The ‘State of Emergency’ or the ‘State of Exception’? Bahrain and COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 445-454
Author(s):  
Sanaa Alsarghali
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
State Of Exception ◽  
Giorgio Agamben ◽  
State Of Emergency

The COVID-19 pandemic has raised awareness across the globe of how constitutions respond to crisis. Typically, countries, and their constitutions, have provisions that enable governments to respond to these crises rapidly through forms of exceptional powers which suspend usual constitutional norms. These powers are often invoked after declaring a ‘state of emergency’, a constitutional clause that has strict stipulations and requirements. Certain regimes, however, have been known to abuse these exceptional powers and to use them in times of normalcy (non-crisis). This paper examines how Bahrain has used exceptional measures to confront COVID-19, within the context of its past use of such powers, and suggests that Bahrain is not in a state of emergency, but is now operating in what Giorgio Agamben has labelled ‘a state of exception’.

scholarly journals NEPAPRASTOJI PADĖTIS IR DIEVIŠKASIS SMURTAS: CARLO SCHMITTO IR WALTERIO BENJAMINO MINČIŲ KRYŽKELĖS

Problemos ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 83 ◽  
pp. 107-120
Author(s):  
Kasparas Pocius
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Carl Schmitt ◽  
State Of Exception ◽  
World Population ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Giorgio Agamben ◽  
State Of Emergency ◽  
Homo Sacer ◽  
Theological Discourse ◽  
Divine Violence

Šiuolaikinės politinės filosofijos kontekste jau maždaug dvidešimt metų neatslūgsta domėjimasis biopolitinėmis teorijomis, kurių dėmesio centre atsiduria valdžios ir gyvybės santykis šiuolaikiniame pasaulyje, kairiųjų politinių filosofų vadinamame Imperija. Italų filosofo Giorgio Agambeno dėka biopolitikos instrumentai buvo panaudoti nepaprastosios padėties ir homo sacer sampratų tyrinėjimams. Šiame tekste, pasitelkiant nepaprastosios padėties bei su ja susijusias sampratas, bus gilinamasi į šiuolaikinės valdžios ir valdymo problemas. Aptarsime vokiečių teisės teoretiko Carlo Schmitto nepaprastosios padėties teoriją, kaip alternatyvą jai pateikdami Walterio Benjamino mesianistinę tyro dieviškojo smurto sampratą. Straipsnio tikslas – pagrįsti Benjamino idėją, kad dieviškasis smurtas gali įveikti galios taikomą prievartą. Kita vertus, keliama idėja, kad Schmitto suverenios galios samprata užmaskuoja biopolitinį galios institucijų prievartos mechanizmą, o Benjamino dieviškojo smurto samprata leidžia jį demaskuoti.State of Exception and Divine Violence: The Crossroads between the Thought of Carl Schmitt and Walter BenjaminKasparas Pocius SummaryAlready back in 1940 Walter Benjamin told us that “the ‘state of emergency’ in which we live is not the exception but the rule.” While invoking this claim, Giorgio Agamben enriches the contemporary biopolitical discourse with such concepts as ‘state of exception’ and ‘homo sacer’, which refer to bare lives of the majority of world population under contemporary capitalist and state rule. This paper, which seeks to analyse the work of Agamben, presents the notion of the state of exception by Carl Schmitt and counterposes it to the Benjaminian concept of divine violence. This counterposition allows to theoretically question the Schmittian politico-theological discourse which has been increasingly used by the conservative intellectuals and right-wing movements in the Eastern Europe, ‘the necessity of defending the nation and the state’ that they posit and to show the often concealed links between this discourse with biopower regimes. On the other hand, it is an attempt to point at a presence of multiple and radical constituent forces which, beyond liberal – constitutional and authoritarian – conservative frameworks of the State pose the threat to the political and economic order of late 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.

Sovereign Exception, Destructive Exception

2020 ◽  
pp. 87-95
Author(s):  
Willy Thayer
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of History ◽  
The State ◽  
State Of Exception ◽  
State Of Emergency ◽  
Sovereign State ◽  
Rule Making

This chapter discusses Walter Benjamin's “Theses on the Philosophy of History,” which refers to a regime of sovereign representation where the state of emergency is the rule. It explains the paradigm of sovereignty that is constituted teleologically from exception, as the foundation and conservation of representational regimes. For Benjamin, the state of emergency is equivalent to “progress as a historical norm.” The chapter also looks at the commissary-sovereign state of exception that is functional to a policing critique and a politics whose prerogative is to put the regimes of representation into crisis. It analyzes a prerogative that subsumes the destructive character of the exception within a dialectical concentration of the rule, making the spectrality of destruction a function of the system of representation.

The developmental history of solitary and supermax confinement: toward a phenomenology of the state of exception

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Polizzi
Keyword(s):  
Supreme Court ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Order ◽  
State Of Exception ◽  
The Political ◽  
Developmental History ◽  
Giorgio Agamben ◽  
Attitudes And Behaviors ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
History Of

The phenomenology of solitary and supermax confinement reflects what Giorgio Agamben has defined as the state of exception. The state of exception is defined as the blurring of the legal and political order, which constructs a zone of indifference for those forced to endure this situation. This notion of the state of exception can be applied to the zone of indifference created by the Supreme Court, which seems unwilling to outlaw this harmful practice relative to 8th Amendment protections prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment and the political order which is all too inclined to continue use strategy. One of the central aspects of this “ecology of harm”, is the way in which the very structures of this type of confinement, helps to invite and legitimize abusive attitudes and behaviors in penitentiary staff.

SAYYIDA ZAYNAB IN THE STATE OF EXCEPTION: SHIʿI SAINTHOOD AS “QUALIFIED LIFE” IN CONTEMPORARY SYRIA

2012 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 285-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edith Szanto
Keyword(s):  
Refugee Camp ◽  
The State ◽  
Concentration Camp ◽  
State Of Exception ◽  
Refugee Camps ◽  
Ritual Practice ◽  
Giorgio Agamben ◽  
Nazi Concentration Camp ◽  
Homo Sacer ◽  
The Law

AbstractAccording to Giorgio Agamben, a “state of exception” is established by the sovereign's decision to suspend the law, and the archetypical state of exception is the Nazi concentration camp. At the same time, Agamben notes that boundaries have become blurred since then, such that even spaces like refugee camps can be thought of as states of exception because they are both inside and outside the law. This article draws on the notion of the state of exception in order to examine the Syrian refugee campcumshrine town of Sayyida Zaynab as well as to analyze questions of religious authority, ritual practice, and pious devotion to Sayyida Zaynab. Though Sayyida Zaynab and many of her Twelver Shiʿi devotees resemble Agamben's figure ofhomo sacer, who marked the origin of the state of exception, they also defy Agamben's theory that humans necessarily become animal-like, leading nothing more than “bare lives” (orzoē) in states 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.

Introduction

2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-229
Author(s):  
Sarah Ghabrial
Keyword(s):  
Special Section ◽  
The State ◽  
The Other ◽  
State Of Exception ◽  
Giorgio Agamben ◽  
Race Difference ◽  
Legal Traditions ◽  
Main Intervention

Abstract The main intervention of this special section is to identify and reposition race and colonial law as (conspicuously) absent referents in widely accepted genealogies of the state of exception—most notably, that of Giorgio Agamben—and to offer methodological pathways, based on historical and contemporary examples, of how colonial legal histories might be “written back” into this history. Collectively, these essays attempt to show how race thinking and exception each operate as the other's alibi: exception instantiating and substantiating race difference, and race difference justifying exception and ushering its expansion and normalization in steadily more realms of law and life. In so doing, this special section proposes at least three possible avenues of further inquiry, each of which builds on and into the other: First, by virtue of their geographic and temporal scope, these essays signal a way of approaching sovereignty and exception not as totalizing and synthetic, but rather as multivalent, recursive, and regenerative. Second, the designation of “partial personhood” or “disabled citizenship” is offered as a way of conceptually traversing trans-Mediterranean and trans-Atlantic historical experiences and legal traditions. Third, these essays signal the need for more sustained exploration at the nexus of law, labor, and violence.

Carnival of Exception: Gabriele D'Annunzio's “Dialogues with the Crowd”

2012 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-93
Author(s):  
Natalia Skradol
Keyword(s):  
Political Rhetoric ◽  
The State ◽  
State Of Exception ◽  
Giorgio Agamben ◽  
The Town

The essay analyses several excerpts from Gabriele D'Annunzio's public speeches from the period of his reign in the town of Fiume as a self-appointed dictator. The concept of the “state of exception” as explored by Giorgio Agamben and Mikhail Bakhtin's notion of the carnival are applied to a reading of D'Annunzio's exercises in political rhetoric.

scholarly journals Network Society, Network-centric Warfare and the State of Emergency

2002 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 71-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Dillon
Keyword(s):  
Strategic Thinking ◽  
The State ◽  
Network Society ◽  
State Of Exception ◽  
State Of Emergency ◽  
Network Attack ◽  
Biopolitical Power ◽  
Strategic Logic

This article describes the new strategic discourse of network-centric warfare that has come to dominate US operational doctrines and concepts as well as strategic thinking. It also describes 11th September as a network attack. The state of exception becomes the rule via the confluence of geopolitical with biopolitical power and the strategic logic of network-centric thinking, and with it the problematization of security goes hyperbolic in the form of `The Terror'.

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