Democracy Today.indb - Universidade do Minho

ecause in it there would be constant shifting of the signifier under the
signified. A psychotic universe this would be. [5] So a discourse has to be
limited in a non-differential manner in order to sustain meaning. The
impossibility of a differential determination of the limit of a discourse
simply means that the limits of any signifying system or discourse
cannot themselves be signified. Meaning is only possible due to the
final impossibility of meaning. Or, to be more precise: meaning can
only emerge if the endless play of differences is limited, but this limit
only shows itself as the breakdown of all meaning. [6]
Limits are thus constitutive of meaning. But they are not only constitutive.
Every limit also excludes something. Besides being constitutive,
the limit is also exclusive. The limit is a break or a cut in the endless
play of differences. But, since a discourse can only exist by limiting
the play of differences, this means that what is excluded always continues
to threaten the discourse. To shift the limit is to fundamentally
transform meaning, and to take away the limit is to make meaning itself
impossible. But, in fact, the limit can always be shifted because it is
contingent in nature. Where the limit is drawn involves no necessity,
because if it did, it would only be because the limit itself was part of
another discourse. [7] Besides being constitutive and exclusive, therefore,
the limit of any signifying system is also contingent in nature.
This characterization of the limit of any signifying system or discourse
allows us to understand why the ‘relationship’ [8] towards what
is excluded is always a potentially antagonistic one. What is excluded
is always threatening to the existing order since it is able to destroy
the order as such. The possibility of destruction can never be totally
avoided because the limit is contingent in nature and can always be
shifted. Antagonism is the unavoidable dark side of every signifying
system. If an antagonistic confrontation occurs, it manifests itself as
a struggle that can only be won or lost. The only decisive factor in
who will win the antagonistic struggle is power. Since antagonism is
inevitable in any signifying system, we should draw the conclusion
that only power is constitutive for the existence of our social reality
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DEMOCRACY, HOPE
AND NIHILISM
Thomas Decreus
5
Marchart (2007) 136.
6
Laclau (1996) 37.
7
Marchart (2007) 146
8
Of course we cannot really speak about a relationship here.