The order as myth and convention

Abstract

This work contributes to the discussion regarding the limits of the nation-state in relation to conventional law by critiquing the violence that founds order, while highlighting the contrasts inherent in the process of a global market that exerts influence over nation-states. The article analyzes the nature of the nation-state through the lens of the violence that establishes order, examining its evolution as both a myth and a convention. Drawing on theorists such as Benjamin, Girard, and Calasso, it explores how state order is rooted in an originary violence—one that is purified through rituals of atonement and transformed into legitimizing narratives. The study contrasts "mythic violence" (which founds and preserves law) with "divine violence" (which destroys established order), as defined by Benjamin. It further examines how the global market has reconfigured the nation-state, shifting its sovereignty toward transnational economic systems. The Kelsenian proposal for a conventional international legal order is critiqued for overlooking the violent foundations of order and the structural influence of capital. The research concludes that the nation-state is languishing in the face of the expansive force of the market, whose logic transcends borders and cultures. Yet, this process does not eliminate the underlying violence; rather, it transforms it into new forms of economic and cultural domination. The regime of convention, though artificial, represents another cycle in the evolution of human orders—one in which the paradox between freedom and inequality persists as the defining standard of the social order.