ClaudiaMerli

DurhamUniversity,AnthropologyofHealthResearchGroup

Theoryandbodiesoutofbounds:Areflectiononidentitypoliticsandthanatocracy

ESRCSeminarserieson

‘Genetics,technology,securityandjustice’NorthumbriaUniversity,14July2016

Merli,Claudia,andTrudiBuck.2015.Forensicidentificationandidentitypoliticsin2004post-TsunamiThailand:Negotiatingdissolvingboundaries.HumanRemainsandViolence1(1):3–22.

Outline•  26December2004:IndianOceanTsunami

•  Redefinitionoflocalandglobalcontexts

•  Humanitarianandforensiccrisis

•  ‘Deathspecialists’

•  Frombiopoliticsto‘thanatocracy’in4steps

•  Aconclusivequestion

•  Earthquake9.0magnitudeinBandaAceh

•  ~250,000peoplediedorarepresumeddeadü Indonesia~160,000ü SriLanka~35,000ü India~16,000ü Thailand~6,000(butgreatestinternationalDVI

effort)

•  ~1.7millionpeopledisplacedin14countries

26December2004:IndianOceanTsunami

•  Deathsoutofplace,spatiallyandconceptually•  Overlappingordisconnectionbetweenpopulationsand

places(E.Cohen2009)•  Definitionofpopulationas‘natural’,genetic,orsocial

category(M’charek2000)•  Populationas‘subjectsofthenation-state’(M’charek

2000:148)•  Definitionofplaceas‘natural’(E.Cohen2009)andof

‘nature’asnaturednaturevsnaturingnature(Massumi2015:37-39)

•  Redefinitionofnationsandnationalboundaries•  Identitypolitics•  Ontopowerandredefinitionof‘subject’(Massumi2015)•  ‘Thebodymustbereconceptualizedasthecrucibleof

potentiatingaction-perception’(Massumi2015:235)

Redefinitionoflocalandglobalcontexts

•  Internationalandlocalaidinterventions(NGOs)

•  Bureaucraticcomplexityinmanagingtheflowoffinancialaiddowntolocalcontexts

•  Police,army,paramilitary(especiallyIndonesiaandSriLanka).Controlledaccess.

•  Technicalproblems

Humanitarianandforensiccrisis

‘Deathspecialists’•  Rescueandrecoveryteams(localsandsurviving

tourists)

•  Volunteers(indifferentcapacities,whetheradministrative,technicalormedical)

•  Forensicexperts(inThailandspecifically)ü Dr.KhunyingPornthipRojanasunan(CentralInstituteof

ForensicScience,ThaiMinistryofJustice)aka‘Dr.Death’(WatYanyao,Phangnga)

§  Globalmorgueand‘deathworld’ü  RoyalThaiPoliceForceforensicteam(460) TTVI

(Phuket)ü  30InternationalDVIteams(includingZAKAfromIsrael)

Frombiopoliticsto‘thanatocracy’1/4•  Technicalproblems(lackofrefrigeration/storage)

•  Makeshiftawnings•  Dryice•  Temporaryburialinmassgraves•  Temporarynumericalordering(changedatlaterstage)

Internationalforensicteamsworkingtoidentifyforeigners

ü Differentprotocols.Confusingante-mortemcollectionINTERPOLprotocoleventuallyprevailing

ü Ante-mortem(yellow)andpost-mortem(pink)formsü CommanderTTVICauthorisesidentificationreportsü ReconciliationBoardTTVICommissionü ChairofIdentificationCommission(aThaiofficial)

RTP=RoyalThaiPolice

•  Standardisationofconducts(offorensicexpertsandbodies)ü Managementoftruthclaims(DNA,fingerprints,dental

records)ü DNA‘false’claimsü  Autopsiesastruthadjudication(Klinenberg2001)

•  Separationbetween‘Asian’and‘Western’bodies=tracingmacro-ethnicboundaries?ü Assumeduniversalvulnerability‘us’=‘them’ü Actualinequalitiesofinformationandtreatment‘us’≠‘them’mostSwedesidentifiedbydentalanalysis,Thaisbyfingerprints

ü Necroeconomy

Frombiopoliticsto‘thanatocracy’2/4

IdentificationMethods

http://www.cmu.edu/chrs/conferences/eppi/docs/Tsunami-Evaluation2010.pdf

•  Lostdistinctidentitiesandnewhomogeneousdeathpopulation

•  Visualhomogeneity/disfigurementhinderedphotographicidentification erasureofbodypolitic

•  BodiesofBurmesemigrantsamiddiplomaticconfrontations

•  Geo-politicsandtrans-nationalitiesrecreatedlocallyandgloballyü  Identificationof‘one’sown’ü DNAdispatchedtointernationallabs(ICMPSarajevoand

China)ü  Reversalofbioavailability(Cohen2004)

Frombiopoliticsto‘thanatocracy’3/4

•  Necropolitics=materialdestructionofpopulations(Mbembé2003)•  Necropolitics=managementofdeadpopulationsvs‘cadaveric

counterconduct’(MerliandBuck2015).

•  Biocracy=authorityofverificationthroughbureaucraticactionsandproductionofprocedures(Esposito2008[2004])

•  Thanatocracy=associationofmilitary,scientists,andbusinessmen(Serres2013[1974])

•  Politico-militaryroleofbiologistsonimmunitytransferredtoforensics?(paceLatourinE.Cohen2009)•  Thanatocracy=massdeathreframedaseminentlybureaucratic

phenomenon(MerliandBuck2015:14–16)ü  Managementofcirculationoffragmentedmultiplicitiesü  Reconstitutionofnationalbodypoliticsü  Creationofacoherentdecomposingbody

Frombiopoliticsto‘thanatocracy’:(re)definitions4/4

‘Theprocesstraversingthebodypoliticisheredifferentfromthemedicalanalogyproposedinpoliticalphilosophyofthesovereignashealer.If‘healing,then,bearssomeessentialrelationtogoverning’,whatkindofessentialrelationisbornbyforensicidentification?’(MerliandBuck2015:14)

Aconclusivequestiononpoliticaltheory

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