Hannah Arendt was one of the most original and influential social and political theorists of the 20th century. This volume brings together the most important English-language essays of the past 30 years on Arendt's unique and lasting contributions to social and political philosophy.

Some critical theorists understand the self as constituted by power relations, while others insist upon the self's autonomous capacities for critical reflection and deliberate self-transformation. Up to now, it has all too often been assumed that these two understandings of the self are incompatible. In her bold new book, Amy Allen argues that the capacity for autonomy is rooted in the very power relations that constitute the self.

Allen's theoretical framework illuminates both aspects of what she calls, following Foucault, the "politics of our selves." It analyzes power in all its depth...