Habermas, Kristeva, and Citizenship

Minor rubbing. VG. Political Philosophy Cornell University Press Ithaca [NY] 2000 orig.wrappers 23x15cm, xii,219 pp. "Do poststructuralist accounts of the self undermine the prospects for effective democratic politics? Addressing this question, the author collects the theories of Habermas and Kristeva to examine their respective notions of subjectivity, politics and their implicit definitions of citizenship: the extent to which someone is able to deliberate and act in community with others. The book begins by tracing the rise of modern and poststructural views of subjectivity and then critiques these views as they are represented in the writings of Habermas and Kristeva. Noelle McAfee argues that Habermas's theory of subjectivity is overly optimistic about the possibility for individuals to know their own interests and act autonomously. Kristeva's poststructuralism has its own problems: it seems to limit political agency, since it considers the subject to be split and at odds with itself. Nevertheless, the book shows how Kristevan conceptions of the self can contribute to Habermas's hope for a more democratic, deliberative politics" - Publisher's description.