Turkey's Necropolitical Laboratory

A critical and multidisciplinary analysis of Turkish democracy from the perspective of necropolitics This book analyses Turkey's precarious democracy and its contradictions from the perspective of its entwinement with death and destruction. It makes a strong case that Turkey's regime and its vicissitudes are dependent on a necropolitical undercurrent. Bringing together historical, discursive, and ethnographic approaches from multiple disciplines, including political theory, philosophy, anthropology, sociology, history, international relations, cultural studies, and gender and sexuality studies, this collection of 11 case studies offers a sobering and original analysis of contemporary Turkey and, indirectly, the changing dynamics of the Middle East. Focusing on different forms of violence, ranging from counterinsurgency warfare and enforced disappearances to the strategic neglect and exposure of select populations, these essays put forth provocative readings that address the multiple ways in which lives are brought into the fold of power. Building on the insights of critical and contemporary theory, this collection offers a new and rich lexicon of violence. Banu Bargu is Associate professor in History of Consciousness at the University of California, Santa Cruz.