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Dictatorship: New Trajectories in Law
Get PDFThis book analyses the institution and concept of dictatorship from a legal, historical and theoretical perspective, examining the different types of dictatorship, their relationship to the law, as well as the analytical value of the concept in contemporary world.
In particular, it seeks to codify the main theories and conceptions of ‘dictatorship’, with the goal of unearthing their contradictions. The book’s main premise is that the concept of dictatorship and the different types of the dictatorial form have to be assessed and can only be understood in their historical context. On this basis, the elaborations on dictatorship of such diverse thinkers as Carl Schmitt, Donoso Cortes, Karl Marx, Ernst Fraenkel, Franz Neumann, Nicos Poulantzas, and V. I. Lenin, are discussed in their historical context: ‘classical and Caesaristic dictatorship’ in ancient Rome, ‘dictatorship’ in revolutionary France of 1789 and counterrevolutionary France of 1848, ‘fascist dictatorship’ in Nazi Germany, and ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’ in Russia of 1917. The book contributes to the theory of dictatorship as it outlines the contradictions of the different typologies of the dictatorial form and seeks to explain them on the basis of the concept of ‘class dictatorship’. The book’s original claim is that the dictatorial form, as a modality of class rule that relies predominantly on violence and repression, has been essential to the reproduction of bourgeois rule and, consequently, of capitalist social relations. This function has given rise to different types and conceptualisations of dictatorship depending on the level of capitalist development.
This book is addressed to anyone with an interest in law, political theory, political history and sociology. It can serve as core text for courses that seek to introduce students to the institution or theory of dictatorship. It may also serve as a reference text for post-graduate programs in law and politics, because of its interdisciplinary and critical approach
The Withering Away of the Legal Form: Revisiting Past Debates for Future Movements
No full textThis chapter revisits the withering away thesis and examines its contemporary significance by focusing explicitly on the notion of the legal form. It begins by analysing this notion, as developed by Evgeny Pashukanis, in an attempt to review its analytical value. Recognising the historicity of the legal form (whose establishment was one of the major contributions of Pashukanis’ ‘General Theory of Law’) the chapter moves on to discuss the withering away thesis as developed by the classics of Marxism and as received by Soviet theorists. It continues discussing the most recent theoretical work on the withering away debate, namely Alexandros Chrysis’s work on democracy and communism and Igor Shoikhedbrod’s idea of ‘communist legality’. Motivated by these fruitful and challenging contributions, and cautious to avoid the idealist dangers of providing recipes for the cook-shops of the future, the chapter will tentatively put forward the following hypothesis: that the legal form, the predominant form of social consciousness in capitalist society, may be replaced by new forms of social consciousness based on the notion of the ‘ethical community’ (Sittlichkeit) and the principle of the ‘free and full development of the individual’
The Pharmakon of Democracy: General Will and the People in the Context of the Greek Referendum
Get PDF© The Author(s) 2017. This article examines the role of the Greek referendum of 2015 in the context of the Greek socio-economic and political crisis. The analysis of the mediating role of referendum in the process of class struggle leads to a more general argument relating to fundamental concepts of public law, namely, ‘general will’ and the ‘people’. Central to the analysis is the question of whether referendums are a remedy for the problems facing the institutions of representative democracy. By analysing the process of the Greek referendum, with a focus on the formulation of the question and the interpretation of the verdict of the Greek people by the executive power, a more general argument is constructed regarding the mediating role of the referendum in a crisis and the legitimating role of such concepts in a class-divided society. In a context of rising inequality and furthering distantiation of the popular strata from decision-making processes, the referendum is shown, on the one hand, as a remedy for the failings of representative institutions on behalf of capital and necessary for the reproduction of capitalist relations. On the other hand, on the background of a discussion of the relation between democracy and capitalism, it is argued that the referendum acts as a different kind of poison for the people themselves and the struggle of the popular classes
Public interest or social need? Reflections on the Pandemic, Technology and the Law
Get PDFIn most countries the measures to deal with the pandemic were introduced through executive law-making mechanisms, which form part of the ‘law of necessity’ or ‘emergency law’. The legal formalist response to these measures accepts their proportionality and constitutionality because of their temporariness. So far, the debate among constitutionalists has focused on the contradiction between public interest (in this case concretised as public health) and fundamental rights. Additionally, the technocratic legitimacy of the measures is almost unanimously accepted. In this chapter I argue that the contradiction between health and economy, or, more accurately, between the social need for health and the partiality of economic interests, determines the scientificity of the different policy responses to the pandemic. In order to do so, the measures will be examined as a unity of (emergency) form and (politico-economic) content. The argument is that the scientific response to the pandemic is overdetermined by politico-economic priorities
‘Bursting Asunder the Integument’: Democracy, Digitalization, and the State
Get PDFThis chapter examines the relationship between digital platforms and the democratic state. On the one hand, it seeks to analyse the symbiotic relationship between digital monopolies and the capitalist state and, on the other, it explores the potential of digital platforms for actual self-governance in a different kind of society. Phenomena such as targeted ads, fake news, the twitter mob and echo chambers, as well as the influencing and fragmentation of public opinion, and their significance for the operation of bourgeois democracy and the reproduction of capitalism will be discussed. Yet, technology and democracy are both conditioned by the social, i.e. capitalist, context of development. The issue of the unrealised potential of the internet for democracy is intertwined with the issue of capitalism, exploitation and inequality. Contrary to techno-pessimist or neo-Luddist conceptions, we argue that the emancipatory potential of the processes of digitalisation and automation can only be actualised in the context of a radical restructuring of the relationship between economy, politics, technology and work. At the same time, contrary to techno-optimist views, we argue that this process cannot be initiated -let alone concluded- within the strict confines of the capitalist state. On the contrary, the potential of digital platforms for actual self-governance can only be realised in the context of development of socialist relations of production and administration. This chapter concludes by tentatively exploring the potential of digital platforms for solving problems that earlier attempts at building socialism were faced with -in particular the contradiction between central planning and collective decision-making
The Dialectics of Democracy: Towards a Socialist Constitutionalism
Get PDFThis book examines how the democratic form and the struggle for democracy reflects, influences and shapes the struggle for social emancipation.
In the context of increased exploitation, rising inequality, and intensified struggle for social justice in the aftermath of the economic crisis, the channelling of populism through liberal democratic institutions has had contradictory effects: giving rise to both Corbyn and Brexit, Sanders and Trump, Syriza and the Golden Dawn, to name but a few. How can we make sense of these developments? In response, this book approaches the idea of democracy from a socialist constitutionalist standpoint and explores institutional forms and principles that challenge and aim at the transformation of the extant social order. This process involves the challenging of well-established ideas of the liberal viewpoint, as well as an unwavering focus on the issue of class rule which enables the highlighting of limitations of -not only mainstream but also heterodox- contemporary approaches to constitutionalism and democracy. Ultimately, democracy is conceived as a process of struggle for creating the conditions, material as well as intellectual, for its actualisation.
This significant work of legal and political theory will be of considerable interest to those working in these areas to make sense of contemporary developments, and to further the causes of social justice and social emancipation
The UK Economic Constitution after Brexit: Between Authoritarianism and Democracy
Get PDFInspired from recent events, such as the resignation of the United Kingdom (UK) Prime Minister following a negative assessment of the autumn 2022 mini-budget, as well as the legislative intervention in the wave of trade disputes with the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill, this paper investigates the analytical value of the notion of the economic constitution. This notion can be used to examine the relationship between economic management and democratic processes but has not been adequately elaborated upon in the UK context. Nevertheless, constitutional theorists have used it to examine the European Union (EU) constitutional structure, which has been assessed as an example of authoritarian economic constitutionalism. Through a comparative juxtaposition to the EU economic constitution, this paper seeks to evaluate the authoritarian or otherwise characteristics of the UK economic constitution. It does so by focusing on two aspects of the UK economic constitution, namely fiscal monitoring and labour legislation. The paper concludes with a discussion of the potential for reforming the economic constitution in a more democratic direction in the post-Brexit UK
Break or Continuity? Friedrich Engels and the Critique of Digital Surveillance
Get PDFThis paper is a contribution to the argument that Engels’s work remains topical and may provide us with the analytical tools necessary to approach contemporary manifestations of capitalist contradictions. Based on Engels’s work on political economy (with emphasis on his contribution to the labour theory of value and the articulation of the law on the tendency of the rate of profit to fall) it will critically review the concept of “surveillance capitalism” as developed by Shoshana Zuboff, in order to explain central aspects of the process of digital surveillance. In particular, it will criticise the view expressed by Zuboff that surveillance capitalism constitutes a break with capitalism’s past and can be tamed through an enhancement of democratic accountability and regulation. Marxist contributions to the critique of digital surveillance have already approached this phenomenon in a many-sided manner. This paper builds upon these contributions and suggests that the exponential growth of digital platforms can be explained as a direct result of the development of capitalist contradictions, especially the contradiction between productive forces and relations of production as expressed in the law of the falling rate of profit
Against Market Constitutionalism: A Needs-based Approach to Rights and the Case for a Socialist Constitutionalism
Get PDFIn this paper I explore the hypothesis that a conception of right(s) that draws from the notion of needs is crucial for a critique of market constitutionalism. To this end, I review different theories of need, revisit the ‘needs versus rights’ debate and set it in the context of the Marxist critique of rights. Market rationality pits ‘needs’ against ‘rights’ (in the legal field) and favours a narrow conception of ‘need’ (in the field of normative theory). In contrast to this, I propose a rich conception of ‘need’ based on Marx’s critique of capitalism and explore its potential for a materialist conception of right(s). I conclude with a tentative exploration of the constitutional implications of adopting a needs-based approach to rights, in terms of both judicial and political decision-making forms. To develop the above argument, I focus on labour rights - especially the ways in which market rationality has affected the conception and application of labour rights in the European Union and the United Kingdom
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