Abstract

There has been a reversion of political signs in the (academic) field of theory. What has been the subject of left-wing emancipatory critique during the 1950s has become the target of nationalist- authoritarian movements: liberalism, capitalism, globalization, the political principle of representation, the hegemonial character of truth claims. Favoured words of French Theory like ›deconstruction‹ and ›simulation‹ have assimilated with the exercise of power of right-wing populists. Cultural scientists on the other hand now find themselves in the completely foreign position of being tasked with fact checking and to rally against relativization of universally acknowledged scientific findings. This article asks how the emancipatory potential and the gaining of knowledge of poststructuralism can be defended against a ›hostile takeover‹