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Tracks how Agamben's thought evolved in response to contemporary political and intellectual eventsFocuses on Agamben's intellectual developmentOffers the first study of the complete Homo Sacer seriesTakes into account Agamben's recently-published memoirAddresses the full range of Agamben's thought on linguistics, poetics, politics and theologyGiorgio Agamben has emerged as one of the most perceptive and even prophetic political thinkers of his era. Now that he has completed his multi-volume Homo Sacer series – his career-defining work – Adam Kotsko, one of his leading translators, shows how Agamben's political concerns emerged and evolved as he responded to contemporary events and new intellectual influences while striving to remain true to his deepest intuitions. Kotsko reveals the trajectory of Agamben's work and shows us what it means to practice philosophy as a living, responsive discipline

Adam Kotsko analyzes the current political conjuncture in the United States through the lens of political theology, which he understands as fundamentally a study of systems of legitimacy. From this perspective, the neoliberal order is not merely an economic or political order but also a theological one, centered on the axiomatic value of free choice and imbued with a faith in the market's judgment of our free choices. The system-wide effects of the global financial crisis, which did not correlate with any good or bad choices, shattered the legitimacy of the neoliberal order, but so far both major US political parties have been focused on somehow rehabilitating neoliberalism rather than breaking with it. In the wake of Trump's inauguration, this attempt to restore neoliberalism has reached farcical levels, as both parties are seduced by conspiracy theories that implicitly concede that the current order is illegitimate, yet fail to promote a real alternative.

Agamben, in commenting on Benjamin's Critique of Violence in his work, Homo Sacer, takes on the question of the sacredness of life. He does this by going back to the earliest roots of this concept, as early as Aristotle, and the etymology of the word in numerous languages. Questions arise as to whether or not Carl Schmitt was correct about his assertions of sovereignty, and that Benjamin added little to this concept. Sovereign violence behind him, Agamben then turns to the sacredness of life and divine violence, upon which sovereignty is necessary for his thesis to be complete. There is much question in the reading as to when Benjamin had read Schmitt, as to ascertain just who was the originator of specific ideas surrounding the necessity and value of sovereignty. Benjamin concludes that there are sectors of violence where law is not present, as well as those zones of violence that are found with the existence of law, as in his eighth thesis. Yet Agamben sidesteps and redefines Benjamin's thesis on divine violence. Rejects many of Agamben's assertions, finding Benjamin to be original, correct, more modern and non-reactionary. S. Fullmer