The Kingdom and Glory: for a Theological Genealogy of Economics and Government

Il Regno e la Gloria: Per una genealogia teologica dell'economia e del governo

Translated to Russian by D. Farafonova (Ch. 1–8) and E. Smagina (Annex); under scientific editing by D. Raskov, A. Pogrebnyak and D. Farafonova. Moscow; Saint-Petersburg: Gaidar Institute Press; Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences SPbSU, 2018. – 552 p.

ISBN 978-5-93255-521-7

In this work, Giorgio Agamben's long-term study of the genealogy of power, undertaken within the framework of the Homo sacer project, reaches its denouement. The author shows that the current dominance of the economy and governance in all spheres of public life derives its foundations from the anne-Christian paradigm of Trinitarian theology, originally associated with the problem of economy, that is, the way of divine governance of the world. It is therefore no coincidence that modern power is not only "governance" but also "glory", and the ceremonial, liturgical and doxological aspects that we are accustomed to regard as rudiments of the past, in fact, to this day constitute the basis of power in the West. Based on the analysis of liturgical acclamations and ceremonial symbols of power - from the throne and crown to the purple and lictor's bunches - Agamben presents the functioning of consensus and media in modern democracies in a new light. This book aims to revolutionise our understanding of the relationship between politics and economics.