“I” meets the “Other”

Any conception of dialogue presupposes interaction between “me” and one or more others. Hence, it requires theorization of such basic concepts as subjectivity and otherness. This chapter will investigate how these are constructed in two influential contemporary normative visions of democratic politics—deliberation and agonism—here represented by Jürgen Habermas and Chantal Mouffe. For reasons that will be explained later, I treat both their theories as examples of theorizing dialogue. I will also argue that despite their many differences, both thinkers propose a similar solution when it comes to dealing with radically Others—those who do not fit into their versions of democratic politics.