A systematic overview of French Philosopher Miguel Abensour's groundbreaking work and the two inseparable projects that govern it: a radical critique of all forms of domination and a search for a politics of emancipation.

Despite his influence in utopian studies and democratic theory, French philosopher Miguel Abensour (1939–2017) has yet to be fully discovered in the English-speaking world as only a fraction of his work has been translated. A Politics of Emancipation fills this void by translating a selection of his seminal essays into English for the first time. The Reader provides a systematic overview of Abensour's work and the two inseparable projects that govern his approach to political theory: on the one hand, a radical critique of all forms of domination and, on the other, a desire to conceptualize the political as the realm of freedom and emancipation. For Abensour, both projects are to be undertaken together in order to avoid the double trap of an evacuation of conflict from politics and the reduction of politics to a form of domination. In other words, a politics of emancipation requires a "ruthless" critique of domination coupled with an analysis of politics as the domain within which human beings experience freedom and equality.

Miguel Abensour's profile page

Martin Breaugh is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at York University.

Martin Breaugh's profile page

Paul Mazzocchi is an instructor and doctoral candidate in the Department of Political Science at York University.

Paul Mazzocchi's profile page

"This is an excellent collection of important and representative texts by a highly original thinker, whose message is deeply relevant to current concerns. It is enhanced by judicious editorial work and above all by a superb editors' introduction that will undoubtedly be a crucial touchstone for English readers seeking a point of entry into Abensour's work." — Warren Breckman, coeditor of the two-volume The Cambridge History of Modern European Thought