Sacrificial pasts and messianic futures: Religion as a political prospect in René Girard and Giorgio Agamben
Religion has become a vital resource for attempts to rethink the meaning of the political. This article rehearses the efforts of two recent figures, René Girard and Giorgio Agamben, to transform the political by renewing its connection to religion. Both thinkers struggle to escape politics as define...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Sage
2007
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| In: |
Philosophy & social criticism
Year: 2007, Volume: 33, Issue: 5, Pages: 563-595 |
| Further subjects: | B
Rey Chow
B Messianism B Giorgio Agamben B René Girard B Politics B Christianity B Sacred B Sacrifice B Carl Schmitt B Homo sacer |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Religion has become a vital resource for attempts to rethink the meaning of the political. This article rehearses the efforts of two recent figures, René Girard and Giorgio Agamben, to transform the political by renewing its connection to religion. Both thinkers struggle to escape politics as defined by Carl Schmitt's friend/enemy distinction. Girard and Agamben do clash ideologically, but their inquiries into sacrifice and messianism take similar courses. Regarding origins, Girard argues for the sacrificial crisis as the common parent to religion and politics. Conversely, for Agamben, the Roman figure of homo sacer distinguishes politics from religion. With respect to the future, Girard's messianism installs Christian belief as the only way to move beyond violence. By contrast, Agamben steers Pauline messianism toward the efforts to displace sovereignty and reopen the political. I conclude that Agamben breaks with Schmitt while Girard reinscribes his politics at a higher level. |
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| ISSN: | 1461-734X |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Philosophy & social criticism
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1177/0191453707078920 |