Abstract

The author aims to investigate the meaning of the «institution of the social» in Marcel Gauchet’s thought. It traces the use of this concept from the articles of the 1970s to the most recent works. Gauchet begins to use this idea with Claude Lefort, Cornelius Castoriadis, and Miguel Abensour, in the experiences of the journals «Textures» and «Libre». Specifically, he uses it to interpret Pierre Clastres’ work and to understand the political dimension of the social: the political function of religion and the contemporary autonomous society. In this way, the author points out the centrality of the «institution of social» in Gauchet’s thought and its potential for interpreting the present