3.0

credits

Average Course Rating

Political power has been defined as “a right of making laws with penalty of death, and consequently all less penalties…and of employing the force of the community in the execution of such laws….only for the public good” (John Locke). This course will explore political power as it is identified with this right. To this end, we will consider a broad range of topics, among them how death is understood (or not) when it is identified as the most severe punishment that can be imposed by a state. We will also consider how the state (particularly the United States) exercises the right to make laws with the penalty of death, as well as how the state executes these laws. In addition, we will consider how the penalty of death is imposed by the state without specific legislation. Readings for the course will include, among others, texts by Camus, Girard, Foucault, Sarat, Berlant, Butler, and Schmitt, as well as U.S. Supreme Court cases and a novel. Students will be required to participate in class discussion and draft and write two papers.