Mass Migrations as a Messianic Event? Rereading Agamben’s State of Exception in Light of the Refugee Crisis in Europe

Abstract

In 2015 and 2016, with the opening of the “Balkan refugee route,” Europe faced the greatest refugee crisis since World War II. Considering the fact that masses of refugees crossed the borders of EU states “illegally,” therein demonstrating an effective suspension of the Schengen border regime, this crisis brought into crisis the sovereignties of the nation-states as well. In this context, the article will try to offer a rereading of Giorgio Agamben’s theory of the state of exception, arguing that insofar as the refugee crisis suspended the Schengen border regime and consequently revealed national sovereignty as fictional, it can be considered as a messianic event in the precise sense that Agamben assigned to this term.