Between the «coming» community and the multitude

a dialogue with Agamben and Hardt & Negri

Abstract

This article is based on a proposal by Giorgio Agamben made in the book The coming community, which consists of thinking an inappropriable community, that is, a community for ontologically indeterminate beings who cannot be appropriated by the apparatuses of power. In this sense, we seek to show how the social formation conceived by Agamben can dialogue with Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri’s idea of multitude. To this end, the similarities and differences between the “coming” community and the multitude are exposed. Next, we discuss the individualizing role of Western law and politics, understood as hierarchical mechanisms whose function is precisely to prevent the emergence of the multitude.