Discourse on Voluntary Servitude

A virulent denunciation of tyranny in his time, the Discours de la servitude volontaire takes a fresh look at the dominant-dominated relationship, with this original thesis: the power of the tyrant rests essentially on popular consent. If the people refuse this power, the power collapses. A text of philosophical astonishment, flamboyant, prophetic, and emblematic, written in the 16th century by an 18-year-old young man, it is a user manual for not being fooled by power. It is by understanding the mechanisms of tyranny that one manages to defeat it.