Immanent Constituent Power

• In Event: Histories and Possibilities of “Instituent Power”

Abstract

Esposito’s new work on “instituent power” is premised on his critique of “constituent power.” However, the latter is always conceived as a power that transcends law (and a fortiori institutions), whether this transcendence comes from “above,” theologically, or from “below,” materialistically. In this paper I shall draw from my recent work on what I have called an “immanent” conception of constituent power, that is, a constituent power that is “immanent” within the system of law. I shall discuss some examples of this idea from Bloch and Kelsen, and I shall engage in a critique of Balibar’s and Rancière’s ways of understanding the dialectical relation between constitution and insurrection. In conclusion I shall compare my standpoint with that of Esposito’s proposal on “instituent power.”

Author

• Miguel Vatter, Deakin University