ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author's aim is to replace Derrida’s thought in its context of origin and to suggest how the transition from avoidance to engagement with political concepts might be understood in relation to developments in French thought during this period. The author outlines the different kinds of conceptual analysis undertaken during the period of so-called “affirmative deconstruction” since the mid-1980s, in order to clarify the nature of his engagement with political philosophy and specifically his analyses of democracy and “democracy to come.” The author concludes that both deconstructive and liberal normative approaches to political philosophy would benefit from further constructive engagement. Perhaps the reasons for his earlier reticence to engage with political philosophy should be sought in his relationship with the French intellectual left and the local context in which his thought developed during the 1960s. The question of the politics of deconstruction accompanied Derrida’s work from its beginnings.
