University of Essex

Professor Ernesto Laclau 1936-2014

14 April 2014
A charismatic teacher and writer, Ernesto Laclau inspired generations of students at the
University of Essex, where he taught and conducted research from 1973!""#$ %rom
199" to 1997 he was &irector of the 'entre for (heoretical )tudies in the *umanities
and )ocial )ciences, and also esta+lished the ,deology and &iscourse Analysis -esearch
.rogramme, which attracted /A and .h& students from around the world$
,f you would li0e to leave a tri+ute to .rofessor Laclau you can use the comment
section on our Essex &aily +log
1ver a period of more than four decades he delivered seminars in the U2, 3orth
America, Europe, )candinavia, Australia, )outh Africa, and his native Latin America$
/any of his students have gone on to successful academic careers across the glo+e,
securing posts in prestigious universities and research institutes in the U2, the U)A,
'anada, /exico, &enmar0, (ur0ey, (aiwan, %inland, )outh Africa, 4ermany, 5apan,
Australia, 6ra7il, Argentina, 8ene7uela, )weden, ,ran, 'hile, and many other countries$
.rofessor -o+in 6lac0+urn from the &epartment of )ociology has written a
tri+ute to .rofessor Laclau on the 8erso 6oo0s we+site
Ernesto +la7ed a uni9ue trail in political theory and philosophy from the early 197"s$
*is writings, including Hegemony and Socialist Strategy :with 'hantal /ouffe;, New
Reflections on the Revolution of Our Time< Contingency, Hegemony, Universality :with
5udith 6utler and )lavo= >i7e0;< Emancipations! and On "opulist Reason, articulated a
num+er of philosophical and theoretical currents within a coherent alternative to
mainstream models of conducting research$
*is revitali7ation of /arxist theories of politics and ideology in the 197"s gave way to
the ela+oration of a distinctively post/arxist theory of discursive practice in the 19#"s
and 199"s$ &rawing on themes and insights from deconstruction and Lacanian
psychoanalysis he founded and continued to develop the Essex )chool of &iscourse
Analysis?$ )tretching +ac0 to his criti9ues of Louis Althusser, 3icos .oulant7as, -alph
/ili+and and ,mmanuel @allerstein, Ernesto also ela+orated his innovative theoretical
approach in a series of critical engagements with the leading social and political
theorists of the time$ )uch engagement included de+ates with leading thin0ersA 4iorgio
Agam+en, Alain 6adiou, 5udith 6utler, 5oan 'op=ec, @illiam 'onnolly, )imon
'ritchley, 5ac9ues &errida, 5ac9ues -anciBre, -ichard -orty, Linda >erilli, and )lavo=
CiDe0$
Ernesto was first and foremost an engaged intellectual, who consistently sought to
theori7e contemporary events and reality, and to de+ate with the leading intellectual
figures of the day, with respect to 9uestions of political principle and strategy$
Until his untimely death on )unday, he continued to ela+orate his approach +y
challenging and articulating related approaches, and +y situating his wor0 in connection
to the democratic and pluralist Left$
(ri+utes to him have poured in from across the glo+e$ *is wisdom and wit, acute insight
and willingness to thin0 through the complexities of the political issues we face will +e
deeply missed +y students and colleagues ali0e$
"rofessor #letta Norval and $r $avid Howarth, $epartment of %overnment, University
of Esse&
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