Ciprian Mihali, Curajul de a spune NU. Forme ale supunerii voluntare (The Courage to Say No. Forms of Voluntary Submission), Editura Trei, București, 2026

Abstract

The book The Courage to Say No. Forms of Voluntary Submission, published by Ciprian Mihali, proposes a double challenge from the beginning: first, the courage to say no, not only to the permanent requirements of adaptation, alignment and uniformity imposed by social norms and institutions, but also to the tacit consent of the subject who, internalizing imperatives regarding continuous "optimization" and "self-reinvention", ends up dominating his own person. Through this voluntary submission, through self-discipline, adapted individuals are "produced", with a stable and performing life, but most often devoid of wonder and desire in search of a meaning of their own existence.

But, "why the courage to say no, and not 'will', 'desire', 'power' etc.?" (p.38) asks the author. And what kind of courage is it? A heroic, exceptional, spectacular virtue or simply a negative gesture? For Ciprian Mihali, courage is a form of suspension of submission to the established order; it is the ability to stop consenting, even when the pressure of external authority or our own states of fear, habit, or convenience indicates the direction of conformity. "To be brave is to take risks" (p.39), the author states, together with Michel Foucault, for whom the decision of the parresian to tell the truth and to assume it implies the "risk of uncertainty" and "unpredictable consequences", at the moment of interruption of a known, safe, and above all comfortable course.