Abstract

RECH, Walter. The Naming of Evil: Sovereignty, Security and Unlawful Warfare. Isonomía [online]. 2021, n.54, pp.76-108.  Epub Nov 03, 2021. ISSN 1405-0218.  https://doi.org/10.5347/isonomia.v0i54.433.

This article argues for the fundamental importance of ‘evil-naming’ as a constitutive operation of modern political discourse. To achieve this goal the article first draws attention to how global, and seemingly consensual, institutional and public discourses have defined the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) as a contemporary form of ‘evil’ and how the internatio­nal community has conceived of its engagement with this entity. Based on this analysis and on insights from the history of early-modern struggles against pirates and ‘enemies of mankind’, the article shows that political modernity has less failed to erase the ‘archaic’ practice of evil-na­ming than constantly relied on it. To make this claim, the article identifies discursive patterns and practical effects of evil-naming and draws out the ambivalent relationship between evil-na­ming and sovereignty and security as cornerstones of political modernity. The article concludes by engaging with the question of whether and to what extent the concept of evil can be criti­qued and dismissed as some scholars have argued.

Keywords : evil; war; terrorism; ISIS; Islamic State; international law; politics; philosophy.

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