Any theory of agency requires a prior theory of passivity and submission.

Evidence

If the agenda continues to be to articulate a theory of agency and freedom, to articulate a theory of formation, the making and the giving of form to the matter at hand, it would seem unsurprisingly necessary to address as well the question of passivity and of submission, perhaps of absolute submission, if only to determine what it is that we-and power itself, in its dissimulation-appear to want to escape, to emancipate ourselves from, by way of acts, action, formation, production, labor, praxis and work. — Gil Anidjar, The Jew, the Arab, 117 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Critical theory’s focus on agency has neglected the question of submission — Gil Anidjar, The Jew, the Arab: A History of the…, 117; Theories of agency and freedom have neglected the question of submission. — Gil Anidjar, The Jew, the Arab: A History of the…, 117; Submission to external authority can constitute rather than constrain the self (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Theories of agency and freedom have neglected the question of submission. #expands (0.92) — Gil Anidjar, The Jew, the Arab, 117