Constitutive outside makes conflict permanent and irreducible in identity

Evidence

With its insistence on the irreducible alterity that represents both a condition of possibility and a condition of impossibility of every identity, a perspective informed by post-structuralism provides a much better theoretical framework to grasp the specificity of modern democracy than rationalist approaches. The notion of the ‘constitutive outside’ forces us to come to terms with the idea that pluralism implies the permanence of conflict and antagonism. — Chantal Mouffe, The Democratic Paradox, 142

Categorization

• DEFINE: Introduced the constitutive outside: the alterity that both enables and limits every identity, which is the mechanism by which pluralism becomes irreducible.
• XREF: Builds directly on the reader’s stated project of testing whether a pluralist ‘we’ can exist without a permanent Enemy - the constitutive outside seems to require one. — connects to: Every identity is contingent because its constitutive outside shadows its inside. — Chantal Mouffe, The Democratic Paradox, 96; Individual identity forms dialogically through a constitutive outside, not autonomously. — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2: Identity…, 363; The constitutive outside makes alterity both possible and impossible for identity (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• The constitutive outside makes alterity both possible and impossible for identity #expands (0.90)
• Individual identity forms dialogically through a constitutive outside, not autonomously. #expands (0.85) — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 363
• Identity is constructed through opposition to a continuously reinterpreted other #expands (0.80)
• Identity is formed through contrast with difference #expands (0.75)
• Relation arises from successive perceptions and identity is negation of diversity #expands (0.72) — Jeremy Bentham, The Panopticon Writings, 484