Free Association and Dialectics of Consent
Abstracting Consent as a Process in Free Association
Consent is a fundamental ingredient of Free Association, and it is to be understood as an ongoing process rather than a static, one-time event. When consent is treated as a singular moment, it risks transforming into coercion, thus undermining the very essence of free association. For instance, imagine a scenario where someone in need receives help but is then required to sign a contract for two years of work in return. This situation turns initial consent into coercion and eventually slavery because the consent was not continuously reaffirmed but was instead treated as a one-time event. To ensure that consent remains genuine, it must be free of coercion and treated as an ongoing process.
Consider a company that offers someone a job, but the employment contract stipulates that if the employee leaves within three years, they must repay the equivalent of the remaining months' salary. The employee, under economic and circumstant…
