Simon Critchley is Professor of Philosophy in the Graduate Faculty, New School University and at the University of Essex. He is the author and editor of many books.Oliver Marchart is a lecturer in Cultural and Media Theory at the University of Basel and in Political Theory at the University of Vienna.

• Introduction Section 1: Philosophy: Universality, Singularity, Difference Rodolphe Gasché How Empty Can Empty Be? On the Place of the Universal Fred Dallmayr Laclau and Hegemony: Some (Post) Hegelian Caveats Oliver Marchart Politics and the Ontological Difference: On the "Strictly Philosophical" in Laclau's Work Rado Riha Politics as the Real of Philosophy Linda Zerilli This Universalism Which Is Not One Section 2: Democracy: Politics, Ethics, Normativity Simon Critchley Is there a Normative Deficit in the Theory of Hegemony? Mark Devenney Ethics and Politics in Discourse Theory Aletta Norval Democratic Decisions and the Question of Universality: Rethinking Recent Approaches William E. Connolly The Ethos of Democratization Jelica Sumic Anarchism of Emancipation or Fidelity to Politics Section 3: Hegemony: Discourse, Rhetorics, Antagonism Jason Glynos and Yannis Stavrakakis Encounters of the Real Kind: Sussing Out the Limits of Laclau's Embrace of Lacan J. Hillis Miller "Taking Up a Task": Moments of Decision in Ernesto Laclau's Thought Urs Stäheli Competing Figures of the Limit: Dispersion, Transgression, Antagonism and Indifference Torben Dyrberg The Political and Politics in Discourse Analysis David Howarth Hegemony, Political Subjectivity and Radical Democracy Ernesto Laclau Glimpsing the Future A Reply Appendix 1: Ernesto Laclau and Judith Butler The Uses of Equality Appendix 2: Bibliography of Ernesto Laclau's Work

' ... is exemplary in its attempt to do justice to the rich and complicated thought of its subject.' - Times Literary Supplement'After the editor's superb introduction that sets the general implication of Laclau's work, a collection of snappy and well-written articles deal with Laclau's novel conceptualisation of hegemony and its implications ... the text is so well edited that it is quite difficult to find any problem with it.' - Political Studies Review