Diken, BülentDiken, Bülent2021-01-272021-01-27202110263-27640263-2764https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12469/3748https://doi.org/10.1177/0263276420978289I treat despotism as a virtual concept. Thus it is necessary to expose its actualizations even when it appears as its opposite, refusing to recognize itself as despotism. I define despotism initially as arbitrary rule, in terms of a monstrous transgression of the law. But since the monster is grounded in its very formlessness, it cannot be demonstrated. However, one can always try to de-monstrate it through disagreements. In doing this, I deal with despotism not as a solipsistic undertaking but as part of a constellation that always already contains two other elements: economy and voluntary servitude. I give three different – ancient, early modern and late modern – accounts of this nexus, demonstrating how despotism continuously takes on new appearances. I conclude, in a counter-classical prism, how the classical nexus has evolved in modernity while the focus gradually shifted towards another triangulation: neo-despotism, use and dissent.eninfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessDespotismFree willNeo-despotismSecuritizationVoluntary servitudeArticleWOS:00061031230000110.1177/0263276420978289Q1Q1