Some critical theorists understand the self as constituted by
power relations, while others insist upon the self's autonomous
capacities for critical reflection and deliberate
self-transformation. Up to now, it has all too often been assumed
that these two understandings of the self are incompatible. In her
bold new book, Amy Allen argues that the capacity for autonomy is
rooted in the very power relations that constitute the self.
Allen's theoretical framework illuminates both aspects of what
she calls, following Foucault, the "politics of our selves." It
analyzes power in all its depth and complexity, including the
complicated phenomenon of subjection, without giving up on the
ideal of autonomy. Drawing on original and critical readings of a
diverse group of theorists, including Michel Foucault, Jurgen
Habermas, Judith Butler, and Seyla Benhabib, Allen shows how the
self can be both constituted by power and capable of an autonomous
self-constitution. Her argument is a significant and vital
contribution to feminist theory and to critical social theory, both
of which have long grappled with the relationship between power and
agency.
If critical theory is to be truly critical, Allen argues, it
will have to pay greater attention to the phenomenon of subjection,
and will have to think through the challenges that the notion of
subjection poses for the critical-theoretical conception of
autonomy. In particular, Allen discusses in detail how the
normative aspirations of Habermasian critical theory need to be
recast in light of Foucault's and Butler's account of subjection.
This book is original both in its attempt to think of power and
autonomy simultaneously and in its effort to bring the work of
Foucault and Habermas into a productive dialogue.
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