The Self and the Political Order (Readings in Social & Political Theory)

This collection of essays by an international list of contributors examines one of the key debates of political and social theory - the relation of the self to the prevailing socio-political order. As this invaluable collection demonstrates, the works of Derrida, Foucault and Kristeva on the one hand, and of Rawls, Nozick and Sandel on the other, are all attempts to recover an ancient tradition of political theory. "Who am I?" and "who are we?" are two of the most fundamental questions which anyone can ask themselves, and the answer to the first question will be, in some form, the answer to the second. Political relations make possible what we call a self, and, as political relations assume different forms, so also do selves and political orders. This book explores in what manner and by what processes a particular understanding of the self is organized, implicated in, and legitimates a particular vision of the political order. It also demonstrates, conversely, how our view of the self commits us to a particular type of political order.