Imaginary Institution of Society: Creativity and Autonomy in the Social-historical World

This is one of the most original and important works of contemporary European thought.First published in France in 1975, it is the major theoretical work of one of the foremost thinkers in Europe.Castoriadis offers a brilliant and far-reaching analysis of the unique character of the social-historical world and its relations to the individual, to language and to nature.He argues that the most traditional conceptions of society and history overlook the essential feature of the social-historical world, namely that this world is not articulated once and for all but is in each case the creation of the society concerned.In emphasizing the element of creativity, Castoriadis opens the way for rethinking political theory and practice in terms of the autonomous and explicit self-institution of society. Castoriadis' wide-ranging discussion deals with many issues which are currently topical in the English-speaking world: the critique of Marxism; the creative and imaginary character of language; th