Agonism is opposed to a strand in the Marxist conception of politics known as “materialism”. Agonism is a political theory that emphasizes the potentially positive aspects of certain forms of political conflict. It accepts a permanent place for such conflict, but seeks to show how we might accept and channel this positively. For this reason, agonists are especially concerned with debates about democracy. The tradition is also referred to as agonistic pluralism.
Agonism
