Series
editors: Rosalind Dixon,
University of New South Wales, Australia, Susan Rose-Ackerman, Yale University and Mark Tushnet, Harvard
University, US
Constitutions are a country’s most important
legal document, laying the foundation not just for politics, but for all other
areas of law. They allocate power among different levels and branches of government,
record and promote a society’s shared values, and protect the rights of
citizens. Countries around the world are adopting written constitutions, though
what defines a constitution is evolving to include a variety of sources beyond
canonical texts, such as political conventions, statutes, judicial decisions
and administrative law norms.
This cosmopolitan monograph
series provides a forum for the best and most original scholarship in
constitutional and administrative law, with each book offering an
international, comparative, or multi-jurisdictional approach to this complex
and fascinating field of research.
Forthcoming in the
Series
Normalising
the State of Exception
Günter
Frankenberg, Goethe University, Germany
‘Books
abound on the question whether states of emergency can be legally controlled.
But Frankenberg’s account stands out because of his mastery of the political
and legal contexts in which the terms of the debate about states of emergency
were framed for us – the situation of Weimar and the constitutional reaction in
postwar Germany. In addition, Frankenberg has an astonishing command of the
history of political theory from Hobbes to the present. His innovative but
scholarly analyses permit him to construct a narrative about the potential of
the rule of law to respond to emergencies that includes detailed examinations
of Schmitt, Foucault, Habermas, Agamben, and many others. His treatments of
these figures seek to draw out the genuine insights they might offer, so that,
even though none of the figures escapes the force of his criticism, his
argument will challenge the assumptions of all involved in the debate.’
– David
Dyzenhaus, University of Toronto, Canada
This timely volume by distinguished scholar Günter Frankenberg offers a sophisticated analysis and sharp critique of the reactions of nations such as the US, Great Britain and Germany to perceived terrorist threats, organized crime actions and other political emergencies that have occurred in recent years.
The author demonstrates how governments have
increasingly sacrificed the rule of law and human rights for the benefit of
security programs – as evidenced by a rise in extraordinary measures such as
surveillance, detention and torture – thus normalizing the state of exception
and privileging preemptive, proactive and coercive methods of political engineering.
An interdisciplinary and multi-jurisdictional study, this book develops and
implements a unique theoretical and conceptual framework for understanding the
rise of technical-political rationality and the fall of the rule of law, and
submits both to a firm critique.
Particularly relevant in light of current
controversies, this provocative book will appeal to scholars and students of
international and constitutional law, legal theory, political science, and
terrorism studies.
Contents:
Preface 1. A Critique of Political Technology 2. Visions of Political Technology 3. Constellations of Law-Rule and the
State of Exception 4. The State of Exception as Mindset and Doctrine 5. Political Extremism and the Militancy of Law-Rule 6. Normalizing the
State of Exception: Counter-Terrorism and ‘Whatever it Takes’ 7. Normalizing Torture as a Technique of Governing: What the ‘Exigencies of
War’ Demand? Afterword
Jan 2014 c 336 pp Hardback 978 1 78347 250 5 c n£85.00
ONLINE PRICE c £76.50
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