Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines the theory of revolutionary subjectivity in the work of Ernesto Laclau, Antonio Negri both individually and in his co-authored work with Michael Hardt and Alain Badiou. It argues that, somewhat ironically, each thinker's post-Marxist theory of revolutionary subjectivity is established on the basis of a sustained engagement with aspects of a particular Marxist theorist's thought. The book outlines each thinker's early theory of revolutionary subjectivity in relation to their own particular academic, activist or personal circumstance. It discusses the relative merits of each theory as a means of not only suggesting a productive synthesis, but also for making some general claims about post-Marxist theories of revolutionary subjectivity today. It identifies the moment where each thinker's theory of revolutionary subjectivity explicitly departs from Marx's.