Description
Book SynopsisArgues that the capacity for autonomy is rooted in the power relations that constitute the self. This work analyzes power, including the complicated phenomenon of subjection, without giving up on the ideal of autonomy. It shows how the self can be both constituted by power and capable of an autonomous self-constitution.
Trade ReviewScholars will find this book an interesting read. -- Kristina Grob Feminist Review Blog Persuasive and well-reasoned -- J. Jeremy Wisnewski Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews This admirable book provides incredibly clear and lucid readings of texts that students find notoriously difficult... Highly recommended. Choice Nuanced and careful readings of Foucault, Butler, Habermas and Benhabib. -- Margaret A. McLaren Foucault Studies A pathbreaking and elegantly argued book. -- Jana Sawicki PhiloSOPHIA "[A] tour de force... The Politics of Our Selves forces its reader to think hard, and honestly to think through the implications of the glib stand-off between Foucault and Habermas that stands in for a much more meaningful dialogue that we rarely get to have. -- Cressida Heyes Philosophy and Social Criticism A remarkably comprehensive and very impressive treatment of many of the most vexing issues in contemporary critical theory. -- Moira Gatens European Journal of Philosophy
Table of Contents1. Introduction: The Politics of Our Selves 2. Foucault, Subjectivity, and the Enlightenment: A Critical Reappraisal 3. The Impurity of Practical Reason: Power and Autonomy in Foucault 4. Dependency, Subordination, and Recognition: Butler on Subjection 5. Empowering the Lifeworld? Autonomy and Power in Habermas 6. Contextualizing Critical Theory 7. Engendering Critical Theory Notes Bibliography Index
