The Logic of the Exception
(2008) In Lund Dissertations in Sociology 80.- Abstract
- Normally, we understand democracy and dictatorship as two separate forms of government. Actually, they are intertwined due to the state of exception and its inevitability for the political constitution. This concession frees of normative pre-conceptions of the political and leads us to the hypothesis that if we study the political beyond ideological skirmishes and narrative constructions we can come to conceive of the political as a sociological object of study.
The logic of the Exception suggests that such hypothesis can indeed be verified by sustaining Carl Schmitt’s famous definition of sovereignty: “Sovereign is the one who decides on the state of exception.” In four chapters a thorough discourse analysis is carried... (More) - Normally, we understand democracy and dictatorship as two separate forms of government. Actually, they are intertwined due to the state of exception and its inevitability for the political constitution. This concession frees of normative pre-conceptions of the political and leads us to the hypothesis that if we study the political beyond ideological skirmishes and narrative constructions we can come to conceive of the political as a sociological object of study.
The logic of the Exception suggests that such hypothesis can indeed be verified by sustaining Carl Schmitt’s famous definition of sovereignty: “Sovereign is the one who decides on the state of exception.” In four chapters a thorough discourse analysis is carried out with the purpose of bringing to the fore the complexity of Schmitt’s definition and the difficulties of sustaining it in a modern philosophical climate. Several definitions concerning the elements of the political are hereby produced facilitating the construction of a polity model in a concretist conceptual framework.
The analytical framework of concretism has several advantages for studying the political as a sociological object of study. Firstly, it avoids idealist assumptions and utopian preconceptions. Secondly, it contrasts the unending power relation analysis of political realism and comes to terms with the relativism of its conclusions. A third, but perhaps most notable consequence of a turn to concretism is the revelation of the fundamental logic governing the political, a revelation laying the political bare in its naked clarity as authority and dominance.
By conceptualizing the logic behind the fundamental mechanism of polity, The Logic of the Exception reveals a discourse free of moralist or cynical assumptions about the political. In light of this new found language, we come to understand the rise of global polity following the international state of exception (1999-2006) through a discussion of modern political sociology. (Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- Abstract in Danish
Som regel forstår vi demokrati og diktatur som to adskilte regeringsformer. Faktisk er de sammenflettede grundet undtagelsestilstanden og dens uundgåelighed i den politiske forfatning. Denne indrømmelse befrier os fra normativ forudindtagethed om det politiske og leder os til den hypotese at hvis vi studerer det politiske hinsides ideologiske spilfægterier og narrative konstruktioner kan vi komme til at forstå det politiske som et sociologisk studieobjekt.
The Logic of the Exception foreslår at en sådan hypotese faktisk kan verificeres ved at stadfæste Carl Schmitts berømte definition a suverænitet: ”Suveræn er den som bestemmer over undtagelsestilstanden.” I fire kapitler bliver der... (More) - Abstract in Danish
Som regel forstår vi demokrati og diktatur som to adskilte regeringsformer. Faktisk er de sammenflettede grundet undtagelsestilstanden og dens uundgåelighed i den politiske forfatning. Denne indrømmelse befrier os fra normativ forudindtagethed om det politiske og leder os til den hypotese at hvis vi studerer det politiske hinsides ideologiske spilfægterier og narrative konstruktioner kan vi komme til at forstå det politiske som et sociologisk studieobjekt.
The Logic of the Exception foreslår at en sådan hypotese faktisk kan verificeres ved at stadfæste Carl Schmitts berømte definition a suverænitet: ”Suveræn er den som bestemmer over undtagelsestilstanden.” I fire kapitler bliver der gennemført en grundig diskursanalyse med det formål at fremdrage kompleksiteten i Schmitts definition og problemerne ved at stadfæste denne i et moderne filosofisk klima. Herved produceres en mængde definitioner som bidrager til at konstruere en model af den politiske entitet i en konkretistisk begrebsramme.
Den konkretistiske analytiske begrebsramme har flere fordele i studiet af det politisk som et sociologisk studieobjekt. For det første undgår den idealistiske antagelser og utopistiske fordomme. For det andet, kontrasterer den, den politiske realismes uendelige magtrelationsanalyse og angriber dennes relative konklusioner. En tredje og måske mest tydelige konsekvens af vendingen mod konkretismen er åbenbaringen af den fundamentale logik det politiske er underlagt, en åbenbaring der blotlægger det politiske i dets nøgne klarhed som autoritet og dominans.
Ved at begrebsliggøre logikken bag den politiske entitets fundamentale mekanisme åbenbarer The Logic of the Exception en diskurs fri for moralistiske eller kyniske antagelser om det politiske. I ly af dette nyfundne sprog kommer vi til at forstå den globale politiske entitets opståen i kølvandet på den internationale undtagelsestilstand (1999-2006) gennem en diskussion af den moderne politiske sociologi. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/1033333
- author
- Kondrup Jakobsen, Klaus LU
- supervisor
- opponent
-
- Professor Höibraaten, Helge, Nordeuropa-Institut, Humboldt-Universität, Berlin
- organization
- publishing date
- 2008
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Carl Schmitt, Georges Sorel, Max Weber, Carl Schmitt, Georges Sorel, Max Weber
- in
- Lund Dissertations in Sociology
- volume
- 80
- pages
- 460 pages
- publisher
- Lund University
- defense location
- Kulturens Auditorium, Lund
- defense date
- 2008-03-07 10:15:00
- ISSN
- 1102-4712
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- cb5b6ae2-0db3-42fd-968c-ec18a8b36095 (old id 1033333)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 15:02:41
- date last changed
- 2021-12-20 14:55:51
@phdthesis{cb5b6ae2-0db3-42fd-968c-ec18a8b36095,
abstract = {{Normally, we understand democracy and dictatorship as two separate forms of government. Actually, they are intertwined due to the state of exception and its inevitability for the political constitution. This concession frees of normative pre-conceptions of the political and leads us to the hypothesis that if we study the political beyond ideological skirmishes and narrative constructions we can come to conceive of the political as a sociological object of study. <br/><br>
<br/><br>
The logic of the Exception suggests that such hypothesis can indeed be verified by sustaining Carl Schmitt’s famous definition of sovereignty: “Sovereign is the one who decides on the state of exception.” In four chapters a thorough discourse analysis is carried out with the purpose of bringing to the fore the complexity of Schmitt’s definition and the difficulties of sustaining it in a modern philosophical climate. Several definitions concerning the elements of the political are hereby produced facilitating the construction of a polity model in a concretist conceptual framework. <br/><br>
<br/><br>
The analytical framework of concretism has several advantages for studying the political as a sociological object of study. Firstly, it avoids idealist assumptions and utopian preconceptions. Secondly, it contrasts the unending power relation analysis of political realism and comes to terms with the relativism of its conclusions. A third, but perhaps most notable consequence of a turn to concretism is the revelation of the fundamental logic governing the political, a revelation laying the political bare in its naked clarity as authority and dominance. <br/><br>
<br/><br>
By conceptualizing the logic behind the fundamental mechanism of polity, The Logic of the Exception reveals a discourse free of moralist or cynical assumptions about the political. In light of this new found language, we come to understand the rise of global polity following the international state of exception (1999-2006) through a discussion of modern political sociology.}},
author = {{Kondrup Jakobsen, Klaus}},
issn = {{1102-4712}},
keywords = {{Carl Schmitt; Georges Sorel; Max Weber; Carl Schmitt; Georges Sorel; Max Weber}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{Lund University}},
school = {{Lund University}},
series = {{Lund Dissertations in Sociology}},
title = {{The Logic of the Exception}},
volume = {{80}},
year = {{2008}},
}