Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

From Dusk till Dawn: Bobbio on the left/right dichotomy

Drochon, Hugo

From Dusk till Dawn: Bobbio on the left/right dichotomy Thumbnail


Authors



Abstract

In his seminal 1994 book Left and Right, Bobbio defined the left as favouring equality, whereas the right favoured inequality. Whilst that distinction retains all of its intellectual purchase, Bobbio was also open to theorizing the centre as either the ‘included’, ‘inclusive’ and ‘transversal’ middle. Building on Bobbio’s work, this article posits that a centre/extremes opposition is a better way of conceptualizing political change, after which a left/right divide re-establishes itself on the basis of the creation of a new centre. To do so it will explore the birthplace of the left/right divide, namely the French Revolution, to argue it was not the only–or indeed dominant–opposition at the time, turning then to the 2017 French presidential election, which opposed Emmanuel Macron to Marine Le Pen, to underline how the centre/extremes opposition continues to capture something fundamental about our contemporary politics. It will conclude by asking whether Bobbio’s notion of the ‘inclusive’ middle is the best way for the centre to hold today.

Citation

Drochon, H. (2022). From Dusk till Dawn: Bobbio on the left/right dichotomy. Journal of Political Ideologies, 27(3), 330-346. https://doi.org/10.1080/13569317.2022.2129220

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Aug 8, 2022
Online Publication Date Oct 27, 2022
Publication Date Oct 27, 2022
Deposit Date Aug 10, 2022
Publicly Available Date Apr 28, 2024
Journal Journal of Political Ideologies
Print ISSN 1356-9317
Electronic ISSN 1469-9613
Publisher Routledge
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 27
Issue 3
Pages 330-346
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/13569317.2022.2129220
Keywords Political Science and International Relations; Geography, Planning and Development
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/9901277
Publisher URL https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13569317.2022.2129220
Additional Information This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Political Ideologies on 27 Oct 2022, available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13569317.2022.2129220.

Files





You might also like



Downloadable Citations