Introduction to Lecture 1

This chapter explores the concept of the ontological body in order to highlight the universality of vulnerability and its implications for law and policy. It presents the foundational premise of Vulnerability Theory: as embodied beings, we are all inherently and inescapably embedded in social institutions and relationships throughout our lives. Embodied vulnerability, as well as the dependency on social institutions and relationships that it inevitably generates, presents an unambiguous challenge to (neo)liberal understandings of the nature and place of the individual. In doing so, it also demonstrates the necessity of social institutions, including those of governance.

Currently, our political theory seems precariously grounded on individualized and unrealistic notions of liberty and autonomy, reliant on a political subject fully capable of marshalling resources and able to act independently and rationally in most situations. As such, these neoliberal narratives render incomprehensible the argument that the democratic state has a primary role in defining and addressing the structural conditions necessary to achieve a communal sense of social justice. In contrast, Vulnerability Theory emphasizes the fundamental role of societal institutions in addressing dependency. Instead of working through law and policy to balance the collective, often competing interests of individuals in various situations or circumstances, the guiding premise of neoliberalism is that the state is to be restrained from interfering with economic and other social arrangements in order to protect the individual's right to liberty and choice as to what is in their best interest. This preference for individual liberty and autonomy positions the individual as separate from the social or collective. It also suggests that individual wellbeing is primarily an individual responsibility.