The neoliberal capitalist economy, the fragile, consuming individual, and the surveilg, controlling state are aspects of the diagnosis of depoliticization well worth emphasizing. Yet post.:politics, depoliticization, and de-democratization are inadequate to the task of theorizing this conjuncture. The claim that states are decreasing in signifcance and impact because of the compulsions of the market ignores the millions of dolars regularly spent in political campaigns. Business and market interests as well as corporate and financial elites expend vast amounts of time and money on elections, candidates, lobbyists, and lawmakers in order to produce and direct a political climate that suits their interests. Capitalizing on left critiques of regulation and retreats from the state, neoliberals move right in, deploying state power to further their interests. Similarly, social conservatives in the United States persistently fight across a broad spectrum of political fronts-including local school boards, statewide ballot initiatives, judicial appointments, and mobilizations to amend the Constitution. The left-wing lament regarding post-politics not only �:werlooks the reality of politics on the ground but it cedes in ac;lvance key terrains of activism and struggle. Not recognizing these politicized sites as politicized .sites, it fails to counter conservative initiatives with a coherent alternative.
Claims for post-politics are childishly petulant. Leftists assume that our lack of good political ideas means the end of politics as such. If the game isn't played on our terms, we aren't going to play at al. We aren't even going to rec gnize that a game is being played. To this extent, the claim for post-politics erases its own standpoint of enunciation. "Why refer to a formation as post-political if one does not have political grounds for doing so? If one already has such gr<sup>�</sup>unds, then how exactly is the situation postpolitical? If one lacks them, then what is the purpose of the claim if not to draw attention to or figure this lack? Figuring a lack may be the strongest contribution of the rhetoric of depoliticization, one to which we on the left should attend, and one which makes debates among political theorists important for leftists looking to reinvent our modes of dreaming. It makes sense, then, to consider these debates in some detail.
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INTRODUCTION