Étienne Balibar: política, heteronomía, violencia

In this article I seek to rethink the concept of political transformation with the help of some suggestions from the work of the philosopher Étienne Balibar. Accordingly, firstly, I point out that political practice actualises a certain irreducible aspect of violence within human coexistence. Secondly, I argue that this actualisation has an ethical unfolding that allows social relations to be traversed by the imminence of political conflict. Finally, I show that political practice creates sensible criteria that prevent the emergence of extreme violence in the contemporary world.