alison ross introduction

8/14/2019 Alison Ross Introduction

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Alison Ross

Introduction

In hs 199 bk Homo Sacer: Sovereign Powerand Bare Life, Grg Agamben presents hsphlsphcal prject as the attempt a geneal-

gy the ccental cnceptn le. Mre

than ths, hs prject aspres t a new cnceptn

the etermnatn the pltcal n mer-

nty, whch wul brng t a unamental level

artculatn the ncmplete reectns n b-

pltcs n the wrk Hannah Arent an Mchel

Fucault. Hs artculatn the bpltcalparagm calls n a ar mre extensve range

cnseratns than ether hs precursrs ha

envsage. The reasn r ths must be sught n

hs entn life as a pltcally etermne

cncept. In ths ven, he ctes the entns

le n mecal practce alngse thse cate-

gres explctly lcate n the man plt-

cal cntestatn, such as the reugee, as alreay

pltcal etermnatns.

As mae clear n hs crtcsms Fucault n

the ntructn t Homo Sacer, n Agambens

vew bpltcs has ts rgns n the thnk-

ng the pltcal n the West an s nt ully

cmprehensble when t s unerst ether as

a stnctve eature the mern per r as

merntys prevalng set nsttutnal pera-

South Atlantic Quarterly 10:1, Wnter 2008

doi 10.121/003828-200-02 200 Duke Unversty Press


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2 Alison Ross

tns. Hs vew that thnkng tay nees t return t the path rst ph-

lsphy r ntlgy enes the rentatn that shapes ths perspectve.

Hs preerence r ntlgy ncates the extent hs eparture rm

the apprach t bpltcs taken by Fucault, whch was skeptcal the

resurces phlsphcal scurse t grapple wth hstrcal prblems

an especally ts capacty t nstruct pltcal actn. In cntrast, t s

clear that rm the rst rmulatns hs prject Agamben ha antc-

pate ts sgncance as ar mre than a agnss the unamental ten-

ences n the pltcs ccental mernty; t s, n act, mre lke the

prmse an answer t the bly mystcatn a new glbal rer.

Inee, espte the hstrcal purvew hs prject, t s Agambens

pstn that the sgncant tenences ccental bpltcs reach anunpreceente egree ntenscatn tay, an he accrngly calls n

partcular eatures the cntemprary pltcal scene t gve hs prject

rce an urgency.

Ths prject has snce been evelpe n successve publcatns, nclu-

ng Means without End: Notes on Politics (199), Remnants of Auschwitz: The

Witness and the Archive (1998), The Open: Man and Animal (2002), an State

of Exception (2003). One the central prblems n ths cllectn wrks

s the entn bare le r nake le (nuda vita). In Homo Sacerts the pltcal etermnatn bare le that ccupes hs attentn. Lke

Fucault, Agamben thnks that mernty s characterze by an ncreas-

ngly mre racal tenency t take cntrl le. Fr Agamben, the sg-

ncance ths tenency can be measure aganst the stnctn that clas-

scal pltcal phlsphy (Arsttle) mantans between zo, bare r nake

le, an bios, the le cnsttute n thepolis. In what s nw a characters-

tc gesture, he wshes t regrun the re cnsequences the zo-bios

stnctn r the le that s nake r bare, the latter unerst n terms

ts cmplete expsure t sveregn actn. Lke Arents cncept a

human beng cmpletely strppe hs r her rghts, Agambens ntn

bare le wshes t put n vew the spsable status such le when t s

utterly expse t pltcal calculatn. In ther wrs, bare le s human

le that s cmpletely exhauste n ts status as the crrelate sveregn

actn. He argues that the tw separate spheres nake le an pltcs

ene by Arsttle have becme use n the mern per. Pltcs s

nw ncreasngly ene as an era bpltcs, n whch pwer s exer-

cse as rule ver le. The requent reerences Agamben makes t apraan znes nstnctn are ways markng ths eature the mern


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Alison Ross

an pltcal theres are un wantng. Hence, the llwng crtcsm

Karl Ott Apel n Remnants of Auschwitz makes the ncntestable pnt that

a number theres n ther lmts applcatn n the eath camps:

Years ag, a ctrne emerge that clame t have ente a kn

transcenental cntn ethcs n the rm a prncple blga-

try cmmuncatn. . . . Accrng t ths curus ctrne, a speak-

ng beng cannt n any way av cmmuncatn. Insar as, unlke

anmals, they are gte wth language, human bengs n themselves,

s t speak, cnemne t agree n the crtera meanng an the

valty ther actns. Whever eclares hmsel nt wantng t cm-

muncate cntracts hmsel, r he has alreay cmmuncate hswll nt t cmmuncate. . . . Let us magne r a mment that a wn-

rus tme machne places Pressr Apel nse the camp. Placng a

Muselmann bere hm, we ask hm t very hs ethcs cmmunca-

tn here t. At ths pnt, t s best, n every pssble way, t turn f

ur tme machne an nt cntnue the experment.6

In ths passage Agamben entes n the gure the Muselmann a lmt

case able t stan as a cunterpr t thse attempts, type by Apel,

t hl apart the human an the anmal nt just n the stngushngcrtera lngustc pragmatcs but n terms the agree parameters

that gvern the ethcal value meanng an actn. Many the cntrbu-

trs t ths ssue take up these key themes hs wrk. What cncerns us

here, hwever, s the thess regarng the explanatry scpe hs wn

prject, mple by ths crtcsm Apel. Leavng ase r the mment

the crllary hs analysesthat the pnt stnctn between what s

exceptnal an nrmal s tsel blurre an that t s the presume nteg-

rty ths stnctn n the unctnng legal an pltcal nsttutns

that cnceals the cntemprary nrmalzatn the exceptnAgam-

ben wants t shw hw certan pwer relatns generally thught t be

nly exceptnal prve the key r unerstanng nrmal nsttutns

an practces.7 At the en Homo Sacer, he acknwleges that the lves

he lsts n supprt hs theses n bare le at stake n bpltcs, whch

nclue the cmatse patent, the nemrt watng r hs rgans t be

transplante, the gure the hrer, the Muselmann rm the camps, the

bant, an Flamen Dale (ne the greatest prests classcal Rme),

may seem extreme, nt arbtrary (HS, 182, 18). Hwever, he nsststhat these lves all ccupy cult znes nstnctn between law

an act, jurcal rule an blgcal le an that t s rm ther analyss


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Introduction

that the ways an rms a new pltcs must be thught (HS, 18). The

me hs apprach t these lves s als tellng, hwever, n that he wants

t phrase, rm the evence these examples, the ntlgcal questn,

what s bare le? r what s a camp? an seeks t erve nsghts nt cn-

temprary pltcs rm ths apprach (ME, 3). Inee, Agamben ges s

ar as t suggest that the thnkng new pltcal categres s smehw a

cntn r pltcal actvsm tay.

It helps t rm an verall pcture Agambens thught we place t next

t sme the cncerns an prblems that mtvate the wrk Fucault

an Jean-Luc Nancy. The extent Agambens eparture rm Fucaultsascenng mel analysswhch buls ts tentatve general pcture by

systematc reerence t the analyss hw partcular nsttutnal practces

perate rather than the ntlgcal questn what they ares nstruc-

tve. Fucaults crtcsms pltcal phlsphy prcee rm hs cntes-

tatn ther explanatry utlty. In The History of Sexuality, he empha-

szes, r nstance, that the pstulates Marxst thery may be use t

arrve at mutually cntractry explanatns the same phenmena an

thus are unable t aequately explan anythng. He bserves n hs lecturesn pltcal phlsphy that eas rm the mern tratn cntract

thery, such as legtmate pwer an ts cnceptual partners cnsent

an the subject, blck rm vew sme mprtant eatures mern

pltcal le, especally the ways n whch scplnary practces perate.

The ault, n hs vew, s that tratnal pltcal phlsphy wants t n

ut what pwer s rather than hw t unctns.

As a pnt eparture r a crtcal examnatn Agambens prject

an ts pltcal clams, we mght submt hs prject t the ual test that

Fucault sets up r pltcal phlsphy: n the ne han, t must be able

t speak acrss a ppulatn sperse events r, n ther wrs, nt

mpse a reuctve explanatry prncple n cmplex phenmena; an, n

the ther, t ts explanatry capacty t rener legble a el sperse

events, t must a a wllngness t test ts hyptheses aganst real stua-

tns. The cntrast between Fucaults apprach t bpltcs an Agam-

bens clam that the camp s the bpltcal paragm mernty s tell-

ng n ths cntext. Glles Deleuze has ente the nvelty Fucaults

wrk nt just n ts break wth the termnlgy tratnal pltcal ph-lsphy but n the peratve stnctn n hs apprach t pwer between

the mcranalyss a specc nsttutn r settng an the abstract


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Alison Ross

machne r agram, mmanent t the entre scal el, that ths analyss

suggests. Althugh these tw aspects Fucaults apprach pse a prb-

lem cmplementarty n Discipline and Punish, Deleuze argues that n the

rst vlume The History of Sexuality they wrk n cncert as mcrsc-

plnes (specc nsttutnal structures such as the arrangement sleep-

ng quarters n barng schls) that are als bpltcal (mmanent t

the scal el). Bpltcs escrbes the lgc the amnstratn le

that unerpns the specc scplnes but als escapes beng a glbalzng

me explanatn because t s arrve at by the analyss lcal ams

pwer whse efects are nt cnne t a specc lcale. In ths cntext,

Deleuze prases Fucaults ablty t gr r map a scal space rm the

mcranalyss ts lcal scplnes.The status Agambens thught qua pltcal phlsphy may be nterr-

gate rm ths perspectve. In hs cus n bare le, Agamben prves

a set nrmatve terms rm whch t becmes pssble t nterrgate

verse sets nsttutnal practces rm the perspectve the rectn

they take. It s precsely ths nrmatve mensn whse absence n Fu-

caults wrk crtcs ten ha cause t lament an whch Agambens wrk

may be seen t prve. Hwever, Agambens clam regarng the camp as

the bpltcal paragm mernty nees t be cnsere n vew tscnceptual cnsstency as an explanatry pstulate; but because t purprts

t rm an element pltcal phlsphy, t must be brught nt relatn

wth a testable el n whch the cgency ts characterzatn the m-

ern per can be assesse. Fnally, gven ts messanc tne, t s mpr-

tant t examne as well the prmssry mensn that Agamben attempts

t erve rm hs analyss the unctnng legal nstruments an

categres. Hs apprach reverses Fucaults ascenng methlgy an

leaves us t ask what the reasnng rm extreme nstances tells us abut

the hl Agambens analyss n the phenmena t wshes t ece.

Why es he thnk t necessary r a rst phlsphy (.e., an ntlgy)

t be the entry pnt nt the analyss pltcs? D these stnctve ele-

ments hs apprach succee n entyng therwse btuse elements

pltcal mernty? Can such nsghts be gleane rm r supprte by

ther surces? Hw the elements hs me argumentatn supprt

the nature the clam he makes r hs prjects pltcal relevance? An

where hs key theses lcate hm n relatn t ther majr theres

mernty?At ssue n each the essays n ths cllectn are the cultes

enng the Agamben efect, especally when the analyses hs recent


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Introduction 7

sute wrks nvest s emphatcally n the mt nperatvty. There

s the mprtant prblem t cnser whether the cncepts Agamben

rmulates are equal t the task prvng an ntellectually cmpellng

pcture ur cntemprary ethcal an pltcal stuatn an prblems as

well as pssble respnses t these. What pssbltes hs analyses re-

clse n respect t praxs an the cnceptualzatn rms le (Anrew

Benjamn, Clare Clebrk, Jean-Phlppe Deranty, Penelpe Deutscher)

an whch nes they pen (Aran Mackenze, Ewa Pnwska Zarek)?

It s because Agambens scussn tpcs such as bare le s cnucte

thrugh hs cnrntatn wth a number themes an gures rm the

hstry phlsphy that many the cntrbutrs t ths ssue als ask

ater the aequacy hs hanlng these themes an gures (Deranty,Krzyszt Zarek) r elabrate an nterrgate hs accunts such themes

an gures wth reerence t the lnes cmmuncatn they pen wth

ther cntemprary thnkers (Eleanr Kauman, Catherne Mlls) r genres

wrtng (Mackenze, Lee Spnks).

It s pssble t be clearer abut the mprt an value Agambens amb-

tus prject we separate ts agnstc rm ts prmssry clams. Theseare the tw stnct regsters n Agambens recent wrtng, whch are s-

tngushable at the level the questns they pse an the types mpera-

tves they respn t. The agnstc task respns t the prblem hw t

unerstan sme the cmpellng eatures ur cntemprary pltcal

space an t brng t a level reectn the experences they shape. Here,

Agamben calls n the resurces a rst phlsphy n rer t enty

the hgh stakes the categry le carres n the West an t shw hw the

mern per represents an ntenscatn a tenency alreay present,

especally n the ancents jurcal nscrptn le nt the el sver-

egn pwer. Frm ths perspectve, Agamben may be escrbe as brngng

nt vew specc eatures, r better, tenences, the present by stuatng

them n relatn t the prevus practces an thnkng rm whch they

erve an aganst whch they may als be stngushe. The tls he uses

t cnuct hs analyss are als wrth mentnng. In general, the utlnes

hs cmmentary are taken rm a phllgcal scussn legal stat-

utes an practces. (Hs analyss the categry le s an bvus case

n ths regar, althugh smlar etymlgcal attentn s gven as well tcncepts such as the sacre, the exceptn, an the sveregn.)

It s mprtant t stngush the man elements ths regster rm the


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8 Alison Ross

prmssry mensn Agambens recent wrtng. In ths latter me, hs

wrtng calls nt questn the cnventnal vcabulary an cnceptn

pltcal actn an mples that hs bpltcal agnss cul nstruct an

aequate cnceptn the pltcal r the West tay. T be sure, nether

ths clam nr the range actvst practces he calls nt questn s nvel.

Fucault mae the clam n hs semnars n the early 190s that the materal

cntemprary pltcs was mpervus t the analytcal hl the tls

pltcal phlsphy an that pltcs ha t be recnceve alng the

lnes a respnse t cntemprary pwer relatns. Mrever, he, t,

was crtcal the legal nstruments an categres carre n human rghts

scurse, althugh unlke Agamben he tre t ssect the bases the

emergng clams t rghts, whch he saw as legble rm the perspectve the nterstces sveregn an scplnary pwer. Nether he beleve,

as Agamben ten seems t suggest, that ne cul steer pltcal actvsm

by theretcal categres. Thus, unlke Agamben, Fucault es nt take

the step nvalatng appeals t human rghts as an efectve tl, hw-

ever lmte, pltcal ppstn an resstance.

The racal perspectve Agamben apts n such tpcs may be uner-

st as a cnsequence the urgency he sees n ur cntemprary stua-

tn an the prmssry mplcatns he raws rm ths. Many thesgnal trpes hs wrtng are nveste wth the sense that a juncture

enrmus mprt has been reache tay. The emphass he places n the

present mment sets hm apart rm the apprach t the hstry the

present n Fucaults wrk an the cautus epchal apprach t the era

technlgy n Martn Heegger.

In terms the themes an tpcs he brngs t bear n hs unerstanng

the present mment, he shares much wth Nancy. Nancys wrk s pre-

ccupe wth the questn what t means t lve tay, an he attempts

t wrte an ntlgy that cul accmmate ths questn. Hs startng

pnt r the unerstanng the present s Frerch Netzsches agn-

ss Western nhlsm, accrng t whch even the hghest values have

evalue themselves.4

Nancy as t ths perspectve n nhlsm an accunt what he takes t

be the sgnal eatures the peratns cntemprary captalsm n rer

t explan the real mpetus an the urgency changes that are ccurrng

tay, whch wul have n hl ver le practces were they cnceptual

cnstructs elabrate slely n the phlsphcal tratn. In hs vew theperatns captal brng the grunlessness the values the West


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Introduction

t a state general awareness tay. In a sgncant parallel t Nancys

thught, Agamben cuses n the ncreasng awareness the eclnng

semantc hl the vcabulary mern pltcs an jurcal nsttu-

tns (cmmunty, ctzen, human rghts, rule law, etc.) but es s espe-

cally t raw attentn t the prtracte eclpse pltcs s unergng

n ths era accmplshe nhlsm (ME, ).5 Whereas Nancy wshes t

raw attentn t the surces meanng that are, n accunt the preval-

ng peratns captalsm, r the rst tme seen t be mae rather than

gven, Agamben fers smethng stnctly ferent: the nee t thnk a

new vcabulary r pltcs nw that the categres the ctzen an the

wrker an the very unerstanng pltcal cntestatn have lst ther

rgnal meanngs. Hence, he reers t pure means, pure vlence, anthe gesture as the terms rm whch the new unerstanng pltcs

may be evelpe (ME, 9).

Althugh such suggestns reman vague an unevelpe n hs wrk,

t s clear rm the settngs he gves t ths new pltcs that t wll emerge

as a result the wanng hl what, t hs mn, are the unng v-

sns that structure le n the West. Unlke Nancy, wh sees many ps-

sble paths r a respnse t the wanng tratnal exstental regmes

meanng, nne them certan n ther nal utcmes r efects, Agam-ben cuses hs attentn n escrbng the rectn he thnks ur present

nsttutnal practces are takng. Inee, the ark pcture he pants the

present stuatn s at least partly mtvate by the gal elabratng n

the theme exhaustn, whch he argues types ur current legal nsttu-

tns an practces an presages ther passng. Ths characterzatn sup-

prts hs cntentn that the unng stnctn between bios an zos

reachng an en rm whch a new pltcs wll emerge. Ths style analy-

ss, whch raws tgether the rhetrc hs agnss the West wth hs

prphetc statements regarng a new era, s cuple wth the tenency t

escrbe hs analyses as ltng vels, scverng nner secrets, an lay-

ng bare the lgc the Occent (SE, 2, 8). In ths respect he s clser

t the tne thersts mernty such as Guy Debr an Paul Vrl,

each whm cuses n a sngle enng trat the mern. In Nancys

wrtng, the prphetc an utpan tne such pst-Marxst thery s ten

crtcze r ts tenency t rely n a ualst style analyss n whch

the present s vewe rm the perspectve a mre authentc realty

r me human exstence. Agambens crtque the humanst mragecverng the anthrplgcal lgc the West necessarly epens n such


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10 Alison Ross

ualst thnkng; equally, hs new pltcs pure means s the perspec-

tve rm whch the present s cnemne an the lnk between hs ag-

nss the twenteth century an hs prmssry tne s at ts strngest.

Fr a wrter wh aspres t present a cmpellng pcture ur cntemp-

rary stuatn an pssble respnses t t, t s ntceable that n many

ways Agambens wrtng remans captvate by the classcal categres an

terms that thnkers lke Nancy an Fucault, n racally ferent ways t

be sure, have shwn t be gments the past an n whch they en-

ty bstacles t the rgrus thnkng the present. The status art n

Agambens wrk s partcularly tellng n ths respect. At crucal pntsAgamben calls n wrks vsual art t rge the lnk that wul therwse

be mssng t hs vew the enng ur present arkness. He reas

n Ttans pantng The Three Ages of Man (1131), an especally n ts

epctn the pstctal scene between nymph an shepher, the haltng

the anthrplgcal machne an ts characterstc separatn anmal

an human. Alternatvely, he lls n the gaps hs accunt the jurcal

apra ur era wth ctatns rm Franz Kaka. The llwng passages

rm The Open an rm State of Exception, respectvely, are exemplary these tw tenences:

In ther ulllment the lvers learn smethng each ther that they

shul nt have knwnthey have lst ther mysteryan yet have

nt becme any less mpenetrable. But n ths mutual senchantment

rm ther secret, they enter . . . a new an mre blesse le, ne that

s nether anmal nr human. It s nt nature that s reache n ther

ulllment, but rather (as symblze by the anmal that rears up the

Tree Le an Knwlege) a hgher stage beyn bth nature anknwlege, beyn cncealment an scncealment. . . . As s clear

rm bth the psture the tw lvers an the ute taken rm the

lps, ther cntn s otium, t s wrkless [senzopera].6

Kakas mst prper gesture cnssts nt (as Schlem beleves) n

havng mantane a law that n lnger has any meanng, but n

havng shwn that t ceases t be law an blurs at all pnts wth le.

(SE, 3)

Hs reerence t Ttan n The Open t present the cncept messanc

tme may be quere n terms the meanng cntext n whch a pantng


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Introduction 11

a mythlgcal scene may perate a clam ths type. Smlarly, whle t

s true that Kaka s ten appeale t as a agnstc an prphetc wrter,

hs suggestve lterary accunts the experence beng subjecte t law

cannt be cte as a surce sclgcal authrty, nr can they stan n

r an analyss prevalng jurcal ces. Althugh t s legtmate t

ask whether elements Agambens analyss the present may be use t

clary an expun n the nsghts lterary genres, t s mprtant als

t ask what wrk Agamben expects lterature an art t perrm r hs

prject characterzng the present an enng the task rmng an

aequate respnse t t. Ths pnt s nt lmte t lterature narrwly cn-

ceve. It s clear that Walter Benjamns reerences t pure vlence n hs

Crtque Vlence requre explcatn an cannt be calle n t clar-y r supprt Agambens statements regarng pure acts, pure means,

pure vlence, an the gesture as the m the new pltcs.7 Inee,

such statements call n relgus ath n rer t sustan an cnvey ther

meanng, an as such they eman crtcal analyss. One s nclne t vew

hs hanlng the artwrk as the ther se a sclgcally reuctve

cnceptn art: n hs wrk, art s treate as prvng real nsght nt

scal cntns an the tls t assst ther passng. Ths presumptn

may be val, but n ths case, as n the ther cases stue by the cntrbu-trs t ths ssue, t s mprtant t ask r an argument that wul be able

t supprt an een t.

Notes

1 Grg Agamben, Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life, trans. Danel Heller-Razen

(199; Stanr, CA: Stanr Unversty Press, 1998), 12. Hereater cte parenthetcally

by page number as HS.

2 Englsh translatns Agambens wrk rener nuda vita as ether bare le (as n Heller-

Razens translatn Homo Sacer) r nake le (as n Vncenz Bnett an CesareCasarns translatn Means without End: Notes on Politics [199; Mnneapls: Unver-

sty Mnnesta Press, 2000]; hereater cte parenthetcally by page number as ME).

3 Grg Agamben, The Open: Man and Animal, trans. Kevn Attell (2002; Stanr, CA:

Stanr Unversty Press, 200), 338.

Grg Agamben, State of Exception, trans. Kevn Attell (2003; Chcag: Unversty

Chcag Press, 200), 2. Hereater cte parenthetcally by page number as SE.

Hs reerence t the petc state emergency n hs essay The En the Pem, rst

publshe n Italy n the same year as Homo Sacer(199), uses a tne that cnces wth

the sute wrks that belngs t the bpltcal prject. See Grg Agamben, The End

of the Poem: Studies in Poetics, trans. Danel Heller-Razen (Stanr, CA: Stanr Un-

versty Press, 1999), 113. See hs scussn the iustitium prvsn n Rman law as an

example the lght thrwn by extreme cases (SE, 9).


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12 Alison Ross

Grg Agamben, Remnants of Auschwitz: The Witness and the Archive, trans. Danel

Heller-Razen (1998; New Yrk: Zne Bks, 1999), .

He uses ths vew, r example, n Homo Saceras a me argumentatn. There he

wrtes, I tay there s n lnger any ne clear gure the sacre man, t s perhapsbecause we are all vrtually homines sacri (HS, 11).

8 Mchel Fucault, The History of Sexuality, vl. 1, An Introduction, trans. Rbert Hurley

(New Yrk: Vntage Bks, 198), .

9 See Fucaults Society Must Be Defended: Lectures at the Collge de France, 19751976, e.

Maur Bertan, trans. Dav Macey (New Yrk: Pcar, 2003), especally 228.

10 Mchel Fucault, On the Archaelgy the Scences: Respnse t the Epstemlgy

Crcle, n Aesthetics, Method, and Epistemology: Essential Works of Foucault, 19541984 ,

trans. Rbert Hurley et al. (New Yrk: New Press, 1998), 2:29333, 2:303.

11 Glles Deleuze, Michel Foucault, trans. San Han (Mnneapls: Unversty Mnnesta

Press, 1988).12 In 191, Fucault, alng wth Danel Deert, une an actvst grup r prsners,

Grupe Inrmatn sur les Prsns (Prsn Inrmatn Grup). Ths grup was

unusual r havng n gal beyn the cumentatn what was ntlerable n the

system penal ncarceratn; t explctly etache tsel rm the rermst prgram

lbbyng r an eal prsn. Althugh the grup ha sbane by 19, Fucault saw

ts mprtance n terms the experment remvng actvsm rm the justcatn

hgher values. Are the terms Agambens uture pltcsthe nperatvty the

law, the cnceptn gesture, an s nhgher values n ths sense? D they rent

a partcular unerstanng the stakes pltcal actn that suggests what shul

preval beyn current cntns? That sa, t seems t me that there s an mprtant

stnctn t be mae between Fucaults entcatn the gap between the cncepts

pltcal phlsphy an the mes pltcal actvsm an Agambens thess that the

categres pltcal thught have becme semantcally mptent an that t s the pr-

cess ths semantc exhaustn that takes preceence ver pltcal actvsm. The latter

vew s clser t quetsm because ts estnal vew pltcs.

13 See Agambens scussn human rghts n Homo Sacer, 123. The reasns r

Agambens pstn n human rghts scurse must be seen as a cnsequence the

generalty hs pstn n bpltcs. Fr a crtque Agamben that cuses n the

prxmty he shares wth Arents vew a pure pltcal man, see Jacques Ran-

cre, Wh Is the Subject the Rghts Man? SAQ103.23 (Sprng/Summer 200):

29310, especally 3012.

1 See, r nstance, Nancys scussn Netzsches Age, n The Gravity of Thought,

trans. Frans Raful an Gregry Recc (Atlantc Hghlans, NJ: Humantes Press,

199), .

1 In many places Agamben acknwleges hs use Nancys unerstanng the relatn

the ban. Hwever, there s als a share agnss ur epch as ne accmplshe

nhlsm, althugh the cnsequences each raws rm ths agnss are ferent. See

Jean-Luc Nancy, Birth to Presence, trans. Bran Hlmes (Stanr, CA: Stanr Unversty

Press, 1993), , an Agambens use the ban an scussn nhlsm n Homo Sacer,29, 3.

1 Agamben, The Open, 8.


13/13

Introduction 1

1 Agamben uses a scussn Walter Benjamn t supprt hs pstn n each the

cte passages.

18 I thnk ne wul nee t lk at Agambens scussn language n The End of the

Poem an Language and Death: The Place of Negativity, trans. Karen E. Pnkus wth MchaelHart (Mnneapls: Unversty Mnnesta Press, 1991), as well as hs crtcsms

phlsphcal aesthetcs n The Man without Content, trans. Gerga Albert (Stanr, CA:

Stanr Unversty Press, 1999), n rer t sketch ut the pstn that supprts ths

use the arts.

alison ross introduction

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