The Latin American Unknowable: Contributions and Limitations of Cultural Criticism

Abstract

Based on the cultural criticism elaborated in the second half of the 20th century, this article analyzes two of the major Latin American theoretical discussions on community and politics, namely decolonialism and posthegemony. The main argument of this paper is that both currents need to be examined without losing sight of the weight of the unknowable. By comparing those two currents with Ernesto Laclau’s definition of populism, we explain the possibilities and the limitations of the alternative political subjects sketched by both tendencies in order to replace the populist subject with a more democratic discourse practice.