Report: The Duality of Political Sovereignty
Introduction
Political sovereignty, as analyzed in the "Treatise on Nomadology," is characterized by a duality that reflects the interplay between two distinct poles: the magician-king and the jurist-priest. This duality is foundational to the State apparatus, shaping its structure, functions, and modes of governance. The document explores how these two poles coexist in opposition and complementarity, forming a sovereign unity that governs the interiority of the State. This report examines the duality of political sovereignty, its implications for governance, and its relationship with external forces such as the war machine.
1. The Two Poles of Sovereignty
Political sovereignty is divided into two primary poles:
- Magician-King: Represents magical violence, immediate capture, and the power to "seize" and "bind." This pole is associated with fearsome, obscure, and quick actions that prevent combat and enforce submission.
- Jurist-Priest: Embodies juridical integration, organization, and regulation. This pole is calm, weighty, and focused on creating pacts and laws that structure society.
Complementarity and Opposition
While these poles stand in opposition—violent vs. calm, obscure vs. clear—they are complementary and function as a pair. Together, they exhaust the field of sovereignty, forming a unified State apparatus that distributes binary distinctions and creates a milieu of interiority.
Examples in Mythology
Georges Dumézil’s analysis of Indo-European mythology illustrates this duality:
- Varuna and Mitra: Varuna, the magician-king, binds through magical capture, while Mitra, the jurist-priest, organizes through pacts and laws.
- Romulus and Numa: Romulus represents the violent founding of Rome, while Numa embodies its juridical and religious organization.
2. Sovereignty and the State Apparatus
The duality of sovereignty is central to the functioning of the State apparatus:
- Binary Distinctions: The State operates by distributing binary distinctions, such as public vs. private, male vs. female, and ruler vs. ruled.
- Interiority: The State creates a milieu of interiority, internalizing and appropriating all aspects of society within its framework.
The Role of War
War is not inherently part of the State apparatus. Instead:
- The State may use violence through police and jailers, bypassing war entirely.
- Alternatively, the State integrates war into its structure by creating a military institution, subordinating the war machine to its juridical and hierarchical framework.
3. The War Machine as an External Force
The war machine exists outside the State apparatus, challenging its sovereignty and interiority:
- Exteriority: The war machine is irreducible to the State, embodying multiplicity, transformation, and becoming. It introduces alternative forms of justice, relations, and organization that lie outside the State's binary distributions.
- Opposition to Sovereignty: The warrior god Indra, for example, opposes both Varuna and Mitra, representing a force that unties bonds and betrays pacts, introducing celerity, secrecy, and cruelty.
Games as Metaphors
The duality of sovereignty is reflected in games:
- Chess: Represents the State, with coded pieces and hierarchical structures. Chess is a war of interiority, with battles, fronts, and retreats.
- Go: Represents the war machine, with anonymous pieces and fluid strategies. Go operates in smooth spaces, emphasizing perpetual movement and deterritorialization.
4. Implications for Governance
The duality of political sovereignty has profound implications for governance:
- Stability and Control: The magician-king ensures immediate capture and submission, while the jurist-priest organizes society through laws and pacts.
- Resistance and Transformation: The war machine challenges the State's stability, introducing alternative modes of justice and organization.
Historical Examples
- Roman Kings: The lineage of Roman kings alternates between the magician-king (Romulus) and the jurist-priest (Numa), with occasional disruptions by "evil kings" like Tullus Hostilius, who embody the war machine's exteriority.
- Kleist’s Literature: Heinrich von Kleist’s works celebrate the war machine, portraying it as a force of secrecy, speed, and affect that challenges the State apparatus.
5. The State's Relationship with Exterior Forces
The State is not a universal entity but exists in relation to external forces:
- Global Machines: Worldwide organizations, such as multinational corporations and religious movements, operate autonomously, challenging the State's sovereignty.
- Local Mechanisms: Bands, margins, and minorities affirm the rights of segmentary societies, resisting the State's centralization.
Coexistence and Competition
The State and external forces coexist and compete in a perpetual field of interaction. The war machine, as a form of exteriority, continually metamorphoses, resisting appropriation by the State.
Conclusion
The duality of political sovereignty, embodied by the magician-king and jurist-priest, is foundational to the State apparatus. This duality creates a unified system of governance that internalizes and appropriates all aspects of society. However, the war machine, as an external force, challenges the State's sovereignty, introducing alternative modes of justice, organization, and becoming. The interplay between these forces shapes the evolution of political systems, highlighting the dynamic tension between interiority and exteriority, stability and transformation.
This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the duality of political sovereignty, drawing on mythology, historical examples, and theoretical insights from the "Treatise on Nomadology."
