In Melancholic Freedom, David Kyuman Kim navigates the various dimensions of human agency, exploring not only the current cultural and ideological climate of agency, but also the very core of agency itself.

"Fascinating."--Religion in American History "Kim takes his readers on philosophical and political journeys that are as wonderful for their careful mode of engagement as they are for the highly provocative insights they achieve. He asks one of the crucial questions of our day: How might people cultivate a sense of urgency for the manifold work of progressive politics in a time when the 'banality of freedom' is widespread? In a manner that is at once counter-intuitive and compelling, Kim argues that melancholy can be a condition for the vitality of freedom and the intransigence of hope. Kim's voice is itself powerful evidence for the synthesis of urgency and self-reflection at the heart of his thinking." --Romand Coles, author of Beyond Gated Politics: Reflections for the Possibility of Democracy "In this interesting book David Kim analyzes the different strategies for self-transformation or regenerating agency that are articulated in the work of Charles Taylor and Judith Butler. He makes a good case for interpreting each as a religious project and for the value of this kind of thick reflection on agency." --Wayne Proudfoot, Professor of Religion at Columbia University "David Kyuman Kim is the leading philosopher of religion and culture of his generation. The breadth of his synthetic imagination, the scope of his scholarly knowledge and the depth of his poetic wisdom is amazing. How rare it is to see such delicate style, nuanced analysis and robust vision in one figure and text in our compartmentalized academy and terrorized society. His dark hope summons us!" --Cornel West, Princeton University "Kim takes his readers on philosophical and political journeys that are as wonderful for their careful mode of engagement as they are for the highly provocative insights they achieve. He asks one of the crucial questions of our day: How might people cultivate a sense of urgency for the manifold work of progressive politics in a time when the 'banality of freedom' is widespread? In a manner that is at once counter-intuitive and compelling, Kim argues that melancholy can be a condition for the vitality of freedom and the intransigence of hope. Kim's voice is itself powerful evidence for the synthesis of urgency and self-reflection at the heart of his thinking." --Romand Coles, author of Beyond Gated Politics: Reflections for the Possibility of Democracy "In this interesting book David Kim analyzes the different strategies for self-transformation or regenerating agency that are articulated in the work of Charles Taylor and Judith Butler. He makes a good case for interpreting each as a religious project and for the value of this kind of thick reflection on agency." --Wayne Proudfoot, Professor of Religion at Columbia University "David Kyuman Kim is the leading philosopher of religion and culture of his generation. The breadth of his synthetic imagination, the scope of his scholarly knowledge and the depth of his poetic wisdom is amazing. How rare it is to see such delicate style, nuanced analysis and robust vision in one figure and text in our compartmentalized academy and terrorized society. His dark hope summons us!" --Cornel West, Princeton University