Institutions, society, and politics of life: review of Instituição by Roberto Esposito

Abstract

In this review, I analyze the book Instituição by Roberto Esposito. The act of establishing and consolidating institutions are the starting points for a historical examination that will cover different areas of knowledge and the debates that have had political and social consequences for the contemporary world. If, on the one hand, the act of establishing is seen as the fundamental production of novelty, the beginning, every institution, on the other, resists change. Biopolitics, action, power and transformation are at stake in this short but relevant book. If institutions have the potential to confine life and prevent transformation, what are the possible paths for us to re-discuss the essence of the process of instituting new forms of life and, therefore, new political relationships?