The Unexceptional Exception: Sovereignty, Human Rights and Biopolitics
14 Pages Posted: 11 Jan 2010
Date Written: January 11, 2010
Abstract
How do we explain how the amount of lawlessness increases in direct proportion to the increase in law, so that never before have the rightless had so many rights? In Britain, for example, more criminal legislation has been passed in the last decade than the preceding century. Between May 1997, when it came to power, and September 2008, the Labour government had created 3,605 new criminal offences, almost one a day and an average of 320 per year. Virtually no aspect of life is excluded from this biopolitical legislative onslaught.
Keywords: Biopower, Foucault, rights, lawlessness
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Adelman, Sam, The Unexceptional Exception: Sovereignty, Human Rights and Biopolitics (January 11, 2010). Warwick School of Law Research Paper No. 2009/09, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1534608 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1534608
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