Abstract

In his intellectual journey, Sheldon Wolin engaged with critical theory and Michel Foucault’s reflections on the theory and practice of power. Wolin noted how postmodern theses focusing on the ubiquity of power in forms of domination and oppression, and the irreconcilability of differences, could pose a danger to democracy. According to Wolin, critical theory and Foucault’s political philosophy underestimate the possibility of directing power towards the common good and the importance the past can have for the collective identity of the political body. This essay discusses Wolin’s theses, drawing inspiration from Lucy Cane’s book Sheldon Wolin and Democracy: Seeing through Loss (2020).