Law retains force precisely when reduced to insignificance in the state of exception.

Evidence

In the state of war-that is to say, in the permanent possibility of warlaw is “reduced to the zero point of its significance, which is nevertheless in force as such” (Agamben, Homo Sacer, 51). — Gil Anidjar, The Jew, the Arab, 861

Categorization

• DEFINE: Captures Agamben’s paradox of law in the state of exception — valid but suspended.
• XREF: Connects to the state-of-exception theme running through the chapter and to Agamben’s broader work.