Divine Violence looks at the question of political theology and
its connection to sovereignty. It argues that the practice of
sovereignty reflects a Christian eschatology, one that proves very
hard to overcome even by left thinkers, such as Arendt and Derrida,
who are very critical of it. These authors fall into a trap
described by Carl Schmitt whereby one is given a (false) choice
between anarchy and sovereignty, both of which are bound within and
return us to the same eschatological envelope. In Divine Violence,
the author argues that Benjamin supplies the correct political
theology to help these thinkers. He shows how to avoid trying to
get rid of sovereignty (the "anarchist move" that Schmitt tells us
forces us to "decide against the decision") and instead to seek to
de-center and dislocate sovereignty so that it 's mythological
function is disturbed. He does this with the aid of divine
violence, a messianic force that comes into the world to undo its
own mythology, leaving nothing in its wake. Such a move clears the
myths of sovereignty away, turning us to our own responsibility in
the process. In that way, the author argues, Benjamin succeeds in
producing an anarchism that is not bound by Schmitt 's trap but
which is sustained even while we remain dazzled by the myths of
sovereignty that structure our world.
Divine Violence will be of interest to students of political
theory, to those with an interest in political theology, philosophy
and deconstruction, and to those who are interested in thinking
about some of the dilemmas that the left finds itself in today.
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