Commentary Cook

Commentary Cook


Author
Maeve Cooke University College Dublin, Ireland
DOI
10.1177/20568460024

Paula Rebughini’s article offers an insightful overview of the development of the idea of subject/subjectivity in western thinking since the mid- to late nineteenth century. She observes correctly that the idea of the subject has been deeply criticized, yet never completely abandoned, noting contemporary efforts to redefine it as a crucial element of social and political theory. In her concluding remarks she appears to approve of the ‘light ontology’ adopted by these theoretical efforts, whereby the idea of the subject is conceptualized in a way that takes into account ‘cultural and gender differences, historical and situated processes of subjectivation, complex relationships with techno-scientific tools, contextual capacities of resistance and creativity’, at the same time moving beyond old dichotomies such as body/consciousness, determinism/voluntarism and imagination/reason.

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