The Invisible Enemy as Absolute Enemy: What Can Carl Schmitt Teach Us about War against a Virus?

Abstract

Through a discussion of Carl Schmitt's work this paper explores the theoretical implications of a war fought against a non-human enemy and suggests that Schmitt's work provides a useful framework of analysis for understanding the martial rhetoric that has surrounded Covid-19 policies. In Schmitt’s work we can identify the intricate relation between the absolutization and dehumanization of the enemy on the one hand and the dissolution of the distinction between the public and private sphere on the other. Schmitt’s warnings about the dangers of a global war in the name of humanity prove relevant to the war against a virus.