“It’s in part because of its proximity to language of salvation and its association with divine activity that debt cancellation has garnered an altruistic aura. It smacks of profound mercy and justice. Progressive social movements, whether religiously inspired or not, champion debt cancellation in various forms, from the famed Jubilee 2000 campaign to groups associated with Occupy Wall Street. Thus, Jubilee is part of a set of purportedly radical options marshaled to challenge the excesses and abuses of our current global capitalist order.”
“If we assess the originary logic and historical context of Jubilee, however, it’s clear that we should pause before we champion debt cancellation policies today. For debt cancellation in its ANE context is unquestionably an act and prerogative of sovereign power. Jubilee is an exceptional act, occurring in moments of transition in sovereignty or in times of crisis. It is a declaration of sovereignty, a statement of total supremacy over the economy and society of a territory or empire”
“Only the sovereign can declare Jubilee.”
“Such acts, while framed as benevolent and while certainly providing a temporary relief, ultimately reinforce sovereign authority and emphasize the system’s dependence upon sovereign will and decision. Debt cancellation is a form of sovereign crisis management.”
“Following this logic, debt cancellation, as a form of extra-legal suspension of the economic-legal code, is a type of exception.”
“Debt cancellation, as an exceptional moment betraying the constitutive position of the sovereign in relation to the politico-economic order, marks the instantiation of sovereignty.”
“In this rite of institution of kingship—whether sacred or secular—we find the claim that the ruler has ultimate power, specifically over the economy. But we can also glimpse debt’s fundamental relation to political economy.”
“The relation of the sovereign as one imposing a debt upon the populace appears in the ritual of all debts beginning anew when the ruler assumes the throne. The one debt that remains is obedience to the ruler and its accompanying tribute requirement”