Policing and Prisons in the Middle East: Formations of Coercion

by Laleh Khalili

In the Middle East, the emergence of the modern nation-state has also produced a concentration in coercive power. The region now harbors numerous mukhabarat states that extensively police and incarcerate its citizens, engaging in widespread torture and implementing spectacular punishments.This volume is the first to systematically examine these practices within modern Middle East states, unraveling the complex operations of state power and the unforeseen consequences of popular politics. The study identifies the colonial origins and post-independence genesis of policing and incarceration among a variety of states, linking the centrality of criminalization to dissident politics. It also maps the micropractices of policing and incarceration and sketches the ambiguous boundaries between the police and the military.

Genres: Politics, Middle East

Hardcover

First published September 23, 2010

About the author

Laleh Khalili is an Iranian American and Professor of International Politics at Queen Mary University of London. She was formerly a Professor of Middle Eastern Politics at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London.

She graduated from University of Texas, and received her PhD from Columbia University. Her primary research areas are logistics and trade, infrastructure, policing and incarceration, gender, nationalism, political and social movements, refugees, and diasporas in the Middle East.