the (non)violence of private ordering

This paper explores and explicates the constitution and ontology of private ordering – organized or unorganized means of securing order which do not (explicitly) rely upon the law and other formal means of dispute resolution sanctioned by law. Private ordering, I argue, is best understood through its dialecticism of (non)violence: that is, private ordering is concurrently violence and non-violence. This is explicated through three texts: first, reading Frantz Fanon’s classic The Wretched of the Earth against the exhortations and warnings of Hannah Arendt’s Reflections on Violence; secondly, Walter Benjamin’s classic essay Critique of Violence. After situating the (non)violence of private ordering, I argue that symbolic violence – an important component of its constitution – is insufficient for the practice of private ordering: if its normative aspirations are to be realized, a place for physical violence must also be made available to private ordering. The law, it is further claimed, must be open to this, lest the law be reduced to tyranny.

Este artículo explora la constitución y ontología del derecho privado - formas organizadas o no organizadas de garantizar el orden que no se basan (explícitamente) en el derecho y otras maneras formales, sancionadas por la legalidad, de resolver litigios. Sostenemos que el derecho privado es simultáneamente violento y no violento. Ello se explica mediante tres textos: el clásico de Frantz Fanon Los condenados de la tierra, contra las exhortaciones y advertencias de Hannah Arendt en Sobre la violencia; y el ensayo de Walter Benjamin Crítica de la violencia. Después, argumentamos que la violencia simbólica -un importante componente de su origen- es insuficiente para la práctica del derecho privado: si han de llevarse a cabo sus aspiraciones normativas, asimismo debe facilitarse al derecho privado un espacio para la violencia física. El derecho debe estar abierto a esto, no sea que la ley quede reducida a tiranía.

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