Abstract
Emancipation is a fundamental normative concept in critical international theory. Generally understood as overcoming all unjustified constraints on human autonomy and the reduction of human suffering, emancipation is the term for the movement or process from a state of domination to one of freedom. It is regarded as an inherently open-ended and dialectical process, rather than something closed or fixed. With a rich tradition in Western philosophy, especially in the tradition of the Frankfurt School, Hegel and Marx, the concept was a pivotal idea in the third Great Debate and the critique of mainstream International Relations theories that were admonished for their neglect of emancipatory theorising.