Age of Emancipation

The story of history, for Gauchet, is that of humanity's long and gradual emergence from a state of "heteronomy"—in which we believe ourselves to be governed by some transcendent, non-human "other" (hetero)—to a condition of autonomy. In modern times, he contends, democracy has become autonomy's primary vehicle, but the triumph of autonomy has led to a crisis for democracy. Our age of emancipation is also one in which individuals and even whole societies feel oddly powerless. Heteronomy is gone. Yet, once again, we have lost control.

Michael C. Behrent reviews L'Avènement de la démocratie (The Advent of Democracy Series) I–IV by Marcel Gauchet