Freedom After the Critique of Foundations: Marx, Liberalism, Castoriadis and Agonistic Autonomy (International Political Theory)

Freedom After the Critique of Foundations engages with the work of the Greek-French thinker Cornelius Castoriadis, a founding member of the Socialisme ou Barbarie group whose ideas inspired the French May '68, in order to formulate an account of agonistic autonomy for individuals and societies. This is a critical conception of freedom which informs a broad spectrum of contemporary political thought and practice, ranging from theories of agonistic democracy and Foucault's ethic of 'care for the self' to the liberal pluralism of Joseph Raz, post-anarchist thought and contemporary movements for global justice and 'real democracy'. The discussion shows how agonistic autonomy brings together imagination, radical reflection, self-creation, pluralism and an ongoing struggle against closed identities in order to challenge and enhance Marxian and liberal ideas of freedom. The book tackles the problem of relativism and addresses a wider range of ontological, ethical and political questions raised by an agonistic outlook which dismisses objective foundations in science, history and morality.