`Not in Our Name'? On Responsibility and Its Disavowal

Abstract

Taking as a starting point the banner that came to prominence with the protests against the invasion of Iraq, this article explores the ways in which legal institutions and categories organize the responsibility, and irresponsibility, of its citizens. It does so by providing a variety of perspectives of the relation between state and citizen, and by paying particular attention to how the categorization of responsibility in legal, economic and political terms manages issues of responsibility and its disavowal.