The Right over the Weak. Two Fables about Sovereignty without a Sovereign
The Right over the Weak. Two Fables about Sovereignty without a Sovereign

Summary/Abstract: This paper proposes an approach to sovereign performatives capable of taking into account their ambiguous articulation as speech acts that are both self-empowering and bound to certain conventions. The basic idea of the approach is to develop a weaker interpretation of the concept of performative convention detachable from the normative example of legal rules and therefore applicable to common-sense speech acts where conventions are often unclear and underdefined. The advantages of this approach are demonstrated by a discussion of the performative constitution of the right against the weak, which is often invoked today by political actors insisting on the need to empower one or another enlightened and benevolent elite over the irrational multitude.

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