Introduction
PDT’s methodological deficit and epistemological relativism
Research objectives
Empirical material
1.The dislocated universe of Laclau and Mouffe
Articulations, patterns, and discourse
Subjectivity
Hegemonic politics
Heterogeneity
The Logics approach as a middle-range theory in PDT
2.Defining political strategy
3.Working definition
4.A discursive approach to political strategy
5.Structure of the argument
Part I.Theory
Chapter 1Post-Marxist Discourse Theory and the question of political strategy
1.From Marxism to Post-Marxism
2.The question of strategy
3.Political strategy in Marxist thought, or the enduring grip of essentialism
The Invisible Committee
Hardt, Negri, and folk politics
Post-hegemony
Debord and Camatte
4.A Poststructuralist theory of hegemony
Chapter 2Challenges and obstacles to a Post-Marxist account of political strategy
1.The “problem of institutions”
2.The “normative deficit”
3.PDT’s theory of subjectivity
4.The ontological status of antagonism and the primacy of the political
Chapter 3A Post-Marxist framework for strategic analysis and reflection
1.Ontological principles for strategic analysis
The tendency towards the reproduction of hegemony
Political reactivation and politicization as conducive of hegemonic change
Horizontality and verticality
2.Strategic analysis through the Logics framework
Social and political logics as strategic concepts
Heterogeneous logics as strategic concepts
3.Post-Marxist guidelines for the political strategist
Part II.Case study
Chapter 4Context, data, and methods
1.Context: EU trade policy and the trade politics of the European Parliament
2.Data: Debates on EU trade policy in the plenary sessions of the European Parliament
3.Method: Topic modelling and topic models
Chapter 5Political strategies in the trade politics of the European Parliament
1.The discursive construction of “political agency”
The social logic of “political agency” in the European Parliament
The politicization of “political agency”
“Political agency” from a poststructuralist and a constructivist point of view
2.The discursive construction of “protection”
3.The discursive construction of “multilateralism”
4.The discursive construction of “development”
5.Conclusion
Conclusion
1.Why post-Marxist strategic analysis?
2.Political strategy and the future of the Left
Bibliography