State of Exception, Law and Economy: A socio-legal approach to the economy of exception in an era of crisis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-0975Keywords:
Giorgio Agamben, exceptionality, neoliberalism, state power, political economyAbstract
Departing from a critical understanding of the relationship between state, law and power, we propose a critical overview of the concept of the state of exception developed by Giorgio Agamben. We emphasise the idea that the principle of legal exceptionality is not as merely used in response to the current crisis in capitalism, but is an enduring and core technique of power used by states to reproduce economic and colonial power relations. Thus, this paper offers three core points of departure from dominant understandings of the state of exception. First, we urge a rupture of the crude opposition between positive law and the state of exception. Second, we argue for a rejection of limited Western concept of (liberal, political) rights. Finally, we argue for an attention to the materiality of power relations, rather than a narrow focus on the power projected by formal institutions of state power.
Nuestra aproximación al concepto de estado de excepción desarrollado por Giorgio Agamben surge de una comprensión crítica de la relación entre Estado, derecho y poder. Hacemos hincapié en que el principio de excepcionalidad jurídica no es meramente utilizado en respuesta a la actual crisis capitalista, sino que es una técnica de poder central y duradera utilizada por el Estado para reproducir relaciones de poder económicas y coloniales. Esta introducción ofrece tres puntos centrales a partir de la comprensión dominante del estado de excepción: primero, planteamos una ruptura con la oposición cruda entre derecho positivo y estado de excepción; segundo, argüimos en favor del rechazo de la concepción limitada occidental (liberal y política) de los derechos; finalmente, defendemos prestar atención a la materialidad de las relaciones de poder, más que al énfasis limitado en el poder protegido por las instituciones formales del poder estatal.
Available from: https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-0976
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