An Interview with Giorgio Agamben

(This interview, conducted by Ulrich Raulff in Rome on 4 March 2004, was originally published, in German, by the Süddeutsche Zeitungon 6 April 2004. This translation was made by Morag Goodwin, EUI, Florence. All notes have been provided for this publication by the editors.)

In this interview, Agamben discusses his latest book, The State of Exception, in relation to the latest developments in the ‘war on terror’. Methodologically, he makes a distinction between the camp as a ‘paradigm’ compared to other forms of sociological investigation. A ‘paradigm’, he argues, can be used to understand large historical structures. He also indicates that the ‘absence of law’ entailed by the state of exception is not the absence of governance. A double structure of the system, governance through law and governance through management, needs therefore to be considered.

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