Welcome Friends: Reading Derrida’s Politics of Friendship

Abstract

Introducing the collective volume Derrida’s Politics of Friendship: Amity and Enmity, this chapter sets the stage for the rich and manifold contributions that comprise the undertaking. ‘Welcome Friends’ begins by unfolding and contextualising the emergence of Derrida’s text, from the seminar room to its publication in 1994. This is followed by an outline of the structure of Politics of Friendship along with a discussion of its key notions, namely those notions that are decisive and specific to Derrida’s treatment of friendship: aimance, teleopoiesis and the perhaps. In turn, the introduction offers a sustained account of the reception and influence of Derrida’s text, within various fields and discourses, from deconstruction itself, to classics, feminism and political theory, with a particular emphasis on Carl Schmitt scholarship. The chapter closes by summarising the contribution of the collection and showcasing their relation to the themes and the reception of Politics of Friendship.