PLEBS I IRONIA NIEREPREZENTOWALNOŚĆ WE WSPÓŁCZESNEJ TEORII REPREZENTACJI POLITYCZNEJ
THE PLEBS AND IRONY: NON-REPRESENTABILITY IN CONTEMPORARY POLITICAL REPRESENTATION THEORY

Summary/Abstract: The article examines, from the perspective of representation theory, the placeof the idea of unrepresentable groups and individuals in contemporary liberaldemocracies. The author juxtaposes Ernesto Laclaus’ radical theory of populismwith Michael Saward’s liberal theory of representative claims. The analysis tracesthe discursive shift from “demand-side” to “supply-side” representation theory,illustrating how the logic of this shift leads to an “inflation of representation”,where the representation obtained ultimately does not bring fulfilment. Theauthor’s assumption is that the influence of new media creates a paradoxicalsituation in which the radical heterogeneity of the plebs returns at the level ofindividual experiences, revealing the internal contradiction of desires and interestsof individuals. Although this becomes a source of potential abuse, it also harboursthe potential for political subversion, identified in the article as the triumph ofplebeian irony.

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