sovereign violence, n.All

Sovereign violence (n.) answers ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠Benjamin's pure violence with a third figure: a power that neither makes law nor preserves it, but suspends it.

Sovereign violence (n.) both ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠makes and keeps the law at once: it permits a forbidden act, and the only content of the new law is the survival of the old.