Law operates through coercion in every state including secular ones

Evidence

The judicial process is an institution integral to every kind of state, and it is always based on coercion. In order to understand “secularism” I therefore did not begin with an a priori definition of that concept (“the universal principles of freedom and toleration” or “a particular cultural import from the West”). I tried to look at aspects of shari¯‘a reform as both the precondition and the consequence of secular processes of power. For the law always facilitates or obstructs different forms of life by force, responds to different kinds of sensibility, and authorizes different patterns of pain and suffering. It defines, or (as in the present moment of genetic and cognitive revolutions) tries to redefine the concept of the human—and so to protect the rights that belong essentially to the human and the damage that can be done to his or her essence. And it punishes transgressions (of commission and omission) by the exercise of violence. — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular, 1234

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: Dense, paradigm-shifting framing: the law’s defining function is to authorize patterns of pain and define ‘the human’ — the violence beneath liberal legality.
• XREF: Extends the torture/euthanasia discussion central to this chapter; connects to Foucault on biopower and discipline. — connects to: The new doctrine allows symbolic establishment while only banning legal coercion — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers: Inside the…, 842