On Populist Reason __»——_ ERNESTO LACLAU Vv VERSO London + Now YorFiat pblsed by Verso 2005, To Chantal, © Emeso Hala 2005, after 30 years Verso ‘UK: 6 Mead Sueet, London WIF OG ‘USA: 180 Vaick Ser, New York, NY 10014-4606 ‘weruversobookscom ‘Verso is the imprint of New Left Hooks ISBN 1.85984-651-3, British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data ‘A easlogue record fr this ook i avaable fem the British Library Libeary of Congress Cetaloging-in-Publicaton Data ‘catalog cond fo ths book avaiable rom the Library of Congres “Typeset in Garamond Peined and bound in Gree Britain by William Clowes Lid, Becles, SulePreface “The main issue addressed in this book is the nature and logics of the formation of collective identities, My whole approach has grown out of digms. The logis that those types of socal Functioning presuppose a, ia my view, c00 simple and uniform to capture the variety of movements involved in identity construction. Needless to say, methodological ‘variants ~ rational choice included ~ does not have tried to follow in order to address these issues is a co split the unity of the group into smaller tunities that we have called demands the unity of the group is in my view, the result of an articulation of demands, This articulation, however, ‘ond to a stable and positive configuration which could “hole: on the contraey, since its in the nature of all demands to present claims to a certain ‘peculiar relation with that order, being both inside and ‘order cannot fully absorb the demand, it cannot constt