Sovereignty, affect and being-bound

Abstract

The protectionist and nativist instincts that helped propel Donald Trump into office have been felt throughout the Western world as new nationalisms have forced themselves into the political mainstream. This chapter moves away from a thinking of the political that is predetermined by the framework of modern constitutionalism. The chapter seeks instead to emphasise the affective, existential and political inferences of our 'being-bound' that precedes and exceeds the rights and obligations that sovereignty installs. Affect has been a matter of concern for philosophers and cultural theorists for generations but in the context of legal studies, participation in what Patricia Clough has called the 'affective turn' in the humanities and social sciences has been less than enthusiastic. The promise of civil and political rights organised as a set of normative expectations can supply populations that feel entitled to draw on and deploy such protections with a sense of security, ownership and belonging.