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- Convenors:
-
Stefan Millar
(University of Helsinki)
Brian Campbell (University of Plymouth)
Khalil Betz-Heinemann (University of Helsinki)
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- Chair:
-
Khalil Betz-Heinemann
(University of Helsinki)
- Discussant:
-
Rebecca Bryant
(Utrecht University)
- Format:
- Panel
- Location:
- Music Building (MUS), McMordie Room
- Sessions:
- Wednesday 27 July, -
Time zone: Europe/London
Short Abstract:
Contemporary state practices bear a disturbing resemblance to those used to subdue colonial subjects. In the global south, postcolonial governments have adopted tactics developed by colonizers and states in the global north redeploy them against citizens and migrants - https://bit.ly/uncanny_trailer
Long Abstract:
Anthropologists have become sensitive to myriad state practices used to control populations however discussions remain couched in particularism. A closer comparison of histories of these practices shifts attention to overlooked aspects of state formation. Far from being new, many state practices bear a disturbing resemblance to techniques used to subdue colonial subjects. In the global south, postcolonial governments adopt tactics developed by colonizers (De L'Estoile, 2008): Detaining and abducting dissidents (Gatti, 2014; Huttunen, 2016), displacing populations (Millar, 2022) fortifying urban districts (Low, 2001; Balliger 2021) and rural spaces (Simlai, 2015; Mbaria & Ogada, 2016), denying indigenous knowledge to facilitate bio-piracy and land-grabs (Hayden 2004; Gabbart 2021), sanitizing landscapes (Betz-Heinemann, 2020), orchestrating food crises (Richards, 1985; Aga, 2021), and enforcing policies to control fertility (Burke, 2022). Such forms of structural violence have also returned to the global north, deployed against citizens and migrants. Subaltern populations have had "vital infrastructure" (Durham, Ferme, & Costa, 2019) denied them (Goldade, 2009) and controls imposed on their bodies (Murphy, 2012). Likewise, colonial patronage of local rituals and sacred-spaces is reproduced in multicultural contexts, fragmenting minorities into warring factions (Campbell, 2021). This panel welcomes papers exploring the reanimation of colonial state practices by contemporary governments. What is it about the "uncanny present" (Bryant, 2016) that animates half-forgotten forms of colonialism? What do we make of traumas and conspiracies that often accompany their revival? What do such reanimations tell us about transformations/continuities of state formations and their resistance?
Associated excursion https://bit.ly/Belfast_Excursion
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Wednesday 27 July, 2022, -Paper short abstract:
This paper examines ‘reproductive developmentality’ in the context of Timor-Leste’s rapid population growth which followed independence. It considers the multiple approaches to reproduction and population which shape ideas about producing the next generation in the wake of conflict and colonialism.
Paper long abstract:
Timor-Leste experienced a significant loss of life under a 24-year Indonesian occupation. However, since independence, the country has experienced rapid population growth due to very high fertility rates. Over 70% of Timorese citizens are currently under 35 years old. Development discourse around the 'demographic dividend’ and ‘human capital' envision the transformation of a youthful post-conflict population into a valuable national resource. Based on 18 months of ethnographic fieldwork, this paper explores how local perceptions about creating future generations are embedded in both experiences of past conflict, colonial practices and neo-colonial development practices. It further considers how multiple approaches to reproduction are embedded in a history of colonial violence and capitalist visions for the future.
Paper short abstract:
How belonging is rooted in private property and given credence by Darwinism
Paper long abstract:
In this paper I will first draw on 3 peer reviewed papers based on my doctoral fieldwork. This will establish my argument that you can turn places into your belongings by telling stories. Stories that because no one is looking after these places properly, so you are justified in taking on the duty of care for them i.e. colonialising someone else and where they live. And that the associated colonial apparatus for doing this has been reanimated in the post-colony of Northern Cyprus. Where inter-national relations pushed for a situation in which post-colonial state actors of an unrecognised country still seek to perform national sovereignty on behalf of their post-colonial populace in an effort to belong in the international order of things. This will provide the context for me to propose that the notion of belonging - or at least belonging in a proper place - transforms affections freely given. Turning them into paternalistic relations of care. And in doing so justifies the transformation of that which is cared for into a belonging. And that the dominant tradition, theory, and study of belonging in our age, the Darwinian tradition of Biology, bolsters this notion. The notion that the very matter of life is by definition enclosed and packaged into private properties - whether your personal biological properties or your land, house, and possessions - and that stability in life proceeds through the inheritance of these properties.