Brazil’s anti-terrorism law: re-readings of totalitarianism based on Giorgio Agamben and Hannah Arendt

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15175/1984-2503-201810203

Keywords:

Totalitarianism, democracy, sovereignty, anti-terrorism law

Abstract

The following article aims to demonstrate that totalitarian elements – such as a lack of legal protection and an absolute subjection of the individual to sovereign power – may persist in regimes considered to be democratic, revealing a gradual resurgence of state intervention in public liberties. The subject of terrorism is approached by means of an analysis of Brazilian Law 13.260/16, known as the ‘anti-terrorism law”. We seek to demonstrate the relationship between totalitarianism and terrorism, mainly by analyzing the types of criminal offense outlined by the law, whose scope has the effect of relegating the individual to the absolute power of the sovereign, in which they are stripped of any mechanism of legal protection. Within such a scenario, the legislation itself has the potential to be used as an extra-judicial instrument rather than a genuine means of combating terrorism. We consider theories proposed by Giorgio Agamben and Hannah Arendt, philosophers to have analyzed aspects of twentieth-century totalitarianism from different yet complementary perspectives, in terms of the characteristics and mechanisms to have contributed to its development, as well as the location, use and role of the individual in such a context.

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Author Biographies

Caroline Canuto Soares de Oliveira, Universidade Federal de Sergipe, São Cristóvão, SE

Aluna especial do Programa de Mestrado em Direito pela Universidade Federal de Sergipe (UFS). Especialista em Direito Público pela Pontífica Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais (PUC Minas). Graduada em Direito pela Universidade de Fortaleza (UNIFOR). Atua no Grupo de Pesquisa ‘Natureza Humana, Pluralismo e multiculturalismo no âmbito dos Direitos Humanos”, na Linha de Pesquisa ‘Biopolítica”. Assessora Criminal da Defensoria Pública da União de Sergipe. E-mail: <carolinecso@hotmail.com>.

Flávia de Ávila, Universidade Federal de Sergipe, São Cristóvão, SE

Professora e pesquisadora do Departamento de Relações Internacionais e do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Direito da UFS. Mestre em Direito e Relações Internacionais pela Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) e doutora em Direito Público pela Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais (PUC/MG). Coordenadora do Grupo de Pesquisa ‘Natureza Humana, Pluralismo e multiculturalismo no âmbito dos Direitos Humanos”. E-mail: <flaviadeavila@gmail.com>.

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Published

2018-06-16

How to Cite

Oliveira, C. C. S. de, & Ávila, F. de. (2018). Brazil’s anti-terrorism law: re-readings of totalitarianism based on Giorgio Agamben and Hannah Arendt. Passages: International Review of Political History and Legal Culture, 10(2), 202-221. https://doi.org/10.15175/1984-2503-201810203

Issue

Vol. 10 - No. 2 - Maio a Agosto (2018)

Section

Articles

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