Ambivalences of Democratic Freedom. On the Currentness of Rousseau's Political Theory

In the context of current challenges in democratic theory new motives for reconceptualising Rousseau's idea of democratic freedom arise. Processes of transnationalisation have put the question of what constitutes a people urgently on the agenda. Rousseau's 'problem of freedom' will be related to questions of peopleness. It is located on the level of founding as well as on the level of institution-building. The foundation and maintenance of a political order of freedom turns out to be an ambivalent project, especially in the light of cosmopolitan challenges.