On This Page
Description
Two months after the attacks of 9/11, the Bush administration, in the midst of what it perceived to be a state of emergency, authorized the indefinite detention of noncitizens suspected of terrorist activities and their subsequent trials by a military commission. Here, distinguished Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben uses such circumstances to argue that this unusual extension of power, or "state of exception," has historically been an underexamined and powerful strategy that has the show more potential to transform democracies into totalitarian states. The sequel to Agamben's Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life, State of Exception is the first book to theorize the state of exception in historical and philosophical context. In Agamben's view, the majority of legal scholars and policymakers in Europe as well as the United States have wrongly rejected the necessity of such a theory, claiming instead that the state of exception is a pragmatic question. Agamben argues here that the state of exception, which was meant to be a provisional measure, became in the course of the twentieth century a normal paradigm of government. Writing nothing less than the history of the state of exception in its various national contexts throughout Western Europe and the United States, Agamben uses the work of Carl Schmitt as a foil for his reflections as well as that of Derrida, Benjamin, and Arendt. In this highly topical book, Agamben ultimately arrives at original ideas about the future of democracy and casts a new light on the hidden relationship that ties law to violence. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
This book is essential reading for anyone interested in modern politics and, more parochially, anyone interested in the legacy of Carl Schmitt's thought.
Agamben traces, relatively briefly but nonetheless expertly, the history of the (mostly legal but also philosophical) treatment of the problem of the state of exception. Part of his thesis is that this "treatment" has more often than not consisted in a determined effort to avoid and paper over the difficulties presented by this curious and situation in which the disturbingly problematic relation between authority and power, between life and law, is revealed as essential to law and politics in all forms.
Several times throughout the book Agamben pronounces authoritatively on various show more philological matters concerning ancient legal texts, as well as debates over Schmitt-Benjamin interpretation, the validity of which I am wholly unqualified to evaluate, but which I found convincing nevertheless.
The book occasionally veers too far into Benjamin-ian stylistic territory for my tastes, especially towards the closing paragraphs in which Agamben indulges in some speculative and barely comprehensible musings reminiscent of Benjamin's "Critique of Violence." It is entirely unclear to me, for example, what Agamben means by a pure form of law that neither commands nor prohibits, and how this would differ at all from how he, earlier in the book, conceives of pure language that would only communicate itself, its communicability. show less
Agamben traces, relatively briefly but nonetheless expertly, the history of the (mostly legal but also philosophical) treatment of the problem of the state of exception. Part of his thesis is that this "treatment" has more often than not consisted in a determined effort to avoid and paper over the difficulties presented by this curious and situation in which the disturbingly problematic relation between authority and power, between life and law, is revealed as essential to law and politics in all forms.
Several times throughout the book Agamben pronounces authoritatively on various show more philological matters concerning ancient legal texts, as well as debates over Schmitt-Benjamin interpretation, the validity of which I am wholly unqualified to evaluate, but which I found convincing nevertheless.
The book occasionally veers too far into Benjamin-ian stylistic territory for my tastes, especially towards the closing paragraphs in which Agamben indulges in some speculative and barely comprehensible musings reminiscent of Benjamin's "Critique of Violence." It is entirely unclear to me, for example, what Agamben means by a pure form of law that neither commands nor prohibits, and how this would differ at all from how he, earlier in the book, conceives of pure language that would only communicate itself, its communicability. show less
As always with Agamben, a really interesting exploration-- here, specifically, of legal theory and the state of exception/suspension of the law that makes law possible. Wish he would have gone more into how the increasing tendency to make the state of exception the norm plays out in contemporary life-- but I might have to go back and reread Homo Sacer, the predecessor to this book, to put it all together.
للمرة الثانية كتاب نظرية سياسية. ليس تمامًا في الواقع فهو ينطلق من منظور قانوني بشكل كبير ..
المهم
مرة ثانية ، النصوص "النظرية" لا تُفهم من مرة واحدة
له عدة قراءات أخرى بالتأكيد مع باقي كتابات أغامبين
ممتنة لمناقشته مع د.هبة و للاقتراح من الأصل
المهم
مرة ثانية ، النصوص "النظرية" لا تُفهم من مرة واحدة
له عدة قراءات أخرى بالتأكيد مع باقي كتابات أغامبين
ممتنة لمناقشته مع د.هبة و للاقتراح من الأصل
En el siglo XX asistimos, según Giorgio Agamben, a un hecho paradojal y preocupante, en la medida en que pasa inadvertido para la mayoría de los ciudadanos: vivimos en el contexto de lo que se ha denominado una "guerra civil legal". El totalitarismo moderno se define como la instauración de una guerra civil legal a través del estado de excepción, y esto corre tanto para el régimen nazi como para la situación vivida en los EE.UU. durante la presidencia de George W. Bush.
Aug 13, 2011Spanish
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Lists
Política - Clásicos
164 works; 2 members
Author Information
134+ Works 7,966 Members
Giorgio Agamben is a contemporary Italian philosopher and political theorist whose original works have gained critical acclaim and have been translated into numerous Languages. His most recent books are Creation and Anarchy: The Work or Art and the Religion of Capitalism and What Is Real? Agamben is a frequent contributor to numerous international show more newspapers and other media. show less
Awards and Honors
Notable Lists
Series
Work Relationships
Is contained in
Classifications
- Genres
- Philosophy, Politics and Government, Nonfiction, Literature Studies and Criticism, General Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 321 — Society, Government, and Culture Political science Systems of governments and states
- LCC
- JF256 .A3413 — Political Science Political institutions and public administration Political institutions and public administration General. Comparative government Organs and functions of government Executive. Heads of state
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 715
- Popularity
- 39,518
- Reviews
- 4
- Rating
- (3.68)
- Languages
- 9 — English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 17
- ASINs
- 2
