Policing and Prisons in the Middle East: Formations of Coercion

320 Pages·2010·1.18 MB·English

by  Laleh Khalili, Jillian Schwedler

Policing and Prisons in the Middle east

Policing and Prisons
in the Middle east
Formations of Coercion
Edited by

laleh Khalili
and Jillian schwedler
hUrst & coMPanY, london
First published in the United Kingdom in 2010 by
c. hurst & co. (Publishers) ltd.,
41 great russell street, london, Wc1B 3Pl
© laleh Khalili and Jillian schwedler 2010
all rights reserved.
Printed in india
the right of laleh Khalili and Jillian schwedler
to be identified as the editors of this publication
is asserted by them in accordance with the copyright,
designs and Patents act, 1988.
a cataloguing-in-Publication data record for this book
is available from the British library.
isBn: 978-1-84904-057-0 hardback
978-1-84904-058-7 paperback
this book is printed using paper from registered sustainable
and managed sources.
www.hurstpub.co.uk
For Our Parents,
Khadijeh Tamaddon and Hedayat Khalili
and Marvin and Diana Schwedler

contents
Acknowledgements ix
Contributors xi
introduction Laleh Khalili and Jillian Schwedler 1
Part i
‘coercion FroM colonialisM to neoliBeralisM’
1. Policing the desert: coercion, consent and
the colonial order in syria Dan Neep 41
2. israeli Biopolitics, Palestinian Policing: order and
resistance in the occupied Palestinian territories 57
Nigel Parsons
3. tangled Webs of coercion: Parastatal Production
of Violence in abu ghraib Laleh Khalili 77
4. Barring the algerian subject: carcerality and
resistance under Market-statism Sayres S. Rudy 97
5. Post-colonial Policing and the “Woman” Question:
a history of the Women’s Police directorate in Bahrain 119
Staci Strobl
6. the Police organization in turkey in the Post-1980
Period and the re-construction of the social Formation 137
Biriz Berksoy
Part ii
‘constitUting states and citiZens’
7. confining Political dissent in egypt before 1952 157
Anthony Gorman
vii
contents
8. observing the everyday: Policing and the conditions
of Possibility in gaza (1948–1967) Ilana Feldman 175
9. riot Police and Policing Protest in turkey Ayssen Uysal 191
10. incarcerated Women, honorable Women 207
Roberta Micallef
Part iii
‘reFUsals, resistances, and Protests’
11. the Victim’s tale in syria: imprisonment, individualism,
and liberalism Sune Haugbolle 223
12. spectacles of death: dignity, dissent, and sacrifice
in turkey’s Prisons Banu Bargu 241
13. refusing Mercy: challenging the state’s Monopoly
on Violence in iran Arzoo Osanloo 263
14. locating dissent: space, law, and Protest in Jordan 279
Jillian Schwedler and Sam Fayyaz
Index 295
viii
acKnoWledgeMents
First and foremost, we would like to thank our contributors, all of
whom have been extraordinary intellectual interlocutors, and whose
punctuality, patience, and hard work has made the job of editing this
book a pleasure.
this volume emerged out of a series of conferences, and we are
grateful to the Middle east studies association of the United states for
holding the first of them. We also especially thank the robert schuman
centre for advanced studies at the european University institute for
generously holding our panel as part of their eighth Mediterranean
research Meeting. Paul amar, John collins, Katharina lenner, esmail
nashif, Kent schull, and Özge serin presented their excellent research
at the panels at Mesa or the Mediterranean Meeting, but their contri-
butions, for one reason or another, were regretfully not included here.
We also would like to extend a special thanks to dan neep who went
far beyond the call of duty at the Mediterranean Meeting and trans-
lated from French for us.
lori allen, Paul amar, Jill crystal, Khaled Fahmy, adrienne leBas,
and Yezid sayigh have read the introduction, and given cogent sugges-
tions and encouragement. We thank them, and apologise if some of
their suggestions were not fully incorporated. We are also grateful to
our very perceptive and generous anonymous referee whose sugges-
tions were excellent and we have done our best to address them.
laleh is grateful to John chalcraft whose companionship, support,
humour and saintly fortitude has carried her all these years, and is
pleased that working on the grim stories of prisons and prisoners
seems not to have affected the joyous laughter of her lovely daughter
May or the serene and sunny disposition of her son Pablo whom she
ix
acKnoWledgeMents
carried through the latter stages of working on this volume. laleh also
thanks her co-editor Jillian whose lively wit, intelligence and joie-de-
vivre makes any joint project a pleasure. Jillian schwedler wishes to
thank Joel sherman for his endless patience and support, and her beau-
tiful little gentlemen, Jake and nick ronin, who have made her life
richer and more joyous. sam Fayyaz provided remarkable research
assistance throughout this project. Jillian would also like to thank
laleh for a wonderful collaborative experience.
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