This multi-focal work brings together commissioned contributions from the Essex School of Political Discourse Theory. Drawing inspiration from the works of Ernesto Laclau, Chantal Mouffe, Slavoj Zizek, Jacques Derrida, Michael Foucault and Jacques Lacan, the contributors address particular questions using a common theoretical language. The book contains a clear introductory statement of the theoretical approach used, and concludes with an assessment of the future directions of discourse theory in the social sciences. This global volume ranges geographically from Western and Eastern Europe to Latin America and South Africa, from Hong Kong to Turkey and the USA. Each chapter has been selected to address a key theme and issue in contemporary politics and to highlight central concepts and research strategies in the post-structuralist, post-Marxist and psychoanalytical traditions of thinking.