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A Study of Political Myth and Political Violence Through the Work of Georges Sorel, Walter Benjamin, and Carl Schmitt

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A Study of Political Myth and Political Violence Through the Work of Georges Sorel, Walter Benjamin, and Carl Schmitt A Study of Political Myth and Political Violence through the work of Georges Sorel, Walter Benjamin, and Carl Schmitt Benjamin Chwistek PhD University of York Politics October 2017 Abstract: Political myth and political violence are ignored by a large body of political theory. They are, moreover, not examined as related concepts despite their frequent theoretical interaction. This thesis shows the importance of both concepts to political theory, makes insights into their conceptual nature, and highlights the relationship between the two concepts. To do this, it examines the work of three thinkers who take political myth and political violence to be important concepts within political theory. Georges Sorel, Walter Benjamin, and Carl Schmitt, all utilise political myth and political violence within their theoretical work. While building on each other’s work, the three take distinct theoretical and conceptual approaches to both concepts. This thesis examines myth and violence within each of the three thinkers to gain insights into the thesis’ central issues. The thesis situates the thinkers within their broad and local historical contexts. It situates their work in opposition to much modern political theory, and opposed to Enlightenment views of politics as a myth and violence free sphere. It situates the thinkers, moreover, within the local context of early twentieth century Europe and the crises wracking both political theory and political life. The thesis highlights how violence can be understood as existing both within, and external to, political communities. It shows how myth continues to create meaning for individuals; finally, it highlights how the concepts relate to politics. Conceptually, the thesis argues that myth should be understood outside of the Enlightenment dichotomy of true/false and should not be understood as predetermined. It argues that violence should be understood in non-physical and non-bloody (as well as physical/bloody) ways. In so doing, the thesis shows why political theory should not ignore myth and violence, and how we might think more fruitfully about the two concepts and their relationship to politics. Page 2 of 205 Author’s declaration: I declare that this thesis is a presentation of original work and I am the sole author. This work has not previously been presented for an award at this, or any other, university. All sources are acknowledged as references. Page 3 of 205 Table of Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................................... 2 Author’s declaration ...................................................................................................... 3 Chapter 1 .....................................................................................................7 The Enlightenment Myth and Political Theory ............................................7 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 7 Section 1: The Enlightenment Myth – Reasonable and Pacified Polities ..................... 8 Section 1.1: Kant and the Enlightenment Myth ........................................................ 8 Section 1.2: The Enlightenment Myth in Liberal Political Theory .......................... 11 Section 2: From Enlightenment to the ‘Lamps Going Out’ ......................................... 14 2.1: The Early Twentieth Century and the Crisis of Reason .................................. 14 2.2: Sorel, Benjamin, Schmitt, and the Crisis of Reason ........................................ 16 Section 3: Myth, Violence and Politics ........................................................................ 20 3.1: Myth .................................................................................................................. 20 3.2: Myth and Ideology ........................................................................................... 25 3.3: Violence ............................................................................................................ 27 3.4: Myth, Violence and Politics ............................................................................. 31 Section 4: Limitations, Problems, Difficulties ............................................................ 35 Conclusion ................................................................................................ 37 Chapter 2 ................................................................................................. 39 Conflict and Morality: Georges Sorel on the Psychological Need for Myth 39 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 39 Section 1: Psychology, Morality, Civilisation .............................................................. 41 1.1: Sorel on Civilisation and Human Life .............................................................. 41 Section 2: Myth and Civilisation ................................................................................. 49 2.1: The Nature of Myth: Images beyond Intellect ................................................ 49 2.2: The Myth of the General Strike........................................................................ 53 Section 3: History and Struggle................................................................................... 59 3.1: Emancipation or Agonism? ............................................................................. 59 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 64 Chapter 3 ..................................................................................................67 In the “Immemorial Interests of Civilisation”: Georges Sorel on Violence 67 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 67 Section 1: Understanding Sorel’s use of Violence ....................................................... 68 Section 2: Sorel’s desire for War – Civilisation and Decline ...................................... 75 Section 3: Constitutive Violence and the Case of Norway .......................................... 82 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 85 Page 4 of 205 Chapter 4 .................................................................................................. 87 Law, Justice, Hegemony: Benjamin on Myth and Violence ....................... 87 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 87 Section 1: The Context of ‘Critique of Violence’ .......................................................... 89 Section 2: Reading ‘Critique of Violence’: Weber and Benjamin ................................ 94 Section 3: Immanent and Contextual Critique ......................................................... 109 3.1: The Ends of ‘Critique of Violence’ – the problematic nature of Benjamin’s account of the good ............................................................................................... 109 3.2: ‘Critique of Violence’: insights on myth and violence .................................... 112 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................118 Chapter 5 ................................................................................................ 120 The Conflictual Nature of Myth in the Work of Carl Schmitt................... 120 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 120 Section 1: Approaching Schmitt’s work ...................................................................... 121 Section 2: Myth in The Crisis of Parliamentary Democracy ..................................... 126 Case: Russia .......................................................................................................... 132 Section 3: Myth in The Leviathan in the State Theory of Thomas Hobbes .............. 134 Section 4: Myth, Enlightenment, and History .......................................................... 142 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 146 Chapter 6 ................................................................................................ 148 The Inherent Violence in Carl Schmitt’s Account of Democratic Order .. 148 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 148 Section 1: Concepts, Texts and Terms ....................................................................... 149 Section 2: The Inherent Violence of the Concept of the Political.............................. 153 Section 3: Schmitt contra Hobbes ............................................................................. 163 3.1: Schmitt’s account of the demos ...................................................................... 163 3.2: The Soldier-Citizen as Public Freedom .......................................................... 167 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 171 Chapter 7 ................................................................................................
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