ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that Giorgio Agamben's messianism is primarily aimed at thinking subjectivity beyond power relations to offer a new type of political subject which he calls 'the remnant'. It first outlines the metaphysical doctrine of Lurianic kabbalah through the conceptual triad: tsimtsum, shevira, and tikkun. Then, the chapter discusses Gershom Scholem's interpretation of Lurianism and comments on his controversial decision to apply the concept of the nothing to his messianic idea. At this point, a reference to the works of Benjamin and Franz Kafka is needed to introduce Scholem's redemptive formula of the 'slight adjustment'. The chapter focuses on The Coming Community and The Time That Remains, Agamben's leading messianic texts, where this application is the most elaborate, but occasionally refer to other works if necessary. Specifically, it claims that Agamben's idea of the messianic time, which is based on Lurianic concept of contraction, influences his conception of the process through which the subject is made.
