La fin du monopole de la violence légitime ?

Abstract

By using an accurate interpretation of Max Weber's writings and taking into account texts by contemporaries (in particular, jurists), the well-known definition of the state as exercising a monopoly over legitimate violence is reexamined. Rather than an ontological decision dogmatically linking the state to violence, this definition can be seen as summarizing a thesis on the history of law, specifically on the conditions of the effectiveness of subjective rights. It thus turns out to be a Weberian alternative to classical theories of sovereignty. As such, it provides an original grid for interpreting institutional transformations in our times.