Günter Frankenberg, Emeritus Professor of Public Law, Philosophy of Law and Comparative Law, Institute for Public Law, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Germany

‘Books abound on the question whether states of emergency can be legally controlled. But Frankenberg’s account stands out because of his mastery of the political and legal contexts in which the terms of the debate about states of emergency were framed for us - the situation of Weimar and the constitutional reaction in postwar Germany. In addition, Frankenberg has an astonishing command of the history of political theory from Hobbes to the present. His innovative but scholarly analyses permit him to construct a narrative about the potential of the rule of law to respond to emergencies that includes detailed examinations of Schmitt, Foucault, Habermas, Agamben, and many others. His treatments of these figures seek to draw out the genuine insights they might offer, so that, even though none of the figures escapes the force of his criticism, his argument will challenge the assumptions of all involved in the debate.’

• Contents: Preface 1. A Critique of Political Technology 2. Visions of Political Technology 3. Constellations of Law-Rule and the State of Exception 4. The State of Exception as Mindset and Doctrine 5. Political Extremism and the Militancy of Law-Rule 6. Normalizing the State of Exception: Counter-Terrorism and ‘Whatever it Takes’ 7. Normalizing Torture as a Technique of Governing: What the ‘Exigencies of War’ Demand? Afterword

Günter Frankenberg, Emeritus Professor of Public Law, Philosophy of Law and Comparative Law, Institute for Public Law, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Germany

‘Books abound on the question whether states of emergency can be legally controlled. But Frankenberg’s account stands out because of his mastery of the political and legal contexts in which the terms of the debate about states of emergency were framed for us - the situation of Weimar and the constitutional reaction in postwar Germany. In addition, Frankenberg has an astonishing command of the history of political theory from Hobbes to the present. His innovative but scholarly analyses permit him to construct a narrative about the potential of the rule of law to respond to emergencies that includes detailed examinations of Schmitt, Foucault, Habermas, Agamben, and many others. His treatments of these figures seek to draw out the genuine insights they might offer, so that, even though none of the figures escapes the force of his criticism, his argument will challenge the assumptions of all involved in the debate.’

• Contents: Preface 1. A Critique of Political Technology 2. Visions of Political Technology 3. Constellations of Law-Rule and the State of Exception 4. The State of Exception as Mindset and Doctrine 5. Political Extremism and the Militancy of Law-Rule 6. Normalizing the State of Exception: Counter-Terrorism and ‘Whatever it Takes’ 7. Normalizing Torture as a Technique of Governing: What the ‘Exigencies of War’ Demand? Afterword

Günter Frankenberg, Emeritus Professor of Public Law, Philosophy of Law and Comparative Law, Institute for Public Law, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Germany

‘Books abound on the question whether states of emergency can be legally controlled. But Frankenberg’s account stands out because of his mastery of the political and legal contexts in which the terms of the debate about states of emergency were framed for us - the situation of Weimar and the constitutional reaction in postwar Germany. In addition, Frankenberg has an astonishing command of the history of political theory from Hobbes to the present. His innovative but scholarly analyses permit him to construct a narrative about the potential of the rule of law to respond to emergencies that includes detailed examinations of Schmitt, Foucault, Habermas, Agamben, and many others. His treatments of these figures seek to draw out the genuine insights they might offer, so that, even though none of the figures escapes the force of his criticism, his argument will challenge the assumptions of all involved in the debate.’

• Contents: Preface 1. A Critique of Political Technology 2. Visions of Political Technology 3. Constellations of Law-Rule and the State of Exception 4. The State of Exception as Mindset and Doctrine 5. Political Extremism and the Militancy of Law-Rule 6. Normalizing the State of Exception: Counter-Terrorism and ‘Whatever it Takes’ 7. Normalizing Torture as a Technique of Governing: What the ‘Exigencies of War’ Demand? Afterword