The Community of “People”: a Hegelian Tragicomedy

Abstract

The concept of “people” has become central in our political lexicon and to our sense of collective agency; as a matter of fact, “people” is a keyword to conceive the constitution of modern political subjects. This article explores the means of inscription of the significant “people” through Hegelian system, and tries to articulate those forms of differentiation and totalizing that expose the ambiguity of this concept in Hegel’s conception: it refers to forms of ethical life, but also to political community; it relates to the authorized sovereignty of State, but to egalitarian crowd too. In order to show the meaning of “people” in Hegel’s political thinking, this article interprets the narrative roles of the significant, across the Hegelian tragicomedy that relates the alienation and self-appropriation of Geist.