State of Exception

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 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. A noted Italian philosopher examines emergency measures such as the Bush administration's indefinite detention of suspected terrorists, arguing that such policies, rather than being pragmatic and temporary necessities, has become a customary method of governments seeking to circumvent the rule of law, and has the dangerous potential of transforming democracies into dictatorships The State Of Exception As A Paradigm Of Government -- Force-of-law -- Iustitium -- Gigantomachy Concerning A Void -- Feast, Mourning, Anomie -- Auctoritas And Potestas. Giorgio Agamben ; Translated By Kevin Attell. Originlly Published As Stato Di Eccezion, 2003 Bollati Boringhieri Editore S.r.l., Torino. -- T.p. Verso. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [89]-91) And Index. Contents......Page 6 Translator’s Note......Page 8 1 The State of Exception as a Paradigm of Government......Page 12 2 Force-of-Law......Page 43 3 Iustitium......Page 52 4 Gigantomachy Concerning a Void......Page 63 5 Feast, Mourning, Anomie......Page 76 6 Auctoritas and Potestas......Page 85 References......Page 100 Index of Names......Page 104 Distinguished Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben examines the unusual extensions of executive power seized during states of emergency, a historically underexamined and powerful strategy that has the potential to transform democracies into totalitarian states