Introduction : political subjectivity in times of crisis

Abstract

Modernity is often understood as a time of crisis. Health, humanitarian, economic, and environmental crises are just some crises characterizing the present. This special issue investigates these interwoven crises by investigating the subject in crisis, as making sense of how our worlds are changing requires interrogating how we ourselves are changing. How can we apprehend the subject and forms of subjectivities implied when evoking specific crises responses? In this introduction, we suggest reading current crises as expressions, effects, and accelerations of a longstanding epistemological crisis sustaining the modern articulation of subjectivity. To trace the subjectivity/crisis link we mobilize Derrida's notion of aporia, which exposes the unresolvable tension(s) at the foundation of concepts, to survey how subjectivity has been examined in political theory and international relations (IR) and to posit the continued necessity of immanent critiques of modern subjectivity. We conclude by setting out the individual contributions to this special issue.