In de ban van Guantánamo. Een kritische beschouwing van Giorgio Agambens soevereiniteitstheorie

Abstract

Abstract: Captivated by Guantánamo. A critical review of Agamben's theory of sovereignty. Closely examining the case of Guantánamo Bay, the article reconsiders Giorgio Agamben's theory of sovereignty. According to Agamben, this U.S. military base serves as the ultimate example of a 'state of exception', in which the normal legal order is suspended. The detainees' 'bare life' is directly exposed, without any juridical mediation, to a sovereign violence. Contrary to Agamben's interpretation, this article emphasizes that within the state of exception, when the worst violence has become possible, the sovereign is equally subject to an unlimited responsibility. Following the traces of the Roman law concept of fides, a term to be associated with words as fidelity, faithfulness, keeping one's word, trustworthiness, an argument is made for the existence of an open moral standard prevailing whenever the normal legal order withdraws. This open moral standard, related to an underdetermined view of universal human rights, can effectively mitigate sovereign violence within the state of exception.