De Lannoy (VUB) and others. The report was published in March 1999 by the Lodewijk de Raet Foundation and contains the resumés of the contributions of the participants as well as a summary of what has been discussed during the closing debate.

UNPUBLISHED DOCTORAL DISSERTATION (Ghent University), 2003

This dissertation (in Dutch) is the outcome of doctoral research on the ideological crisis and tr... more This dissertation (in Dutch) is the outcome of doctoral research on the ideological crisis and transformation of the British and Flemish social democracy in the context of globalisation. The aim is to study the recent evolution of the social-democratic ideology, in relation to the current issue of globalisation and the thesis of the loss of power of national states, from within a historical-interpretative research design. The questions of the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of the social-democratic renewal proces is focussed on the (trans-)formation of consensus amongst the social-democratic political elite. The examination of this elitist consensus is carried out through a discourse analysis, which is primarily informed by a model of discursive conflict developed by Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, and enriched with elements of Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis and the Foucauldian notions of ‘discursive power’ and ‘governmentality’. The central question in this research project is the relationship between language and politics. Thereafter follows a historical reconstruction of the theoretical development of social democracy, from Bernstein until today, which gives the research a basis for historical comparison. Next is a piece which – in order to lay the basis for the following chapters – introduces the larger topics and offers an inventory of different analyses of recent macro-evolutions. Subsequently the globalisation discourse is analysed as a productive-discursive power strategy. This analysis illustrates how the formation of ideas about globalisation was initially formed and thereupon institutionalised and normalised, and how general ideas about what is politically feasible were modified through these processes. In the then following chapter the central topic is the current renaissance and meta-morphosis of social democracy. After introducing the topic of the transformation of social-democracy a differentiation is introduced between the electoral and the ideological-programmatic components. The notion of a ‘third way’ is problematised via some of its articulations and aspects. The final aim of this analysis is to come, through a genealogical and deconstructive approach, to a clear definition. First the work of most outspoken advocate of the third way – British sociologist Anthony Giddens – will be analysed and discussed. His role as a political ideologist is seen in relation to his theoretical development as a sociologist. After that the origins of the British debate concerning the third way are traced in order to then introduce the topic of the third way through the representation which Giddens first introduced in ‘Beyond Left and Right’ (1994) and then followed up in ‘The Third Way’ (1998). The analysis then concentrates on other prominent advocates of the third way, as well as on some of its main critics. The analysis of the globalisation discourse and the third way underline the interpretative differences between the Anglo-Saxon and the continental-European experience. This gap offers the starting point for the last chapter. Here a comparative analysis of the ideological renewal of the British and Flemish social democracy is central.

UNPUBLISHED MASTER DISSERTATION (Ghent University), 1996

This dissertation (in Dutch) deals with the central question of whether working-time reduction co... more This dissertation (in Dutch) deals with the central question of whether working-time reduction could be a solution for mass unemployment and redistribution of wealth. It deals with both the historical and theoretical aspects of working-time reduction, outlines and analyses the debate between the advocates and adversaries of working-time reduction, and inquires into the nature and effectiveness of working-time reduction as a possible labor market policy.

KNACK Special "China & India: De Nieuwe Wereldmachten", October, 2006

Guest lecture at the English Department at Ghent University, 2005

UNPUBLISHED PAPER. Full text of the guest lecture on cultural globalisation, travel culture, Goa ... more UNPUBLISHED PAPER. Full text of the guest lecture on cultural globalisation, travel culture, Goa (India) and the hippy legacy given by Dr. Patrick De Vos at the English Department at Ghent University on December 21, 2005.

Guest lecture in the MA-course 'Conflict and Cooperation' at the Department of Political Science at Maastricht University, 2005

UNPUBLISHED PAPER. Full text of the guest lecture on World-System Analysis, globalisation and the... more UNPUBLISHED PAPER. Full text of the guest lecture on World-System Analysis, globalisation and the work of the American sociologist Immanuel Wallerstein given by Dr. Patrick De Vos in the MA-course 'Conflict and Cooperation' at the Department of Political Science of the Maastricht University (The Netherlands) on November 28, 2005.

Guest lecture at the Department of Political Science at Ghent University, 2001

UNPUBLISHED PAPER. Full text of the guest lectures on the "End of History" thesis, comparing the ... more UNPUBLISHED PAPER. Full text of the guest lectures on the "End of History" thesis, comparing the version of Francis Fukuyama with that of Jean-François Lyotard. The lectures were given by Patrick De Vos in the graduate course ‘Studie van de Ideologieën’ of Prof. Dr. Hendrik Vos at the Department of Political Science at Ghent University on March 15, 22 and 29, 2001.

Pragmatics, Mar 1, 2003

The discourse theory of Laclau and Mouffe, it is argued, is a model of discursive conflict: Polit... more The discourse theory of Laclau and Mouffe, it is argued, is a model of discursive conflict: Political conflicts are understood as struggles between conflicting discourses that strive to impose their own system of meaning. This article starts by outlining this model as a theoretical framework as well as a set of instruments for political analysis. First the main theoretical concepts are spelled out and clarified. The article then turns to the issue of the rearticulation of the social democratic ideology during the 1990s. The so-called 'crisis of social democracy', a crisis that necessitated a transformation of this political project, is outlined together with some of the articulatory practices through which the renewal of social democracy took shape and the discursive background against which it has been articulated. To illustrate the contingency of the articulatory process, the article concludes with a summary of some contested assumptions of the new social democratic model. The overall aim of the article is to illustrate the feasibility and the added value of discourse theory for political research.

In the present period of mass unemployment several remedies to redistribute the amount of availab... more In the present period of mass unemployment several remedies to redistribute the amount of available work are proposed. The most salient among these suggestions is the reduction of working time. Given the massive unemployment problem, it is argued by some that reducing working time in order to supply more jobs should be a labor market policy. Thinking in terms of the present-day global interrelatedness, the author deals with the topic of working-time reduction in the Belgian national economy. First, focus is on the different organizational types and modes under which working-time reduction can be (or has actually been) introduced. The extension of compulsory education, early retirement, career-interruption, job-sharing and the lowering of the average working time are discussed. In addition collective versus individual, voluntary versus forced and permanent versus temporary working-time reduction, as well as working-time reduction with or without the maintenance of income, are compare...

Pragmatics, 2003

The discourse theory of Laclau and Mouffe, it is argued, is a model of discursive conflict: Polit... more The discourse theory of Laclau and Mouffe, it is argued, is a model of discursive conflict: Political conflicts are understood as struggles between conflicting discourses that strive to impose their own system of meaning. This article starts by outlining this model as a theoretical framework as well as a set of instruments for political analysis. First the main theoretical concepts are spelled out and clarified. The article then turns to the issue of the rearticulation of the social democratic ideology during the 1990s. The so-called ‘crisis of social democracy’, a crisis that necessitated a transformation of this political project, is outlined together with some of the articulatory practices through which the renewal of social democracy took shape and the discursive background against which it has been articulated. To illustrate the contingency of the articulatory process, the article concludes with a summary of some contested assumptions of the new social democratic model. The ove...

Discourse Theory in European Politics, 2005

This chapter engages with mainstream explanations of the electoral growth of the xenophobic and s... more This chapter engages with mainstream explanations of the electoral growth of the xenophobic and separatist Flemish far-right party, Vlaams Blok, in Belgium from the late 1980s onward. The issue of right-wing populism in Flanders is introduced by briefly outlining the genesis of the current political situation, and subsequently explaining the two dominant political positions held by the Vlaams Blok, separatist nationalism and authoritarian xenophobic populism, as they were articulated in Party manifestos, such as Immigration: the Time Bomb Is Ticking!’,2 the 1999 electoral platform ‘Masters in Our House’, and the current programme summary ‘A Future for Flanders’. Thereupon I will summarize and problematize the two foremost types of analysis that have been put forward to account for the electoral upsurge of the Vlaams Blok, and relate them to strategies employed by the mainstream democratic elites to marginalize this party. From this, it is argued that the current dominant frame of thinking is missing a crucial point: for instance, that the rise of an ultra-nationalist and authoritarian-populist party in Flanders, as elsewhere in Europe, can be better understood in the context of a hegemonic consensus around the political centre, resulting from an ideological convergence between the established political parties, characterized by the disappearance of antagonism. Such an alternative account has been developed over the years by Chantai Mouffe, and I shall first summarize and expound her thesis, and explain how and why it is applicable to the case of the Vlaams Blok.

De discursieve blik. De discourstheorie van Laclau en Mouffe als denkkader en instrumentarium voo... more De discursieve blik. De discourstheorie van Laclau en Mouffe als denkkader en instrumentarium voor sociaal-wetenschappelijke analyse

Brood & Rozen, 1997