In his essay "Critique of Violence", Walter Benjamin presents a complex analysis of the relationship between violence, law, and justice. Benjamin argues that law and violence are intrinsically linked, with violence being the means by which law is established and maintained. However, he distinguishes between two types of violence: legislative violence, which aims to create new historically recognized laws, and law-preserving violence, which aims to preserve existing laws.
Despite this distinction, Benjamin asserts that the trial is an expression of violent control and that justice cannot be achieved through the law. According to him, the mission of "Critique of Violence" is to reveal the connection between violence and the law, with the ultimate goal of exposing the violence inherent in the law itself.
Benjamin contends that justice cannot be achieved through the law, but through divine violence, which is not integrated and immediate. He cites the destruction of Korah society in the Bible as an example of divine violence, which was done without warning, threat, or bloodshed and was not intended to establish a new law or a relationship of control but for acceptance and sacrifice for life.
In light of this, Benjamin calls for a proletarian general strike to destroy all state power and establish a new historical era. He believes that this will facilitate a return to a time before the law was corrupted by violence and create a new era in which divine violence can lift up those guilty of the law.
In conclusion, Benjamin's concept of violence is multifaceted and involves a critique of the relationship between violence, law, and justice. He argues that the law is fundamentally violent and that justice can only be achieved through divine violence. Benjamin's ideas remain influential today, particularly in debates on the relationship between power, violence, and the state.
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