Paul Amar

Turning the Gendered Politics of the Security State Inside Out

This article analyzes sexual harassment politics in the global south as a crucial laboratory for testing and reformulating the mix of emancipatory and repressive governance practices that constitute contemporary gender-sensitive ‘human security’ regimes. In Egypt, between 2003 and 2010, internationalist feminist campaigns advocated anti-harassment projects that demonized working-class youth masculinities as well as ‘disreputable’ public femininities in an attempt to intensify the policing of the city and discipline public sociability. Through a politics of respectability and ‘strange bedfellow’ processes of NGO-ization, this state-allied, pro-enforcement project demobilized class-based movements for democratic change. By contrast, inventive Egyptian organizations adapted UN gender doctrines and legal mechanisms to their own purposes, mobilizing mass campaigns that critiqued frameworks of police protection and social respectability. They cultivated forms of assertive female agency that came to occupy center-stage during the recent Egyptian Revolution of January and February of 2011. By contrasting these forms of global/local feminist organizing, this article reveals the queering power of new metaphors of masculinity, class struggle and global female insecurity. The conclusion generates a critical theory of security-state practice and illuminates alternative global-south feminisms that contest rather than facilitate securitized and militarized appropriations of internationalist gender and security interventions.

Operation Princess in Rio de Janeiro: policing ‘sex trafficking’, strengthening worker citizenship, and the urban geopolitics of security in Brazil

This article develops new insights into the gendered insecurities of the neoliberal state in Latin America by exploring the militarization of public security in Rio de Janeiro during 2003—08 around campaigns to stop the ‘trafficking’ of sex workers. Findings illuminate the intersection of three neoliberal governance logics: (1) a moralistic humanitarian-rescue agenda promoted by evangelical populists and police groups; (2) a juridical ‘law and rights’ logic promoted by justice-sector actors and human-rights NGOs; (3) a worker-empowerment logic articulated by the governing Workers’ Party (PT) in alliance with social-justice movements, police reformers, and prostitutes’ rights groups. Gender and race analyses map the antagonisms between these three logics of neoliberal governance, and how their incommensurabilities generate crisis in the arena of security policy. By exploring Brazil’s fraught efforts to attain the status of ‘human security superpower’ through these interventions, the article challenges the view that the reordering of security politics in the global south is inevitably linked to desecularization, disempowerment, and militarization.

The Rise of Crime, Disorder and Authoritarian Policing an Introductory Essay

a model of urban policing being emulated around the world. But in Mexico City, this was particularly strange. Why would an advocate of unsupervised policing with no civilian review be hired to advise a leftist mayor in a city where the police are known to be responsible for half the crime? Why would an advocate of controlling crime by arresting poor vagrants be hired to advise a city where organized violence emerges from elite cartels and state corruption rackets? Giulianis arrival in Mexico City draws attention to a bewildering paradox of

Introduction: New racial missions of policing: comparative studies of state authority, urban governance, and security technology in the twenty-first century

Abstract Why do police worldwide continue to reproduce race, racism and ethnic conflicts even as more members from historically stigmatized groups participate in policing, and as states adopt explicitly post-colonial, anti-racist policy agendas? Why do new policing practices and technologies affirm racial, caste and ethnic distinctions even as diversity and anti-racial profiling campaigns become central to defining norms of police professionalism in every world region? In this introduction to this collection, I will begin by acknowledging how the intersections of policing and race have returned to the forefront of public and academic concern in the US and UK. I then provide context by highlighting the gaps in the literature that this set of contributions addresses. I conclude by sketching the outline of a comparative, international framework for studies of race and ethnicity that aims to offer fresh avenues for scholarship and policy-making.

Global South to the Rescue: Emerging Humanitarian Superpowers and Globalizing Rescue Industries

The introductory essay offers a brief overview of current trends in critical globalization studies and international relations scholarship that shed light on three intersections: between imperialism and humanitarianism, between neoliberal globalization and “rescue industry” transnationalism, and between patterns of geopolitical hegemony and trajectories of peacekeeping internationalism. These research agendas have been generative and politically useful, but have tended to neglect the forms of humanitarian and peacekeeping agency emanating from the global south. In order to address this gap, this introduction lays out a new research agenda that combines interdisciplinary methods from global studies, gender and race studies, critical security studies, police and military sociology, Third World diplomatic history, and international relations. This introduction also theoretically situates the other contributions and case studies gathered here, providing a framework of analysis that groups them into three clusters: (I) Globalizing Peacekeeper Identities, (II) Assertive “Regional Internationalisms,” and (III) Emergent Alternative Paradigms. El ensayo introductorio ofrece una breve visión de las tendencias actuales dentro de los estudios críticos de globalización y las relaciones académicas internacionales que esclarecen tres intersecciones: entre el imperialismo y humanitarismo, entre la globalización neoliberal y “la industria de rescate” a través del transnacionalismo, y entre las normas de la hegemonía geopolítica y las trayectorias de mantenimiento de paz del internacionalismo. Estos programas de investigación han sido productiva y políticamente útiles, pero se inclinaron a olvidar las formas de la agencia humanitaria y de mantenimiento de la paz procedente del sur global. Para atender esta carencia, esta introducción presenta un nuevo programa de investigación que combina métodos interdisciplinarios de estudios globales, género y raza, seguridad crítica, sociología militar y policial, historia diplomática del tercer mundo, y relaciones internacionales. Esta introducción también sitúa teoréticamente a las demás contribuciones y estudios de casos reunidos aquí, que proveen un marco de análisis que los reúne dentro de tres grupos: (I) Identidades pacifistas globales, (II)”Internacionalismos regionales” asertivos y (III) Paradigmas de alternativos emergentes. 这篇导论文章简要回顾了批判性的全球化和国际关系研究当前的趋势，阐明了帝国主义与人道主义、新自由主义全球化与“救助行业”跨国主义、地缘政治霸权模式与维和国际主义轨迹之间的三个交集。这些研究议程有发展潜力，政治上也是有益的，但倾向于忽视产生于全球南方的不同形式的人道主义及维和力量。为填补这一鸿沟，这篇导论展示了一个新的研究议程，把全球研究、性别和种族研究、批判的安全研究、警察和军事社会学、第三世界外交史和国际关系学的跨学科诸方法连结了起来。本导论还在理论上设定了其他汇集于此的论文和案例研究的情境，提供了一个分析框架将其分为三组：（1）维和人员认同的全球化，（2）高度自信的“地区国际主义”和（3）可供选择的新兴范式。 소개글은 제국주의와 인도주의, 신자유주의 세계화와 “산업구제” 초국주의, 지정학적 헤게모니와 평화유지 국제주의 궤적이라는 세 가지 교차점에 대해서 시사점을 제공하는 비판적 세계화 연구와 국제관계 연구의 현재 경향에 대해서 간단하게 개관한다. 이러한 연구 의제들은 생성적이고 또한 정치적으로 유용하지만, 남반구의 인도주의 유형과 평화유지 기관들에 소홀한 경향이 있다. 이러한 갭을 다루기 위하여, 이 소개 글은 지구적 연구, 젠더와 인종 연구, 비판적 안보연구, 경찰과 군대 사회학, 제3세계 외교사와 국제관계 연구들에서 간학문적 연구방법들을 통합하는 새로운 연구의제를 제시한다. 또한 이 소개 글은 이번 호에 실린 다른 글들과 사례 연구들을 세 가지 덩어리로 묶는 분석틀을 제시하면서 이론적으로 위치지운다: (1) 평화유지 정체성의 세계화, (ii) 적극적 “지역 국제주의,” 그리고 (iii) 등장하는 대안적 패러다임.

Egypt as a Globalist Power: Mapping Military Participation in Decolonizing Internationalism, Repressive Entrepreneurialism, and Humanitarian Globalization Between the Revolutions of 1952 and 2011

By intervening in the 2011 Revolution and moving to assert control over state and society during the subsequent transitional period, the Egyptian military became visible again not just as a defense institution and coercive apparatus operating in domestic space, but as a regional and international actor. Much recent scholarship on and press coverage of Egypt since the uprisings of 2011 have neglected the vibrant and contentious history of the countrys participation in globalist politics and international interventions. In this light, this study reflects upon three types of globalism—decolonizing developmentalism, humanitarian militarism, and UN-centered internationalism—articulated by the state, political elites, and transnational social movements in Egypt since the 1950s. This piece describes globalization in Egypt from military and diplomatic history perspectives. Here I begin to develop a theoretical apparatus that aims to identify mechanisms that shape convergence and disjuncture between modes of developmentalism and internationalism in three periods: the Third Worldist (1956–1973), Neoliberal (1973–2000), and Human Security (2000–2011) epochs. Mediante la intervención en la revolución de 2011 y el cambio para afirmar el control sobre el estado y la sociedad durante el subsiguiente período transicional, los militares egipcios se hicieron visibles nuevamente, no solo como una institución de defensa y un aparato coercitivo que opera en el espacio doméstico, pero como un actor regional e internacional. El cubrimiento más reciente de los académicos y los medios sobre Egipto desde los lanzamientos de 2011, han olvidado la historia vibrante y polémica de la participación del país en las políticas globalistas e intervenciones internacionales. En este punto de vista, este estudio refleja sobre tres tipos de globalismo—desarrollismo descolonizador, militarismo humanitario, e internacionalismo centrado de la ONU—articulado por el estado, las élites políticas y los movimientos transnacionales sociales en Egipto desde la década de 1950. Esta pieza describe la globalización en Egipto desde las perspectivas históricas militares y diplomáticas. Aquí comienzo a desarrollar un aparato teórico, que apunta a identificar a los mecanismos que dan forma a la convergencia y a la desunión entre los modos de desarrollismo e internacionalismo en tres períodos: las épocas de la lista del Tercer mundo (1956-1973, la Neoliberal (1973-2000) y la de Seguridad humana (2000-2011). 通过对2011年革命的干预以及进一步在随后的过渡时期中断言控制了国家和社会，埃及军方再次变得可见，不再仅作为一个在国内空间运作的国防机构和胁迫组织，而是作为一个地区和国际的行为体。近来大量学术研究和媒体报道有关埃及，自2011年起义以来，埃及已经忽略了其参与全球主义政治和国际干预的充满生机和富有争议的历史。关于这点，本文的研究反思了三类全球主义——非殖民化的发展主义，人道主义的军事主义与以联合国为中心的国际主义——这些通过自20世纪50年代以来埃及的国家、政治精英和跨国社会运动进行阐释。本文从军事和外交史的视角描述了埃及的全球化。此处，我着手发展出一套理论工具，其目的是找出在三个时期里决定发展主义和国际主义模式间趋同与分裂的机制：第三世界主义（1956-1973），新自由主义（1973-2000）和人的安全（2000-2011）时期。 이집트 군대는 2011년 혁명에 개입하여 곧 이어 이루어진 이행기 동안 국가와 사회에 대한 통제를 통하여 국내에서의 국방 제도와 억압적인 기구로서가 아니라 지역적 및 국제적 행위자로 가시화되었다. 2011년 봉기 이래 최근 이집트에 대한 언론 보도의 연구는 생생하고 갈등적인 이집트의 지구적 정치와 국제적 개입의 역사를 소홀히 하고 있다. 이러한 점에서 이 연구는 1950년대 이래 이집트에서 국가, 정치 엘리트와 초국적 사회운동에 의해서 만들어진 세 가지 세계화 – 탈식민지 발전주의, 인도주의적 군사주의와 UN 중심 국제주의-를 살펴본다. 이것은 군사적, 외교사적 관점에서 이집트의 세계화를 기술한다. 나는 여기에서 세 시기 동안(제3세계 주의(1956-1973), 신자유주의(1973-2000), 인간 안보(2000-2011) 시기) 발전주의와 국제주의 간의 수렴과 분리를 낳은 메카니즘을 찾기 위한 이론적 장치를 발전시키고자 한다.

Introduction: Curiosities of Middle East Studies in Queer Times

Starting in 2010, movements of transformation, spaces of sociability, relations of power, and economies of affect in the Middle East plunged into a time of radical dislocation. Fearless, dissident solidarities challenged patterns of identity, normativity, and authority that had constituted the region for more than a generation. One epoch ended, in which struggles over power seemed all too often restricted to constrained contests between nongovernmental organizations, religious dissidents, and security-state repressors. In their place new insurgencies came to question the narratives, binaries, and regimes of feeling pinned to “identity politics” as defined by categories of class, gender, sexuality, and religion. Curious forms of revolutionary social uprising exploded among gender, labor, and community dissidents at street level, generating novel popular cultures, rebel counterpublics, and carnivals of new-media experimentation.

Egypt’s desert dreams: development or disaster?

Developmentalist states are dreaming states. To ‘leap forward’, or ‘overcome internal contradictions’, or ‘exit the periphery’, developmentalist regimes boldly reimagine relationships between envir...

Represent and destroy: rationalizing violence in the new racial capitalism

Brazilian Jews or Jewish Brazilians, Klein walks firmly by cultural elements such as music, literature and food and watches intently as a ‘brasileira paulista’ the power of the fusion of Brazil respectfully dissolves the boundaries of orthodox Jewish rules to find a welcoming and multicultural in green and yellow setting. Finally, the impression from reading Misha Klein is that she wrote in her diary, such is the intimacy in reading about their experiences reported during the years lived in Brazil. With a watchful eye, she gives us a book rich in details about how migration occurred in the post-war and changed the landscape of Brazil, but precisely in the city of São Paulo, and how these immigrants formed, influenced and were influenced by the spice and the flavour of our ‘feijoada’. However, ‘Kosher Feijoada’ is not just a book for Brazilians or Jews. It is an interesting book for historians, social scientists, social psychologists, other researchers and students who are interested in investigating identity and it is above all a universal proof of how ethnic and national identities may be intrinsically linked.

The Revolution Continues

As I write this at the start of June 2012, twelve months after having completed the original article published here in IFJP (Amar 2011), the Egyptian Revolution enters its eighteenth month. The process of uprising and insurgent popular political transformation in Egypt continues to follow a rough logic of ‘turning the security state inside out’. The process of deepening the revolution – solidifying and spreading support among popular classes, rural areas and urban communities and mobilizing new modes of consciousness, collective action and public embodiment – has marched forward fearlessly. This deepening process has challenged the forms of military repression, cultural representation and international organization that this article engaged through a critique of the politics of gendered securitization. In this context, women and workingclass male youth have faced systematically deployed incidents of militarized degradation and wave after wave of state-orchestrated sexual assault. Explosive outbursts of moralized securitization and queering hypervisibilization have tried to rout the spread of revolutionary youth, labor, alternative feminist and emancipatory religious movements. Yet these movements’ boldness has only increased in the months since the publication of the original article we are discussing here. I would like to thank the astute contributors to this forum for their passionate and illuminating essays, which have done a much better job in laying out my main arguments and mapping my theoretical turns than I did myself, having composed this article in the heat of epochal transformations in Egypt. In this forum, Professor Enloe’s contribution offers a witty and energizing review of the ‘masculinity games’ that constitute the power of the authoritarian security state in Egypt and which undergird the geopolitics of international ‘harassment feminism’ or militarized humanitarianism in general. She underlines why it is so important to take seriously, to theoretically center and empirically register the diversity of women’s mobilizing strategies and class-located masculinities, and to map clashing interests and identities among relatively autonomous police and military apparatuses and cultures. Her piece serves not only as a review of this article, but as a stand-alone manifesto for international feminist approaches to challenging the gender politics of security states.