Gramsci, post-Marxism and critical realism

This chapter examines and contrasts post-Marxism and critical realism, two highly influential schools of thought with great relevance to such Gramscian themes as hegemony, class, subject positions and interests, ideology and discourse. It starts by outlining the post-Marxist position as articulated by Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe and the school of discourse analysis associated with the University of Essex. It then moves on to the critical realist approach associated with Roy Bhaskar. It notes how post-Marxism is more explicitly engaged with Gramsci, developing a new understanding of hegemony that places emphasis on plurality, contingency and the discursive articulation of complex elements. Critical realism is less sympathetic to such an approach given its emphasis on the intelligibility of social science and the structured and enduring character of the social world. After developing the post-Marxist position the chapter outlines the character of the critical realist critique.