On the limits of the political The problem of overly permissive pluralism in Mouffe's agonism

The critique of depoliticization is a central theme in agonistic political theory. As discussed in the work of Chantal Mouffe and Ernesto Laclau (2001), any principled distinction between legitimate political contestations and indisputable requirements of rationality is deemed problematic (Mouffe, 2000, pp. 135–136). This is because, agonistic theorists believe, the boundaries between the political and non-political realms are always constituted by exclusionary acts of power. Such boundaries seem natural or necessary only until conflicting parties renegotiate them, that is, through hegemonic struggles determining what issues are the intelligible subject matter of political disputes (Mouffe, 2005, p. 18).