Where Are We Now?
GIORGIO AGAMBEN
Agamben is right that our rulers will use every opportunity to consolidate their power, especially in times of crisis. That coronavirus is being exploited to strengthen mass-surveillance infrastructure is no secret.
Alongside and beyond accusations, Agamben’s texts on the pandemic variously reflect upon the great transformation affecting Western democracies. In the name of biosecurity and health, the model of bourgeois democracy—together with its rights, parliaments, and constitutions—is everywhere surrendering to a new despotism where citizens seem to accept unprecedented limitations to their freedoms.
GIORGIO AGAMBEN
Agamben is right that our rulers will use every opportunity to consolidate their power, especially in times of crisis. That coronavirus is being exploited to strengthen mass-surveillance infrastructure is no secret.
––Marco D’Eramo, NEW LEFT REVIEW
Alongside and beyond accusations, Agamben’s texts on the pandemic variously reflect upon the great transformation affecting Western democracies. In the name of biosecurity and health, the model of bourgeois democracy—together with its rights, parliaments, and constitutions—is everywhere surrendering to a new despotism where citizens seem to accept unprecedented limitations to their freedoms.