The vicissitudes of Emancipation: Boaventura de Sousa Santos' theory of the State

One of the most significant authors in the critical analysis of the present courses of our societies is the Portuguese Boaventura de Sousa Santos. Although he is not developing a specific theory of the State, his work offers a detailed analysis of the fulfillment of the political project of the modernity. This project has systematically broken the Emancipation promise that provides its foundation and legitimacy. This paper aims to track the landmarks of this author's analysis as well as his proposals to refund newly the State bearing the constitutive tension between emancipation and regulation.