The 'right' side of the law: state of siege and the rise of fascism in interwar Romania

The aim of this article is to problematize one of the most audacious tenets of the new consensus, namely the revolutionary character of fascism, by linking together the experience of the state of siege and the emergence of the fascist movement in interwar Romania. It tries to do so by drawing on the...

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Main Author: Cercel, Cosmin Sebastian
Format: Article
Published: Brill Academic Publishers 2013
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/2527/
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author Cercel, Cosmin Sebastian
author_facet Cercel, Cosmin Sebastian
author_sort Cercel, Cosmin Sebastian
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description The aim of this article is to problematize one of the most audacious tenets of the new consensus, namely the revolutionary character of fascism, by linking together the experience of the state of siege and the emergence of the fascist movement in interwar Romania. It tries to do so by drawing on the philosophical underpinnings of the paradigm of the state of exception developed by Giorgio Agamben and Walter Benjamin’s critique of law and violence. In a first part my aim is to present the main arguments espoused in defending the view according to which fascist movements were professing an authentic revolutionary radical politics. Secondly, I will turn towards legal critique and to the work of Giorgio Agamben in order to build a topography of the relation between law and the force of state. In a third part I will focus on the uses and the historical meaning of the state of siege in post-First World War Romania. This article argues that the emergence of the fascist movement in Romania is an event strongly embedded in the political, legal and symbolic dynamics entailed by the state of exception rather than the expression of a revolutionary thrust.
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spelling nottingham-25272020-05-04T20:19:53Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/2527/ The 'right' side of the law: state of siege and the rise of fascism in interwar Romania Cercel, Cosmin Sebastian The aim of this article is to problematize one of the most audacious tenets of the new consensus, namely the revolutionary character of fascism, by linking together the experience of the state of siege and the emergence of the fascist movement in interwar Romania. It tries to do so by drawing on the philosophical underpinnings of the paradigm of the state of exception developed by Giorgio Agamben and Walter Benjamin’s critique of law and violence. In a first part my aim is to present the main arguments espoused in defending the view according to which fascist movements were professing an authentic revolutionary radical politics. Secondly, I will turn towards legal critique and to the work of Giorgio Agamben in order to build a topography of the relation between law and the force of state. In a third part I will focus on the uses and the historical meaning of the state of siege in post-First World War Romania. This article argues that the emergence of the fascist movement in Romania is an event strongly embedded in the political, legal and symbolic dynamics entailed by the state of exception rather than the expression of a revolutionary thrust. Brill Academic Publishers 2013 Article PeerReviewed Cercel, Cosmin Sebastian (2013) The 'right' side of the law: state of siege and the rise of fascism in interwar Romania. Fascism, 2 (2). pp. 205-233. ISSN 2211-6249 Giorgio Agamben; Walter Benjamin; fascism; law; Romania; state of exception; state of siege; violence http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/10.1163/22116257-00202006 doi:10.1163/22116257-00202006 doi:10.1163/22116257-00202006
spellingShingle Giorgio Agamben; Walter Benjamin; fascism; law; Romania; state of exception; state of siege; violence
Cercel, Cosmin Sebastian
The 'right' side of the law: state of siege and the rise of fascism in interwar Romania
title The 'right' side of the law: state of siege and the rise of fascism in interwar Romania
title_full The 'right' side of the law: state of siege and the rise of fascism in interwar Romania
title_fullStr The 'right' side of the law: state of siege and the rise of fascism in interwar Romania
title_full_unstemmed The 'right' side of the law: state of siege and the rise of fascism in interwar Romania
title_short The 'right' side of the law: state of siege and the rise of fascism in interwar Romania
title_sort 'right' side of the law: state of siege and the rise of fascism in interwar romania
topic Giorgio Agamben; Walter Benjamin; fascism; law; Romania; state of exception; state of siege; violence
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/2527/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/2527/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/2527/