“Beautifully written and clearly argued, Krause’s Freedom Beyond Sovereignty is an exciting new contribution to the political theory literature on freedom. Her critique of the self-sovereignty that characterizes most liberal conceptions of freedom, at first blush a radical idea, in fact works to save liberalism from its own often-illogical excesses of individualism. Merging Berlin’s pluralism with his dualistic conception of freedom, Krause develops an understanding of freedom as a plurality of conceptions. Her notion of plural freedom operates from a sophisticated and complicated understanding of human agency as located within contexts that have shaped who we are, the choices we can make, and that we can in turn reconstruct through our choices. Freedom in Krause’s theory is neither simply individual nor collective, but constituted by interactions between individuals and others’ actions and perceptions. From this, Krause develops theoretical tools for negotiating conflicts among different kinds of freedom. This book is a tour de force and should be read by all.”

Nancy J. Hirschmann, University of Pennsylvania

“Krause remaps the very concept of freedom, which she persuasively argues is a concept that can’t be reduced to any one of the familiar models. Freedom Beyond Sovereignty is thoughtful, well-written, well-argued, and engaging, its argument clear and compelling.”

Clarissa Rile Hayward, Washington University in St. Louis

"An important contribution to the literature on freedom, agency, responsibility, and liberalism. Krause’s prose is clear and eloquent. She covers huge tracts of disparate scholarship in a small amount of space, knitting together a tight, coherent narrative that follows logically and thoughtfully from one step to the next. The book will be well-received by scholars in political theory, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, queer studies, and critical race studies."

Ben Berger, Swarthmore College

“Krause shapes a theory of freedom that extends far beyond the constitutional and formal-legal constraints of liberal individualism. . . . From the perspective of those marginalized by race, gender, and sexual orientation, effective action in the world requires efforts more than laws can provide. Their agency requires equal respect for their identities; anything less is oppression that traditional liberal theory cannot acknowledge or address. . . . Recommended.”

Choice

“[The] experience of frustrated freedom is captured beautifully by Krause’s new book. She articulates a simple yet so far elusive truth: that the freedom of a person depends in large part on how other people interpret and respond to her actions. . . . The chief ambition of the book is to uncover the ways in which social stigma and subtle patterns of social interaction can perpetuate unfreedom, and as such it is a welcome challenge to our settled convictions about what it means to live in a free society.”

Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews