Agonistic City: Elegy for the Autonomous

Abstract

Public by its very definition is highly heterogeneous and as such needs to cater for a variety of occupants and not just one universal common denominator. We regularly form opinions about various situations or objects through our lives; it is only natural that these opinions may in fact differ from others. Whilst two different views may be contradictory to each other they still share a common ground, that being their subject. The subject can thus be seen as a generator of dialogue between conflicting parties. Instead of aiming for synchronization, such a model could be based on participation of the public and conscious implementation of zones of conflict. This public space would cease being a static object and become a process; a process of negotiation between different parties forming temporary alliances, constantly evolving in accordance to multiple factors. This idea, radical democracy, is put forward by Chantal Mouffe. Mouffe considers public space as being predominantly found in two conditions: either at peace or at war, and that either of these two states is constructive. She suggests a third condition in which an alliance has been temporarily struck between different parties. This she names an agonistic condition. An agonistic public space is one in which multiple desires and users can be supported, a space where “the conflicting parties recognize the legitimacy of their opponents, although acknowledge there is no rational solution to their conflict. They are adversaries not enemies.” It is this condition I wish to investigate within Macau’s landscape of consumption that has led to multiple cultural and socio-economic disjunctions within the city, between the visitors and the residents, and the possible positive development of the spatial conditions of the ‘we and they’. Critical Research Question: 1. What are the opportunities of visualising the public space in a way allowing for the democratic staging of confrontation?