Introduction

In addition to offering a summary and rationale for the chapters collected in this volume, this introductory chapter provides a general overview of the relevant scholarship on sacrifice, with a particular focus on how the idea of sacrifice itself and influential theories of sacrifice relate to the interdisciplinary field of legal philosophy. The concept and practice of sacrifice have been widely theorized by modern scholars of religion. And the idea of sacrifice has also featured prominently in the work of continental philosophers such as Georges Bataille, Jacques Derrida, Jean-Luc Nancy, and Giorgio Agamben, to name but a few. However, the concept’s relevance to legal studies requires clarification. In order to provide a rationale for the interdisciplinary nature of the volume, the editors highlight the ways that theoretical and philosophical conceptions of sacrifice may provide resources for addressing the emerging concerns over the rise of populism, challenges to the rule of law, and the crisis of political liberalism.