The debate with Jon Beasley-Murray on the limits of posthegemony theory continues and has so far covered (1) his review of Louis Althusser’s Machiavelli and Us; (2) my critique Machiavelli, Gramsci, Althusser and Us; (3) his rejoinder A bit of a leap; (4) my reply Importuning Gramsci; and (5) his counter-response Not nearly far enough. That is an overview of the past, now back to the present with my latest contribution.
Throughout the exchange I have stressed the positive elements embedded in any such debate and I still want to retain that ethos of the critique. Indeed, from the new social media of blogging, one future option might be a return to the old media of the past and wrap the debate as it stands into journal form, supplemented with additional extended essays from each of us. For the present, though, my aim is to take issue with a number of points raised in the last round contained within Beasley-Murray’s ‘Not nearly far enough’ post.
