Introduction: The Vulnerability Challenge

The essay is the Introduction to the International Special Issue "Vulnerability: possibles uses of a philosophical, legal, political and social concept" edited by Maria Giulia Bernardini, Brunella Casalini, Orsetta Giolo, Filipe Lins dos Santos and Lucia Re. It presents a discussion of vulnerability theory from a philosophical and a sociological perspective. The success of this new paradigm in the social sciences and even in the public discourse appears justified by the need to rethink the institutions and social ties of late modernity, also from a gender perspective. It is undoubtedly a fascinating prospect, but one that conceals numerous pitfalls. In particular, ideas of agency, conflict, emancipation and solidarity, which are closely connected with fundamental rights theory and the development of constitutionalism may lose importance. The vulnerability paradigm, rather than eclipsing the language of rights, could then be used to interpret these rights, to define them with increasing accuracy and reinforce their effectiveness. In particular, the bottom-up construction of an emancipatory notion of vulnerability may well lead to an auspicious update of the interpretation of the principles of dignity, equality and solidarity, principles that nevertheless still appear today as indispensable.