Prefigurative Democracy

Abstract

In the wake of protest movements such as Occupy Wall Street and the Spanish 15-M movement, the past decade has seen an increased interest in prefigurative politics: the attempt of activists to already realise or embody their ideal of a future society within their own organisational structures or political practices. This book reconstructs the history of prefiguration as an idea and concept, focusing on its place and meaning in anarchist practices and discourses. It also argues why this anarchist idea of prefiguration may fall short in explaining the democratic relevance of protest movements today. For instance, whereas the traditional concept of prefiguration is often considered to eschew any form of political representation, we may need to better understand how movements such as Occupy Wall Street and their prefigurative practices precisely fulfilled an important representative role. This book argues that a more radical-democratic conception of prefigurative politics is needed. It builds on the work of various radical-democratic theorists – primarily Hannah Arendt and Ernesto Laclau, but also others such as Claude Lefort, Rosa Luxemburg, and Judith Butler – to reveal the radical potential and representative role of protest and social movements. Engaging with these radical-democratic sources also offers various accounts of how prefigurative practices and movements may continue to have political relevance long after they have ended.