Specters of postmodernism: Derrida’s Marx,the New International and the return of situationism

Abstract

In Specters of Marx, Derrida proposes a return to the spirit of Marxism as a way of dealing with the ‘repoliticization’ of contemporary realities. I suggest that Derrida’s rediscovery of Marx allows one to map out what I call the end(s) of postmodernism, that is to say, the point(s) where the cultural free-play characteristic of the postmodern mood is confronted with renewed questions of politics, ideology and technology. Through a micro-reading of Derrida’s text, two possible end(s) of post-modernism are identified. One is a ‘retro-(post)modernist’ discourse which turns liberal and provides the vision of a ‘New International’ as an end result. The other is a ‘(post)-postmodern’ approach which finds a way of tackling politics and ideology by rediscovering a mode of situationist engagement. By investigating the ‘specters’ of postmodernism through Derrida’s recent work, this paper contributes to the debate over what type of theoretical formations may emerge after postmodernism.