May 10, 2004

Empire: Chapter1#9

We now shift to the third part of Chapter One. That chapter is titled World order, whilst its third part is called Universal values. Hardt and Negri start it by asking a good question:


"We might well ask at this point, however, should we still use the juridical term "right" in this context? How can we call right (and specifically imperial right) a series of techniques that, founded on a state of permanent exception and the power of the police, reduces right and law to a question of pure effectiveness?"

It is a good question. It tackles the debate between realists (national interest) and Kantian idealists (world democracy) and it enables us to hold the twin tendencies of the US--acting in terms of its global interests and universal values.

Posted by Gary Sauer-Thompson at May 10, 2004 11:54 PM | TrackBack
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