Precarious life as a biopolitical signature of the state of exception

social markers of violence in the thoughts of Judith Butler

Abstract

In this article, we will argue that there is in the thought of the American philosopher Judith Butler (1956) a certain theoretical-methodological basis that allows us to understand the modus operandi of the exercise of violence that falls on certain bodies. We believe that these acts of violence are analyzed by the author as unique events, and that they are based on discourses that scrutinize bodies as livable or killable. This would be, in our view, a way brought by Judith Butler to think about the relationship between social markers of violence, abjection and state of exception. In order to carry out our intention, we will rescue the understanding of Giorgio Agamben (1942) and Veena Das (1945) about the concept of signature, to then establish a dialogue with Judith Butler's notion about the social markers of violence. Finally, based on this theoretical movement, we will argue that Judith has a philosophical concern in critically diagnosing the construction of a precarious life as a biopolitical signature of the State of Exception.

Key words: Biopolitics; Signature; Social Bookmarks; Precarious Life; State of Exception.