ABSTRACT
The Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben is noted for his probing discussions of the constraints of identity, biopolitics, as well as of sovereignty and the law. This essay reviews his contributions and shows how they can inform anthropology, such as the grotesque contemporary ritual of the intimidating forced confessions choreographed and broadcast on TV, by the state authorities in contemporary China. Agamben shows us, not least, how the social roles imposed on us are separate from the living person made to play these parts. This is an insight that Chinese state operatives have seized upon to force-remake people, using “clean torture” techniques to coerce them into publicly denying their previous selves, and take on the role of an apolitical subject, whose raw material (the “naked life” we all start off with) is also harnessed for the state.
