Abstract

A certain version of the political left is at one with conservatives in misrepresenting ‘postmodernism’ in order to denounce it. For this ‘left’, which recoils from the left’s historically indivisible association with Marx, the purpose of politics is simply to win government for itself. Our argument here is that, ironically, such a purpose mirrors the very lack of purpose that conservatives define ‘postmodernism’ to represent. Hence the recent call by Clive Hamilton for the left to turn to the churches for moral guidance, in the absence of any meaningful political convictions.