Modernity promises at stake: subjugation of collective autonomy to individual freedom within the market

Abstract

Current modernity project sets in opposition and struggle two visions of freedom that have been present during the Modern Era: individual freedom –as action in the market- and collective autonomy. Social experiments have been conducted in their name, both to establish people sovereignty (Socialism), as well as to completely subdue democracy to individual action, eliminating any possibility of collective autonomy. It is within this last experiment that we find ourselves living today, experiment that, despite being widely criticized for its analytical oversimplification (Lie, 1997), as well as for its disastrous social effects, has maintained its global hegemony (Stiglitz, 1992: 12).