Music and the State of Exception in Alfonso Cuarón’s Children of Men

2013 ◽  
pp. 287-309 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dale Chapman
Keyword(s):  
Digital Media ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
The State ◽  
State Of Exception ◽  
Bare Life ◽  
Giorgio Agamben ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Experience Of Time ◽  
Formal Tool ◽  
Alfonso Cuaron

This article appears in the Oxford Handbook of Sound and Image in Digital Media edited by Carol Vernallis, Amy Herzog, and John Richardson. In Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life, Giorgio Agamben provides an analysis of the “state of exception,” that situation in which the sovereign, in response to crisis, suspends the efficacy of the rule of law. This juridical move has ontological implications, for it also suspends our everyday experience of time. Music, which can emulate the concentrated temporality of the state of exception, offers itself as a powerful formal tool for its cinematic realization. In his 2006 setting of the P.D. James novel Children of Men, Alfonso Cuarón conjures a future dystopia that extrapolates this complicated political terrain. Drawing upon the complex diegetic and non-diegetic soundscape of the film, this discussion outlines the means through which music and sound intensify the filmic depiction of the state of exception.

scholarly journals Estado de exceção como regra: a vida nua sob o “eclipse político” em Giorgio Agamben / State of exception as a rule: the bare life under the "political eclipse" in Giorgio Agamben

Profanações ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 269
Author(s):  
Maria Do Socorro Catarina de Sousa Oliveira
Keyword(s):  
Social Order ◽  
The State ◽  
State Of Exception ◽  
Sovereign Power ◽  
Bare Life ◽  
Giorgio Agamben ◽  
Homo Sacer ◽  
The Social ◽  
Legal Security ◽  
Original Objective

Um dos temas de maior relevância abordado por Giorgio Agamben diz respeito ao estado de exceção como paradigma político, ou seja, o estado de exceção não se restringe aos Estados totalitários, mas a uma prática governamental que vem se propagando rapidamente, inclusive nas sociedades democráticas. Assim, o presente artigo tem como objetivo analisar, a partir de duas obras que compõem o Projeto Homo Sacer, a saber, Homo Sacer: o poder soberano e a vida nua I (2002), e Estado de Exceção: homo sacer II (2004), os principais elementos que formatam a teoria agambeniana do estado de exceção como paradigma de governo e como o delineamento de suas teses nos permite falar em “eclipse político”, o qual está concretizado na impotência do cidadão diante do poder soberano, a figura híbrida que tem a sua disposição não apenas a máquina governamental, mas o próprio ordenamento jurídico desvirtuado de seu objetivo original de proteção e segurança jurídica para um complexo e malicioso mecanismo de manutenção da “ordem social”. AbstractOne of the most relevant topics addressed by Giorgio Agamben is the state of exception as a political paradigm, that is, the state of exception is not restricted to totalitarian states, but to a government practice that is spreading rapidly, even in democratic societies. Thus, this article aims to analyze, from two works that make up the Homo Sacer Project, namely Homo Sacer: sovereign power and naked life I (2002), and State of Exception: homo sacer II (2004) ), the main elements that form the agambenian theory of the state of exception as a paradigm of government and how the delineation of its theses allows us to speak in "political eclipse", which is concretized in the impotence of the citizen before the sovereign power, the hybrid figure which has at its disposal not only the governmental machine, but the legal system itself distorted from its original objective of protection and legal security for a complex and malicious mechanism of maintenance of the "social order".

scholarly journals Exceção e vida nua: diálogos entre a literatura de Nassar e a de Sófocles / Exception and life nua: dialogues between the literature of Nassar and of Sophocles

Profanações ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 122
Author(s):  
Elijames Moraes dos Santos
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
State Of Exception ◽  
Bare Life ◽  
Giorgio Agamben ◽  
Homo Sacer ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

Este artigo propõe analisar como as categorias do estado de exceção e da vida nua são dramatizados nos textos Antígona, de Sófocles, e Lavoura Arcaica, de Raduan Nassar. Para alcançar o objetivo estabelecido, consideramos os estudos sobre esses conceitos propostos no projeto Homo Sacer, de Giorgio Agamben (2007; 2014), entre outras fontes que respaldam este estudo. Seguindo a proposta agambeniana, enfatizamos a relação de soberania com o estado de exceção, culminando, muitas vezes na eliminação do vivente. Aspecto este que fica evidente no desenrolar das ações presentes em ambas as narrativas em análise.AbstractThis article proposes to analyze how the categories of the state of exception and bare life are dramatized in the texts Antigone, by Sophocles, and Ancient tillage¸ by Raduan Nassar. To reach the established objective, we consider the studies on these concepts proposed in the project Homo Sacer, by Giorgio Agamben (2007, 2014), among other sources that support this study. Following the Agambenian proposal, we emphasize the relationship of sovereignty with the state of exception, culminating, often in the elimination of the living. This aspect is evident in the unfolding of the actions present in both narratives under analysis.

scholarly journals The Rule of Law and the Extraordinary Situation

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-72
Author(s):  
András Karácsony ◽  
Szabolcs Nagypál
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Legal Order ◽  
Carl Schmitt ◽  
State Of Exception ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Giorgio Agamben ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
National Crisis ◽  
Political Decisions

The various legal theorists dealing with the operation and effect of law have mostly examined situations that can be described as occurring in the usual, regular, normal state of social life. Over the last half century, and particularly since the formation and later enlargement of the European Union, the requirement of the rule of law has emerged as a key topic. The test of the rule of law is as follows: it is necessary to examine in an abnormal situation or, as it were, in an extraordinary situation exactly how it is possible to take political decisions that are of fundamental importance to society while also guaranteeing that these decisions remain within the rule of law at all times.The aim of this study is to investigate how and by what constitutional mandate the Hungarian Government deviated from the normal constitutional situation in 2020. The “state of exception” theorised by Carl Schmitt and Giorgio Agamben means the suspension of the law. It is important to understand their views in order to see that the Hungarian situation in 2020 is utterly dissimilar to such a state of exception. In short, we need to distinguish a state of exception from an extraordinary situation, because the latter does not imply the suspension of law in general or, more specifically, the suspension of the rule of law, but that parliamentary and government decisions remain within it. The special legal order applied in an extraordinary situation is not in fact a suspension of democracy, still less of the rule of law. On the contrary, it actually falls within both: in a state of national crisis, this situation is democracy itself and the rule of law itself, and – accordingly – strict laws (both democratic and imposed within the rule of law), or rather laws of cardinal importance, make its conditions and its functioning possible and regulate it.

scholarly journals Continuities and Discontinuities: Antiziganism in Germany and Italy (1900-1938)

2020 ◽  
pp. 51-80
Author(s):  
Jennifer Illuzzi
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
The State ◽  
Concentration Camps ◽  
State Of Exception ◽  
Nation State ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Weimar Germany ◽  
Executive Authority ◽  
Legislative Policies ◽  
The Law

In both Germany and Italy before WWI, populations labelled as Gypsies found themselves in a “state of exception” which aimed at their elimination from the nation-state by targeting them with policies emanating from the executive. Both states adhered to the liberal idea of equality before the law, but used the flexibility provided by executive authority to pressure Gypsies to leave the state. After WWI, both Germany and Italy were forced to retain “Gypsies” inside the state as a result of changing geopolitical circumstances. However, in fascist Italy before WWII, executive authorities continued to operate in a “state of exception” and ceased adhering to the rule of law, interning Gypsies in concentration camps and seeking to eliminate them through forced assimilation. In Weimar Germany, legislative policies sought to eliminate Gypsies through bringing them inside of the law. The contradiction between increasingly racialized notion of Gypsy inassimilability and forced assimilation’s inevitable failures certainly laid the groundwork for extreme measures in both places during WWII.

scholarly journals THE STATE OF EXCEPTION IN THE GREEK CONSTITUTION:THE RESILIENCE OF THE GREEK CONSTITUTION DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

2021 ◽  
pp. 21-31
Author(s):  
Evripidis STYLIANIDIS
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
The State ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
State Of Exception ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Emergency Situations ◽  
Public Health Crisis

The state of exception is provided for in constitutions in response to emergency situations. The resilience of constitutions is tested in such situations, which are marked by the concentration of power in the executive and limitations in the exercise of fundamental rights. Although the Greek Constitution allows for the declaration of a state of siege, this does not include the case of a public health crisis. Nevertheless, particular constitutional provisions form an emergency mechanism, which proved to be effective against the COVID-19 pandemic and in accordance with democracy and the rule of law.

Rule of law and state of exception: the genesis of the problem

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 47-54
Author(s):  
Sergiy I. Maksymov ◽  
Natalia I. Satokhina
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
The State ◽  
State Of Exception ◽  
Weak Version ◽  
Comparison Analysis ◽  
Fundamental Idea ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Interdisciplinary Nature ◽  
Analysis And Synthesis ◽  
Law And Justice

The purpose of this study was to clarify the correlation between the concepts of the rule of law and the state of exception in the context of the question of the nature of law and its correlation with force. The relevance of the study is explained by the need to reinterpret the idea of the rule of law and its boundaries in the context of modern challenges, in particular in the context of a pandemic. The study is of an interdisciplinary nature, which lies in combining legal, philosophical legal, and historical-philosophical perspectives using methods of philosophical legal reflection, comparison, analysis and synthesis, and historical-philosophical reconstruction. The correlation between the rule of law and the state of exception was clarified in three steps. First, the fundamental idea of the rule of law was explicated, which unites its numerous interpretations: law was considered as the antithesis of the arbitrariness of the powerful. Accordingly, the rule of law turned out to be a requirement immanent to any legal system. At the same time, the internal limitation of the rule of law associated with the statutory nature of the latter was emphasised, which inevitably necessitates striking a balance between the rule of law and justice, and the radicalisation of which brings to life the idea of a state of exception. The second part of this study contains a critical analysis of the theory of the state of exception, which, in contrast to the idea of the rule of law, identifies law and force, and ultimately denies law as such, normalising lawlessness. Finally, in the third step, three approaches to the correlation between the rule of law and the state of exception were analysed: 1) the priority of the state of exception, 2) a weak version of the priority of the rule of law, and 3) a strong version of the priority of the rule of law. It was concluded that the fundamental opposition between the rule of law and the state of exception renders their consistent combination impossible, and the corresponding attempts always turn out to be a compromise not favouring the former. However, according to the authors of this study, it is necessary to recognise the limitations of the law itself, without abandoning the discourse of the rule of law and the fundamental grounds for it

Immunity, Bare Life, and the Thanatopolitics of Reproduction

2017 ◽  
pp. 105-144
Author(s):  
Penelope Deutscher
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
State Of Exception ◽  
Feminist Critique ◽  
Bare Life ◽  
Giorgio Agamben ◽  
The Status

Considers the status of reproduction and abortion for the two leading proponents of the thanatopolitical interpretations of Foucauldian biopolitics: Italian philosophers Giorgio Agamben and Roberto Esposito. Re-evaluates a number of feminist critiques of their work. Argues for a new understanding of abortion, by means not of an application of Esposito and Agamben, but through an ‘inversion’ of some of their resources. For example, the chapter argues for an understanding of politicized abortion in terms of an “inversion’ of a term extensively discussed by Agamben, the state of exception. Proposes this approach as an alternative to other means of feminist critique of these philosophers.

scholarly journals The Blizzard of the World: COVID-19 and the Last Say of the State of Exception

2021 ◽  
Vol 96 ◽  
pp. 17-32
Author(s):  
Przemysław Tacik
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Inner Core ◽  
Civil Liberties ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
International Community ◽  
The State ◽  
State Of Exception ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
The World

The paper aims to grasp the COVID-19 pandemic as a socio-political catastrophe in the Benjaminian sense. As argued in the article, the scope and nature of the COVID-19 crisis eludes us due to our closeness to its inner core. What is obfuscated in this moment is the politico-legal framework on which the international community is based, where sovereignty and turbocapitalism join their forces to produce biopolitical devices. The paper looks into uses of the state of exception in particular countries, concluding that the rule of law in the pandemic was generally put on the back burner even by the countries that officially praise it. Sovereignty clearly returned to the stage, undermining parliamentarism and civil liberties in the sake of necessity. International law remained incapable of addressing this return, let alone of enforcing responsibility of China for infringing WHO rules. As a conclusion the paper argues that COVID-19 opened new-old paths of governing the living that will play a planetary role in the future fights for dominance and imposing a new face of capitalism.

scholarly journals Pensando a Ditadura Militar Brasileira à luz do Estado de Exceção de Giorgio Agamben/Thinking the brazilian military dictatorship in the light of the state of exception of Giorgio Agamben

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (10) ◽  
pp. 66
Author(s):  
Fábio Abreu Passos
Keyword(s):  
Social Order ◽  
The State ◽  
State Of Exception ◽  
Bare Life ◽  
Giorgio Agamben ◽  
Military Dictatorship ◽  
State Of Emergency ◽  
Political Events ◽  
New Democracy ◽  
The Military

Resumo: Alguns eventos políticos transcorridos em um passado recente de uma nação, como uma ditadura militar, que perdurou durante vinte e quatro anos, produzem sequelas aparentemente invisíveis, com sintomas cuja origem é difícil de ser diagnosticada. A dificuldade desse diagnóstico está na razão de que, para muitos, a ditadura militar ocorrida em solo brasileiro se aproxima do não-Ser de Parmênides: impensável e indizível, algo que simplesmente deve ser esquecido. Mas como reconciliar-se com o nosso passado e construir bases sólidas de uma nova democracia se não falamos e refletimos sobre nossas mazelas fomentadas, fundamentalmente, em “nossos campos”, nos porões dos DOPS? O presente artigo tem como objetivo refletir acerca de algumas características constitutivas da ditadura militar brasileira, transcorrida entre os anos de 1964 a 1988, balizada pelos conceitos de estado de exceção, vida nua e campo do filósofo italiano Giorgio Agamben. A pesquisa se justifica, uma vez que, em nosso entendimento, aproximar a ditadura militar brasileira com tópicas da filosofia política de Agamben, nos dota de importantes ferramentas argumentativas que nos auxiliam na compreensão do que se passou no Brasil em seus “anos de chumbo”. Abstract: Some political events passed in the recent past of a nation, as a military dictatorship, which lasted for twenty-four years, produce aparently invisible sequels, with symptoms whose origin is difficult to be diagnosed. The difficulty of this diagnosis is the reason that, for many, the military dictatorship that took place on Brazilian soil approaches the not-Being of Parmenides: unthinkable and unspeakable, something that should just be forgotten. But how to reconcile with our past and build solid foundations of a new democracy if we do not talk and reflect on our ills fostered mainly on "our fields", the holds of the Departments of Political and Social Order? This article aims to reflect on some constitutive features of the Brazilian military dictatorship, elapsed between the years 1964 to 1988, buoyed by the state of emergency concepts, bare life and field of the Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben. The research is justified since, in our view, approaching the Brazilian military dictatorship with topical political philosophy of Agamben, endows us with important argumentative tools that help us understand what happened in Brazil in his "years of lead". Key words: Brazilian military dictatorship, Giorgio Agamben, state of exception, bare life, field.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document