9/11, Torture, and Law

Abstract

Arguing that a primary motive for the public emergence of torture practices in the American empire after 9/11 was the state’s desire to legitimize its account of the events of that day, I propose that the declaration of a permanent state of exception was an intended consequence of the events of 9/11, and suggest that writings of the Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt are relevant to the effective demolition of U.S. constitutional law and governance since 9/11. Analysis of his displaced theology leads to the suggestion that resistance to lawless state sovereignty should incorporate Winstanley’s project of a “law of freedom.”