Abstract

For many decades now, high-level studies have been dedicated to Étienne de La Boétie and his Discours de la servitude volontaire. These studies, however, partly due to the particular history of the Discours, have often remained disconnected from each other. The last decade, on the other hand, has seen a real flowering of laboetian studies. And the emergence of what had been partly missing: a common debate, capable of bringing together different methodologies and interpretations. This essay offers a brief but argued overview of this flowering. First it presents the most important recent conferences and publications. And then it focuses on two essays. Historian Anne-Marie Cocula-Vaillières’ book Étienne de La Boétie et le destin du Discours de la servitude volontaire (2018): an excellent essay where the reconstruction of La Boétie’s life and the study of the history of the Bordeaux region in the 16th century enrich each other. And Le soi subjugué. Servitude volontaire et cliniques de l’aliénation (2022) by philosopher Tristan Dagron. Which I argue to be one of the most convincing attempts ever to come to terms (in both philosophical and psychological terms) with the psycho-political «phenomenon» of voluntary servitude.