A Pandemic That Never Took Place: Discursivity, State of Exception, and Hyperreality
Reconceptualizing State of Exception: European Lessons from the Pandemic
ISBN: 978-1-83608-199-9, eISBN: 978-1-83608-198-2
Publication date: 4 October 2024
Abstract
We have come to a point where the common way to characterise what is taking place presently, or, better yet, for the past almost two years, is with the term ‘pandemic’. The task of this chapter is to bring to awareness certain critical reflections with the hope of disturbing the normalised discourse which excepts the authentic meaning of pandemic, a meaning which affects the totality of the human existence. Following the thoughts of Agamben, Baudrillard, and Heidegger, the hypothesis that this chapter is advancing revolves around the idea that the term ‘pandemic’ has been appropriated by biological thinking excepting its authentic meaning, that is, the ultimate reality of the human existence which is death.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Susan Stuart, Dennis Grammatikos, and Eleni Rizou for their helpful critical contributions while this chapter was being written. I would also like to thank the reviewers who provided me with amazing critical suggestions which helped me improve drastically the original version of this chapter. Finally, I would like to thank José María Rosales, Gonçalo Marcelo, and Hanna-Mari Kivistö who provided me with the opportunity to participate in the virtual workshop Reconceptualizing the State of Exception and its Challenges to Democracy and Rights in Europe which took place in June 2021 as a joint effort from the University of Jyväskylä and the University of Coimbra.
Citation
Ioannidis, I. (2024), "A Pandemic That Never Took Place: Discursivity, State of Exception, and Hyperreality", Sarat, A. (Ed.) Reconceptualizing State of Exception: European Lessons from the Pandemic (Studies in Law, Politics, and Society, Vol. 90), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 7-34. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1059-433720240000090002
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2024 Iraklis Ioannidis