CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2010
| Author | Burai, Erna |
|---|---|
| Title | Decision of Forms of Life: Reconsidering Agamben in the case of mainland mothers in Hong Kong |
| Summary | The thesis unfolds the puzzle constituted by the exponentially growing number of expectant mainland mothers who go to Hong Kong in order to give birth in the city. As the concept of territorial sovereignty proves to be inefficient to explain what the difference between the two territories is, Giorgio Agamben’s understanding of sovereignty is evoked as a „decision on life.” Consequently, the thesis acknowledges and discusses the possibility of recognizing not only the distinct sovereignties of the mainland and Hong Kong, where life is inscribed in the political order differently, but the sovereignty of mainland mothers, who also perform a decision on the life of their children. The contribution of the reconsideration of Agamben’s thought in this context is first, the identification of the source of sovereignty of the “citizen,” and secondly, the delineation of possible further research on the theoretical implications of introducing another sovereign into the original relationship between homo sacer and the sovereign power. |
| Supervisor | Alexander Astrov |
| Department | International Relations MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2010/burai_erna.pdf |
Visit the CEU Library.
© 2007-2021, Central European University