27. April |  19:00   |  Samuel Weber (Evanston)

»Concentration, Isolation and Clear-cut Distinctions«

Although the term »concentration camp« covers a variety of different objects, in popular parlance it has understandably become identified with one form of camp, the death-camps, and especially those operated by the Nazis during World War II. Giorgio Agamben, in contrast, has reinterpreted the notion of »the camp« as »the very paradigm of political space at a time when politics becomes biopolitics.« The question his interpretation thereby raises concerns the status of genocidal extermination with respect to the »concentration camp«: is it a mere instance of a biopolitical state of exception or, conversely, is the biopolitical state of exception understandable mainly with respect to the project of genocide and the camps that implemented it? This talk will explore these questions by unpacking the notions of »camp,« »extermination« and above all, »concentration«.