expressions are often used, since the philosophical project of poststructuralist thought, whilst scarcely winning over all comers, brought about a rethinking of Marxist certainties that verges on a major transformation. 'Ideology' is a key element of this; indeed in my view it is a central focus of the debates, precisely because of the epistemological and political weight that theories of ideology have carried within Marxism.

In considering such a shift it is worth noting a prophetic point made by Laclau in his earlier book, where he suggests, following Althusser, that theoretical problems are never, strictly speaking 'solved': they are 'superseded'. This is because if they can be solved within the terms of the existing theory, they are not 'theoretical' problems as such but, rather, empirical or local difficulties of applying the theoretical framework in that particular case. By definition, says Laclau, if there is a genuine theoretical problem '(i.e. one involving an inconsistency in the logical structure of the theory)' then the only way forward is to accept that 'it cannot be resolved within the systems of postulates of the theory', which would mean that the theoretical system would then go into internal contradiction or conflict. From this, suggests Laclau, the 'only way forward is to deny the system of axioms on which the theory is based: that is, to move from one theoretical system to another'. And, as he correctly points out, the originating problem is 'dissolved' in the new system rather than 'solved' within the terms of the old. ²¹

There is little point in reading Laclau and Mouffe's Hegemony and Socialist Strategy if you refuse to countenance the starting point that Marxism is one among several general theories that are not now viable: they state categorically in the introduction that 'Just as the era of normative epistemologies has come to an end, so too has the era of universal discourses.' The arguments that Laclau and Mouffe bring to bear on Marxism are central themes of post-structuralist thought, and they form part and parcel of that more general theoretical perspective. At times, their arguments are specifically indebted to those of Derrida (particularly), or Lacan. Laclau and Mouffe have themselves constructed, in the field of Marxism and political theory, theses that are complementary to, but distinct from, arguments that others have developed elsewhere -- be this in literary criticism, psychoanalysis or economics, for example. It is important to note the depth of the theoretical critique of Marxism that Laclau and Mouffe are posing. They now believe that theories such as Marxism are not viable on general grounds, and it is inappropriate in my view for Marxists to respond to their arguments, as some have, with excoriation of them personally as lapsed, ex- or anti-Marxists. ²²

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