The return of the father: a contemporary reading of Homo sacer

Abstract

This article aims to explore possible connections between the figure of the sovereign, as conceived by Carl Schmitt and Giorgio Agamben, and the father of the primal horde, as theorized by Sigmund Freud. Based on these connections, I will examine the rise of a new form of fascism in relation to the desire for the restoration of a patriarchal order, as suggested by Judith Butler. To reflect on a sexual metaphor at the core of power, I propose interpretations of the signifiers “undying, unlimp, uneatable,” engaging in dialogue with Susan Sontag, Johann Jakob Bachofen, and Achille Mbembe.