First & Last Emperors: The Absolute State and the Body of the Despot

An anarchist theory of the state through a study of two contrasting state formations at opposite ends of the historical continuum, the First Dynasty of China and Reagan/Bush America.
Theorizes the state in terms of a tension between two formative tendencies which always co-function in different mixtures, one toward transcendence and the other toward becoming-immanent to the social field. Two examples at different extremes of the spectrum are studied perspective: the unification of China under the Qin Dynasty (220-206 BCE) and the mediatized postmodern state under Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush (1981-1993 CE). An analysis of fascism as a state dynamic is developed as both a connecting thread and differentiator. Special attention is given to forms of war, the role of the body and image of the leader, and the exceeding of the human by the machine of the state. First published in 1992 by Autonomedia (New York).