Our age is celebrated as the triumph of liberal democracy. Old ideological battles have been decisively resolved in favour of freedom and the market. We are told that we have moved 'beyond left and right' that we are 'all in this together'. Any remaining differences are to be addressed through expert knowledge, consensual deliberation and participatory governance. Yet the 'end of history' has also been marked by widespread disillusion with mainstream politics and a rise in nationalist and religious fundamentalisms. And now an explosion of popular protests is challenging technocratic regulation and the power of markets in the name of democracy itself. This collection makes sense of this situation by critically engaging with the influential theory of 'the post-political' developed by Chantal Mouffe, Jacques Rancière, Slavoj Zizek and others. Through a multi-dimensional and fiercely contested assessment of contemporary depoliticisation, The Post-Political and Its Discontents urges us to confront the closure of our political horizons and re-imagine the possibility of emancipatory change. Key Features * Interrogates the theoretical literature on the post-political - its value and limits, its internal tensions and the possibility of creative syntheses with other approaches *Critically engages with multiple dimensions of contemporary depoliticisation, including multiculturalism, philanthropy, ecology, participatory development, public-private partnerships and the regulation of biotechnology *Assesses the emancipatory potential of anti-austerity protests, the Occupy movement and other political struggles in the context of continuing processes of post-politicisation