What to make of the exception? A three-stage route to Schmitt’s institutionalism
This article traces a developmental trajectory in Schmitt’s conception of law that brings out
alternative conceptualizations of the exception. “Transcendence”, “immanence” and
“integration” signify three different models to represent the relation between what I call
“nomic force” (the particular phenomenon of bringing order) and “materiality” (the matter-offactness
of a particular entity or phenomenon). I contend that while Political Theology feeds off a
transcendent model, where a sovereign decider makes materiality speakable, The Concept of the