Why Agamben Cannot Save Us: A Political Critique of Giorgio Agamben’s “Coming Politics”

Abstract

Giorgio Agamben's critical stance on biopolitics and sovereignty is primarily concerned with the problem of the “state of exception” as the paradigm of contemporary Western politics. According to Agamben, human life has been reduced to a “bare life” by a state of exception founded on the relation between the law and sovereignty. In response, Agamben's redemptive politics is a counterargument to the contemporary nihilistic-exceptional politics and capitalism of spectacle. This “coming politics” is founded on some basic ideas such as “playing with the law,” “profanation,” “gesture,” “free use” and finally “form-of-life.” This essay will first explain the role of these ideas in Agamben's coming politics, then, it will demonstrate that all these ideas (or political strategies) are based on a deep belief in the power of thought. Therefore, it seems fair to assert that Agamben's coming politics is a kind of theoretical or philosophical politics and its hero or subject could be called “philosophers.” It will be argued that from a political standpoint, this philosophical politics not only cannot be redemptive but might also result in a form of political passivity and the maintenance of the current political order.