Abstract
Agamben is well known for his homo sacer project and the 'dark' concept of biopolitics – dark due to the fatal connection between politics and law. Is there a moment of utopia encapsulated in this dystopian vision? This contribution tries to answer this question. For this purpose, it elaborates on the concepts of biopolitics. It also presents Agamben's other, less-known 'light' concept of politics, 'true politics', free of any 'nomos', law or sovereignty. This concept relates to his idea of a 'coming society' and borrows heavily from the idea of messianism. This contribution understands Agamben's messianic references, especially to Benjamin's pure violence, as an invitation to reconstruct the different elements of true politics and integrate them into a broader scheme of utopian thinking with the help of Levitas's understanding of 'utopia as method'.
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