Suffering and sovereignty: Martyrdom in the late modern West
Abstract
This article investigates the recent martyrdom of the French Catholic priest Jacques Hamel in order to assess the possibilities of sacrificial commemoration in a world that is increasingly globalized, increasingly secularized, and also increasingly subject to the capricious violence of religiously-infused terrorism. I argue that under contemporary conditions it has become increasingly difficult to articulate a meaningful form of sacrifice that exists beyond the logic of sovereignty. However, I conclude by identifying rare and fleeting instances of martyrdom which seem to promise the return to the concept’s counter-sovereign heritage.
Publication Title
Thesis Eleven
Recommended Citation
Fordahl, C. (2018). Suffering and sovereignty: Martyrdom in the late modern West. Thesis Eleven, 146 (1), 42-57. https://doi.org/10.1177/0725513618776678
