A labour of love (the right to philosophy)

Abstract

ABSTRACT How can one respond except with gratitude to those who have laboured to think through Being Political published twenty years ago? I call this labour of love performing a/the right to philosophy (understood as a style of thought and a critical activity). Recognising the impossibility of discussing in detail the questions raised about Being Political by seven articles and nine authors, I discuss a few for further reflection. The questions raised are essential questions and concern not only Being Political but also the most urgent questions of being political in our times including domination, emancipation, resistance, acts, actions, subjectivity, objectivity, affect, polity, and power. Moreover, the authors urge us to think about ourselves, our standpoint, and our positions when we are thinking about and acting on these questions. That citizenship as a concept and an institution of domination and emancipation elicits and provokes these questions indicates that citizenship remains a central question of our times as it has been for at least three thousand years.