Beyond the coercive concept of power. The contributions of Hannah Arendt and Norbert Elias to political theory

Main Article Content

Diego Fernando Silva Prada

Abstract

This article examines the contributions that Hannah Arendt and Norbert Elias have made to modern political theory with respect to the concept of power, based on the critique of coercion as a defining trait of politics. The capacities of collective association and self-determination of identity are understood as the central traits of political counter-argumentation, constructed as an epistemological alternative. The appearance of inter-subjectivity and the processes of subjectivization constitute the definitive moments for the realization of power, in terms of communities’ and individuals ‘capacity for resistance to the exteriority of state coercion.

Author Biography

Diego Fernando Silva Prada, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana

Se encuentra actualmente ejerciendo como investigador en el Centro de Estudios e Investigaciones Humanas y Sociales (CEIHS) de la Universidad Minuto de Dios, Bogotá.