Overview

Today, alienation manifests itself primarily as precarisation and deprofessionalisation. When the subject's work security or professional autonomy is undermined, relations not only to others, but also to one's self can become inhibited. This book shows that while alienation poses serious problems to modern democracies, it is a form of social suffering that is particularly difficult for democratic theory preoccupied by the political to address. The book highlights that not even radical democracy, which emphasises the importance of social resistance, can include the alienated. The author shows this is not merely due to the historical emergence of radical democracy and its turn away from traditional socialism, but also to a deeper problem in the theory itself. Helander argues that in order to address alienation, radical democracy as both normative theory and political strategy, must be reformulated starting with its deep assumptions about the subject.

Full Product Details

Author:   Sofia Anceau Helander (Lecturer and Researcher in the Department of Government, Uppsala University)
Publisher:   Edinburgh University Press
Imprint:   Edinburgh University Press
ISBN:  

9781399522175

ISBN 10:   1399522175
Pages:   264
Publication Date:   31 December 2025
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Temporarily unavailable  
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements Introductioni. From Antagonism to Alienationii. Alienation todayiii. The problem: addressing alienation in a radical and open wayiv. Radical democracy – the strongest answerv. What is missing? The theoretical gapvi. The status of the argumentv. Significance and contribution Outline: Radical Democracy 1. From the Social to the Political – the Emergence and Disappearance of the Concept of Alienationi. The turn from the economic to the social – the emergence of the concept of alienationii. The turn from the social to the political – the disappearance of the concept of alienation 2. Antagonism or Alienationi. Open and radical – the aims of radical democracyii. A radical democratic concept of alienation?iii. The agonistiv. Conclusion Alienation 1. Alienation of the Knower, the Producer and the Actori. Hegel’s alienation of the knowerii. Marx’s alienation of the produceriii. The alienation of the actoriv. Open and radical? Conclusion 1. Towards an Open and Radical Concept of Alienationi.Reconstructing the concept of alienation – resources and challengesii. Appropriation – a conceptual clarificationiii. Impaired appropriation as dominationiv. Impaired appropriation as disorientation Conclusion 1. Alienation versus Acediai. Defining and distinguishing the concept of alienationii. Radical and open?iii. Alienation versus Acedia Conclusion: Against Alienation – Redirecting Radical Democracy 1. Reformulating Agonistic Democracy and its Subjecti. Reformulating the subjectii. From antagonism to alienationiii. Is the theory still agonistic?iv. Towards a multi-scalar agonism 2. Redirecting the Radical Democratic Strategyi. The struggle with and against alienationii. Who to include?iii. How to organize?iv. What to demand? Conclusioni. Lessons for the Radical Democratic Struggleii. Alienation beyond the Process of Precarization Bibliography

Reviews

Sofia Helander moves radical democratic theory beyond the implausible assumption of a political subject who is already as flexible, strong and conflict-seeking as neoliberalism demands. By recuperating the concept of alienation, Redirecting Radical Democracy makes agonistic democracy speak more meaningfully to our contemporary social condition of precarity. -- ""Andrew Schapp, University of Exeter""

Author Information

Sofia Anceau Helander is Lecturer and Researcher in the Department of Government at Uppsala University, specialising in political theory and social movement studies. She has previously studied social movements in Sweden and India, publishing in Journal of Developing Societies, and Revista Internacional de Sociologa. This is her first monograph.

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