Biopolitics and Disability: Navigating Jasbir K. Puar’s “The Right to Maim” in the Middle East
In our seminar, we will delve into Jasbir K. Puar’s groundbreaking work, “The Right to Maim,” interrogating how power structures in the Middle East employ biopolitics to manage populations. We will scrutinize Puar’s innovative concept of ‘debility’ and its interaction with disability and capacity. Beyond the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, our exploration will extend to other regional scenarios, such as the impact of Syria’s civil conflict and the predicaments of migrant laborers in the Gulf States. By analyzing these contexts through Puar’s ‘right to maim’ thesis, we aim to stir a lively discourse on the intersections of power, bodily harm, and social exclusion within the Middle Eastern milieu.
1 – 16.10.2023 10–12 – reading time // self-study
Read Puar, Jasbir K. 2017. The Right to Maim. Durham. Duke University Press. Preface and introduction. ix–32.
NOTE: Use this day/week to read the information here on the course, assigments, participation, etc. and the first part of Puar’s text. There will be no introductory session; we will jump right in on Monday 23!
2 – 23.10.2023 10–12 discussion – preface & introduction
3 – 30.10.2023 10–12 reading time // self-study
Read Puar, Jasbir K. 2017. The Right to Maim. Durham. Duke University Press. Chapter 1 “Bodies with New Organs: Becoming Trans, Becoming Disabled”. 33–62.
4 – 6.11.2023 10–12 discussion – trans & disability
5 – 13.11.2023 10–12 reading time // self-study
Read Puar, Jasbir K. 2017. The Right to Maim. Durham. Duke University Press. Chapter 2 “Crip Nationalism: From Narrative Prosthesis to Disaster Capitalism”. 63–94.
6 – 20.11.2023 10–12 discussion – disability politics
7– 27.11.2023 10–12 reading time // self-study
Read Puar, Jasbir K. 2017. The Right to Maim. Durham. Duke University Press. Chapter 3 “Disabled Diaspora, Rehabilitating State: The Queer Politics of Reproduction in Palestine/Israel”. 95–126.
8– 4.12.2023 10–12 discussion – queer politics Israel/Palestine
Task in preparation of 11.12.: Listen to the podcast episode on “The Right to Maim”with Bassam Sidiki on https://newbooksnetwork.com/the-right-to-maim and comment on it in the blog.
9 – 11.12.2023 10–12 discussion – references to the right to maim
10 – 18.12.2023 10–12 reading time // self-study
Read Puar, Jasbir K. 2017. The Right to Maim. Durham. Duke University Press. Chapter 4 “”Will Not Let Die”: Debilitation and Inhuman Biopolitics in Palestine”. 127–154.
11 – 8.1.2024 10–12 NEW task (no session on campus)
Read the text “Necropolitical Ends: Biopower and Debility Across the Palestinian Closures Regime” and jot down the most important terms and concepts and frameworks mentioned or referred to in the text.
Then note down your interpretations of the author’s use of such terms, concepts, frameworks. How do we understand what the author means when they use each of these terms, concepts, frameworks?
12 – 15.1.2024 11–12 (!) NEW discussion – intersections of biopolitics
Task in preparation of 22.1.: Read Puar, Jasbir K. 2017. The Right to Maim. Durham. Duke University Press. Chapter 4 “”Will Not Let Die”: Debilitation and Inhuman Biopolitics in Palestine”. 127–154.
13 – 22.1.2024 10–12 NEW discussion – biopolitics in Palestine
14 – 29.1.2024 10–12 reading time // self-study
Task in preperation of 5.2.: Read Puar, Jasbir K. 2017. The Right to Maim. Durham. Duke University Press. Postscript. 155-162.
15 – 5.2.2024 10–12 – NEW task (no session on campus)
Spend 30-60 minutes writing an internal dialogue between yourself at the beginning of this course and yourself now at the end. What key insights, questions, or critiques would you highlight from your intellectual journey with Puar’s text? How have your perspectives shifted or been complicated?
Then, post 1-2 questions or reflections from this dialogue on the course blog by [date]. These can be areas you still find confusing, moments that felt revealing or unsettling, ideas you want to explore further, or ways Puar’s concepts have informed how you look at the world.
Though we cannot meet in person, this will help synthesize our collective learning over the term. I will respond briefly to each post during the individual follow-up meetings on 12.2.2024. Please contact me if you have any questions.
16 – 12.2.2024 10–12 – individual follow-up (no session on campus)
Task: Publish your final blog comment until 19.2.2024 6 PM.
learning outcomes
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- Explain Puar’s concept of ‘debility’ and how it relates to disability and capacity in the context of biopolitics.
- Analyze how states and institutions use disability, debility, and capacity to control and manage populations, drawing on examples from the Israel-Palestine conflict.
- Identify and critique problematic representations of disability, injury, and victimhood in media and discourse related to the Middle East.
- Connect Puar’s concepts to other scholarly works on necropolitics, precarity, and biopower in the region.
- Discuss strategies used by disability activists and advocacy groups to counter dominant narratives and promote social justice.
- Apply Puar’s analytical framework to examine other regional case studies beyond Israel-Palestine.
- Communicate perspectives on these issues clearly through discussions, brief oral presentations, and a final blog post.
- Provide constructive feedback to fellow students to enrich collective understanding.
- Demonstrate critical thinking skills in evaluating arguments and evidence on topics related to the course.