On Freedom: Four Songs of Care and Constraint
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- Create Date：2021-09-10 08:51:54
- Update Date：2025-09-07
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- Author：Maggie Nelson
- ISBN：1787332691
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Summary
So often deployed as a jingoistic， even menacing rallying cry， or limited by a focus on passing moments of liberation， the rhetoric of freedom both rouses and repels。 Does it remain key to our autonomy， justice， and well-being， or is freedom's long star turn coming to a close？ Does a continued obsession with the term enliven and emancipate， or reflect a deepening nihilism （or both）？ On Freedom examines such questions by tracing the concept's complexities in four distinct realms: art， sex， drugs， and climate。
Drawing on a vast range of material， from critical theory to pop culture to the intimacies and plain exchanges of daily life， Nelson explores how we might think， experience， or talk about freedom in ways responsive to the conditions of our day。 Her abiding interest lies in ongoing "practices of freedom" by which we negotiate our interrelation with-indeed， our inseparability from-others， with all the care and constraint that relation entails， while accepting difference and conflict as integral to our communion。
For Nelson， thinking publicly through the knots in our culture-from recent art world debates to the turbulent legacies of sexual liberation， from the painful paradoxes of addiction to the lure of despair in the face of the climate crisis-is itself a practice of freedom， a means of forging fortitude， courage， and company。 On Freedom is an invigorating， essential book for challenging times。
Drawing on a vast range of material， from critical theory to pop culture to the intimacies and plain exchanges of daily life， Nelson explores how we might think， experience， or talk about freedom in ways responsive to the conditions of our day。 Her abiding interest lies in ongoing "practices of freedom" by which we negotiate our interrelation with-indeed， our inseparability from-others， with all the care and constraint that relation entails， while accepting difference and conflict as integral to our communion。
For Nelson， thinking publicly through the knots in our culture-from recent art world debates to the turbulent legacies of sexual liberation， from the painful paradoxes of addiction to the lure of despair in the face of the climate crisis-is itself a practice of freedom， a means of forging fortitude， courage， and company。 On Freedom is an invigorating， essential book for challenging times。
Reviews
Lou
，
On Freedom is a collection of linked， highly anticipated essays about the nature， complexities and paradoxes of freedom and a heady， iconoclastic work of cultural criticism that examines the concept of freedom through the lenses of art， climate， drugs and sex。 Compared to Nelson’s previous books， this certainly feels significantly more academic than just casual reading。 Rather than focus on moments of liberation， the book explores how we balance our need to care for and protect others with our n On Freedom is a collection of linked， highly anticipated essays about the nature， complexities and paradoxes of freedom and a heady， iconoclastic work of cultural criticism that examines the concept of freedom through the lenses of art， climate， drugs and sex。 Compared to Nelson’s previous books， this certainly feels significantly more academic than just casual reading。 Rather than focus on moments of liberation， the book explores how we balance our need to care for and protect others with our need for individual space to move， think， organise， express and imagine。 Maggie Nelson is one of the most esteemed writers of our day， and her extraordinary mind is in full bloom in this new work。 It is a panoptic survey of a huge range of art and ideas。 Nelson is one of the most exciting and original thinkers at work today， and this is one of those books that only comes along once a decade or so and that engages with the most complex， urgent and fascinating issues of our time， from the personal to the civic。 It is also a hugely important thinking book that will open up new ways of understanding the world， will be read for many years to come and will no doubt make a profound impact on the world of ideas and the world of letters。 Drawing on a vast range of material， from critical theory to pop culture to the intimacies and plain exchanges of daily life， Nelson's On Freedom: Four Songs of Care and Constraint explores how we might think， experience or talk about freedom in ways responsive to the conditions of our day。 She examines her abiding interest in the ‘practices of freedom’ by which we negotiate our interrelation with – and our inseparability from – others， with all the care and constraint that relationship entails while accepting difference and conflict as integral to our communion。 For Nelson， thinking publicly through the knots in our culture – from the turbulent legacies of sexual liberation to the lure of despair in the face of the climate crisis – is itself a practice of freedom。 It is a means of forging fortitude， courage and company in which she explores ideas of queerness， care and freedom yet so much more。 It is an expansive， exhilarating work and a boundary-pushing， provocative read which is fascinating and thought-provoking in equal measure。 She explains throughout that the contemporary discourses she has chosen are for good reason。 Art is a natural fit: she’s taught art and writes about art。 She calls art， along with sexual freedom， her “most native ground。” Her section on drugs and addiction is “more niche， esoteric， but as a sober person I’m interested in substance abuse—the idea of being enslaved， enthralled。” And climate “is what’s on everyone’s mind。” This book is a contribution to the cultural conversation in which Nelson takes the loftiest ideas and tethers them to the ground; she makes important things legible and there’s a warmth to her writing。 Also， she doesn’t come to answers but poses questions。 The book is full of thinking and feeling and nuanced analysis written in fluid prose。 Highly recommended。 。。。more
Summer Brennan
，
Through four chapters broken up into smaller subsections， Nelson explores the concept of freedom through the lens of art， sex， drugs， and the climate crisis， bringing her trademark brilliance and intellectual modesty to each。 I found the first sections on art and sex especially good， and kept feeling the need to highlight whole paragraphs。 I’m not sure I’ve ever seen such nuanced and interesting takes on concepts such as who has “the right” to tell which stories in art， the #MeToo movement， and Through four chapters broken up into smaller subsections， Nelson explores the concept of freedom through the lens of art， sex， drugs， and the climate crisis， bringing her trademark brilliance and intellectual modesty to each。 I found the first sections on art and sex especially good， and kept feeling the need to highlight whole paragraphs。 I’m not sure I’ve ever seen such nuanced and interesting takes on concepts such as who has “the right” to tell which stories in art， the #MeToo movement， and our understanding of individual sexualities through the framework of feminism。 I consider it required reading。 。。。more
Dan Curiosity Hour
，
What a thought-provoking work！ It's timely to think about and explore the idea of what freedom means and the limitations of freedom （and ways it is abused）。 This is a topic I've considered for awhile， but after reading this book， it's hard to stop thinking about and mulling over the many angles to consider freedom。 An important read！Note: I voluntarily requested， read， and reviewed this book。 Thank you to the author， publisher， and NetGalley for sending me a temporary digital advance reading cop What a thought-provoking work！ It's timely to think about and explore the idea of what freedom means and the limitations of freedom （and ways it is abused）。 This is a topic I've considered for awhile， but after reading this book， it's hard to stop thinking about and mulling over the many angles to consider freedom。 An important read！Note: I voluntarily requested， read， and reviewed this book。 Thank you to the author， publisher， and NetGalley for sending me a temporary digital advance reading copy/advance review （ARC） galley of this book in exchange for an honest review。 As always， my opinions are my own and do not represent my co-host or the podcast。 I request， read， and review many books prior to publication to explore possible future guests for the podcast。 I wish we could interview the author of every one of these books because I'm so impressed by the creativity， thoughtfulness， and wisdom shared through the temporary books I get through NetGalley。 I find the idea of simplifying any book into 1-5 stars to be quite silly and reductionist， so I don't participate in that game and instead， just give five stars to each book。 。。。more
Alissa
，
Oh my word， just the last lines - until then I want to be in， all in - all heart， no escape （ie living， committed to life， not living merely until the death march ends）。 Ah， what beauty。 Everything here is timely， and yet has so much universality - meditations on care， what makes a good life， what true freedom even is。 I haven't seen a work of this intellectual magnitude hit in a while that I had high hopes for commercially。 I have high hopes for this one。 Oh my word， just the last lines - until then I want to be in， all in - all heart， no escape （ie living， committed to life， not living merely until the death march ends）。 Ah， what beauty。 Everything here is timely， and yet has so much universality - meditations on care， what makes a good life， what true freedom even is。 I haven't seen a work of this intellectual magnitude hit in a while that I had high hopes for commercially。 I have high hopes for this one。 。。。more
Hannah Fenster
，
Maggie Nelson's intellectual range is as impressive as ever as she turns her characteristically keen eye to the word and practice of freedom。 "The question is not whether we are enmeshed，" she asserts， "but how，" and her writing is evidence enough， the "Four Songs" more like a high-volume symphony of interdisciplinary voices alongside whom her arguments dance。 Even so， Nelson is consistent-- from Bluets to The Art of Cruelty to On Freedom-- in her ability to linger， her intellectual pacing that Maggie Nelson's intellectual range is as impressive as ever as she turns her characteristically keen eye to the word and practice of freedom。 "The question is not whether we are enmeshed，" she asserts， "but how，" and her writing is evidence enough， the "Four Songs" more like a high-volume symphony of interdisciplinary voices alongside whom her arguments dance。 Even so， Nelson is consistent-- from Bluets to The Art of Cruelty to On Freedom-- in her ability to linger， her intellectual pacing that pauses and observes as intently as it surges forward。 On Freedom will make you move。 。。。more
Adam Dalva
，
A return to the lens and style of ART OF CRUELTY - crystalizing on four key questions of freedom。 I was specially drawn to parts 2 （on sex） and 3 （on drugs）， and found the research there particularly fascinating。 Nelson is brilliant， of course。
Vincent Scarpa
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