Giorgio Agamben

Agamben, Giorgio

Italian philosophy academic writing extensively on American foreign policy and the use of state power.

Key articles: 
On security and terror - Giorgio Agamben
A brief history of the state of exception - Giorgio Agamben
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On security and terror - Giorgio Agamben

"We can say that politics secretly works towards the production of emergencies." A short article written in response to the 9-11 attacks by the philosopher Giorgio Agamben published in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung [Frankfurt general newspaper] September 20, 2001.

Security as leading principle of state politics dates back to the the birth of the modern state. Hobbes already mentions it as the opposite of fear, which compels human beings to come together within a society. But not until the 18th century does a thought of security come into its own.

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24 Sep 2006 by Joseph K.

A brief history of the state of exception - Giorgio Agamben

An excerpt from the 2005 book State of Exception which serves as a good introduction to Agamben’s recent work on the nature of state power/sovereignty, as well as his dense and difficult style (5,000 words).

(…) We have already seen how the state of siege had its origin in France during the Revolution. After being established with the Constituent Assembly's decree of July 8, 1791, it acquired its proper physiognomy as état de siège fictif or état de siège politique with the Directorial law of August 27, 1797, and, finally, with Napoleon's decree of December 24, 1811.

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10 Sep 2006 by Joseph K.
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