Homo sacer’s empirical figures: approaches to the neoliberal phenomenon

Abstract

This paper propose a reading and application of the homo sacer metaphysical concept, central to the Giorgio Agamben thought. Thus, aims to debug from historical, social and political contexts empirical figures who reflect fundamental bare life features, extending the application of that paradigm. Therefore, is needed to consider some criticism – exposed in the introduction of the work – to the Agamben’s thought, which guide the enterprise, however without to depart absolutely from agambenian framework, but providing a new breath to his philosophical constructions. Basically, will be worked with three critical authors: Judith Butler, Thomas Lemke and Ludueña Romandini. With this in mind, propose a reading mode of the homo sacer paradigm that allows more precisely analysis of facticity, ensuring sensitivity to biopolitical nuances in their specific contexts – in other words, avoiding that the entire social body be reduced to the nuda vita sacredness. In the first section two figures is debugged: the national minorities, from Hannah Arendt political analysis; and the undefined inmates of Guantanamo Bay, investigated by Judith Butler. In a second moment, has the intention to approximate the neoliberal economic reason to the exception paradigm and to extract a new empirical figure of homo sacer, the homo oeconomicus, or enterprising subject. Finally, it is evidenced the neoliberal consequences, of that economic way of life, to the Agamben’s philosophical-political proposes, i. e., the implementation of an inoperative community and politics. Furthermore, the consequences to the actual democracy and the limitations of agambenian framework for such political context.