Abstract

ABRIL, Francisco. The “commitments” of domination. An approach to Franz Neumann’s Behemoth. Tópicos [online]. 2019, n.38, pp.1-33. ISSN 1666-485X.

in this paper we will try to make explicit what are the main features that Franz Neumann -a member of the “outer” circle of the first Critical Theory- attributed to the socio-political domination. To approach this issue, it is necessary to review some of the central theses of his classic book on national-socialism entitled Behemoth, payingspecial attention to his analysis on the destruction of legal rationality. We are particularly interested in answering the following question: in his proposal, is there a conception of domination that refers not only to coercion, but also to the consent and participation of dominated groups? In order to explain the different aspects of this question, we consider it necessary to recover the contributions made by Axel Honneth -one of the many contemporary theorists who seek to revalue Neumann’s work- in his book The Critique of Power. In that book Honneth mentions the existence of “bilateral relations of domination”. Here we will see that Neumann offers precisions to answer the problem of the so-called “bilateral domination”, but with important constraints. Constraints that could be overcome through a more comprehensive dialogue involving other members of the “outer” circle. This is a suggestion that we will make at the end of the article.

Keywords : Franz Neumann; Axel Honneth; bilateral domination; consent; participation.

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