12 new essays evaluating Agamben's work from a postcolonial perspective. Svirsky and Bignall assemble leading figures to explore the rich philosophical linkages and the political concerns shared by Agamben and postcolonial theory. Agamben's theories of the 'state of exception' and 'bare life' are situated in critical relation to the existence of these phenomena in the colonial/postcolonial world. * Features an international set of expert contributors who approach postcolonial criticism from an interdisciplinary perspective * Deals with colonial and postcolonial issues in Russia, Israel and Palestine, Africa the Americas, Asia and Australia * Offers new insights on colonial exclusion, racism and postcolonial democracy * A timely intervention to debates in poststructuralist, postcolonial and postmodern studies for students of politics, critical theory and social & political philosophy