I.P.O. Information Service

Reykjavík/Vienna, 24 October 2018
RE/27044c-is

In his introductory lecture on “Carl Schmitt’s ‘State of Exception’ and the Logic of Power Politics” at a conference at the University of Iceland earlier last week, the President of the International Progress Organization, Professor Hans Köchler, identified a misconception of national sovereignty as characteristic of the ideology power politics. Confounding the distinction between legislative and executive powers, the advocates of emergency rule tend to portray “sovereignty” as absolute, ignoring its foundation in the will of the people. In his lecture, Professor Köchler further described the structural analogy between Schmitt’s notion of the sovereign ruler – as the one who decides on the state of exception – and the emergency powers given to the United Nations Security Council under Chapter VII of the UN Charter.

The Prime Minister of Iceland, Ms. Katrín Jakobsdóttir, delivered a keynote address on “Volatile Politics after the Financial Crisis: New Challenges for Democracy.” The Prime Minister also dealt with the implications of information technology and the New Social Media for the public sphere and political decision-making.

Two dozen experts from Austria, Brazil, Iceland, Portugal, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States presented papers in panels on “Rethinking ‘Exceptions’: Theoretical Approaches,” “Political Disruptions: Populism, Democracy, and Neo-Nationalism,” “Financial Crises and Emergency Powers,” “The ‘Exceptional’ State and Violent Practices: Historical and Contemporary Cases,” and “Volatile Politics after the Financial Crisis: New Challenges for Democracy.” Professor Nadia Urbinati (Columbia University, New York) explained “populism” as a form of representative democracy while Professor James K. Galbraith (University of Texas at Austin) and Mo Torres (Harvard University) described emergency politics in the United States. A general discussion on emergency rule and populism since the global financial crisis concluded the debates.

The conference was organized by Dr. Valur Ingimundarson, Professor of Contemporary History and Director of the EDDA Research Center at the University of Iceland.

On the sidelines of the conference, the President of the I.P.O. met with Mr. Ögmundur Jónasson, former Minister of Interior of Iceland and member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

• For further details see Hans Köchler, “Carl Schmitt's 'State of Exception' and the Logic of Power Politics,” Summary

END/International Progress Organization/News Release/States of Exception and the Politics of Anger/2018-10-24/P/RE/27044c-is