Bonnie Honig's theory of agonistic politics and democracy

This study comprehensively examines Bonnie Honig's understanding of agonistic politics and democracy, one of the important names in contemporary political theory. The study evaluates data collected through textual analysis of agonism, which defines conflict rather than consensus as the founding element of democracy and politics, and Honig's works. The aim of this study is to introduce Bonnie Honig, one of the founders of agonism, and to contribute her theoretical legacy to Turkish literature. At the same time, it aims to fill the gap in the literature on agonism, which has been the subject of very few studies in Turkish academic writing. In this context, the study, written in three sections, first examines Honig's personal and academic life and the concept of agonism at the historical, conceptual, and methodological levels. In the second section, Honig's conflict-centered conception of politics is discussed in the context of her own classification of virtue theory. The third chapter presents Honig's concept of "public things", which she developed by combining the ideas of Arendt and Winnicott in the context of her theory of democracy, as an original contribution to the material and symbolic foundations of democracy. In this context, the environment in which democracy takes hold, the relationship between politics and law, and the fundamental paradoxes of democracy are evaluated from an agonistic perspective. Calling for a rethinking of democracy, politics, and law on the basis of conflict, this study approaches agonism as both a political vision and a critical method, based on Honig's views. The study concludes that while the practical implications of Honig's agonistic understanding of democracy and politics remain unclear, her original arguments and coherent framework constitute a significant contribution to political and democratic theory.