Melancholic Freedom

Agency and the Spirit of Politics

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Theology, Philosophy
Cover of the book Melancholic Freedom by David Kyuman Kim, Oxford University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: David Kyuman Kim ISBN: 9780190295608
Publisher: Oxford University Press Publication: June 25, 2007
Imprint: Oxford University Press Language: English
Author: David Kyuman Kim
ISBN: 9780190295608
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publication: June 25, 2007
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Language: English

Why does agency -- the capacity to make choices and to act in the world -- matter to us? Why is it meaningful that our intentions have effects in the world, that they reflect our sense of identity, that they embody what we value? What kinds of motivations are available for political agency and judgment in an age that lacks the enthusiasm associated with the great emancipatory movements for civil rights and gender equality? What are the conditions for the possibility of being an effective agent when the meaning of democracy has become less transparent? David Kyuman Kim addresses these crucial questions by uncovering the political, moral, philosophical, and religious dimensions of human agency. Kim treats agency as a form of religious experience that reflects implicit and explicit notions of the good. Of particular concern are the moral, political, and religious motivations that underpin an understanding of agency as meaningful action. Through a critical engagement with the work of theorists such as Judith Butler, Charles Taylor, and Stanley Cavell, Kim argues that late modern and postmodern agency is found most effectively at work in what he calls "projects of regenerating agency" or critical and strategic responses to loss. Agency as melancholic freedom begins and endures, Kim maintains, through the moral and psychic losses associated with a broad range of experiences, including the moral identities shaped by secularized modernity and the multifold forms of alienation experienced by those who suffer the indignities of racial, gender, class, and sexuality discrimination and oppression. Kim calls for renewing the sense of urgency in our political and moral engagements by seeing agency as a vocation, where the aspiration for self-transformation and the human need for hope are fundamental concerns.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Why does agency -- the capacity to make choices and to act in the world -- matter to us? Why is it meaningful that our intentions have effects in the world, that they reflect our sense of identity, that they embody what we value? What kinds of motivations are available for political agency and judgment in an age that lacks the enthusiasm associated with the great emancipatory movements for civil rights and gender equality? What are the conditions for the possibility of being an effective agent when the meaning of democracy has become less transparent? David Kyuman Kim addresses these crucial questions by uncovering the political, moral, philosophical, and religious dimensions of human agency. Kim treats agency as a form of religious experience that reflects implicit and explicit notions of the good. Of particular concern are the moral, political, and religious motivations that underpin an understanding of agency as meaningful action. Through a critical engagement with the work of theorists such as Judith Butler, Charles Taylor, and Stanley Cavell, Kim argues that late modern and postmodern agency is found most effectively at work in what he calls "projects of regenerating agency" or critical and strategic responses to loss. Agency as melancholic freedom begins and endures, Kim maintains, through the moral and psychic losses associated with a broad range of experiences, including the moral identities shaped by secularized modernity and the multifold forms of alienation experienced by those who suffer the indignities of racial, gender, class, and sexuality discrimination and oppression. Kim calls for renewing the sense of urgency in our political and moral engagements by seeing agency as a vocation, where the aspiration for self-transformation and the human need for hope are fundamental concerns.

More books from Oxford University Press

Cover of the book Dissenters and Mavericks by David Kyuman Kim
Cover of the book Honoring God and the City by David Kyuman Kim
Cover of the book Spatially Integrated Social Science by David Kyuman Kim
Cover of the book Moral Sentimentalism by David Kyuman Kim
Cover of the book Cosmogenesis by David Kyuman Kim
Cover of the book Five Short Plays Level 1 Oxford Bookworms Library by David Kyuman Kim
Cover of the book Remember Miranda Level 1 Oxford Bookworms Library by David Kyuman Kim
Cover of the book God? : A Debate between a Christian and an Atheist by David Kyuman Kim
Cover of the book The Evolution of Human Sexuality by David Kyuman Kim
Cover of the book Prisoners' Self-Help Litigation Manual by David Kyuman Kim
Cover of the book Second Language Learning in the Early School Years: Trends and Contexts - Oxford Applied Linguistics by David Kyuman Kim
Cover of the book Antiquities by David Kyuman Kim
Cover of the book Images at Work by David Kyuman Kim
Cover of the book The Making of Black Lives Matter by David Kyuman Kim
Cover of the book Mr. Jefferson's Lost Cause by David Kyuman Kim
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy