Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #157477 in Books
• Published on: 2005-01-14
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 104 pages

Customer Reviews

An exploration of the nature of political authority
On one level Giorgio Agamben's short book is a commentary on the theory of Roman law, yet its significance is far greater. While the reviews on the dust jacket point to its relevance to critical consideration of the war on terror, they have missed the way in which it provides the keys to an analysis of twentieth century European dictatorships of both right and left. Most disturbingly it questions fundamental notions of a basic distinction between dictatorship and democracy, seeing the difference as being manifested in a kind of "tipping" point, where a political system generalizes the "state of exception" and therefore its legitimacy becomes dependent on authority - a form of charismatic power able to give legitimacy.