Voluntary Servitude and the Erotics of Friendship

Focusing primarily on three early modern French authors, this book explores the erotics and politics of "voluntary servitude" in classical antiquity and the early modern period through Michel Foucault's late work on governmentality and the care of the self. Marc Schachter explores how these authors-Étienne de La Boétie, Michel de Montaigne, and Marie de Gournay-pursue related inquiries into voluntary servitude and self-control in marriage, friendship, pederasty, and politics.