Juridical Humanity: A Colonial History
by Samera Esmeir /
2012 / English / PDF
1.8 MB Download
In colonial Egypt, the state introduced legal reforms that
claimed to liberate Egyptians from the inhumanity of pre-colonial
rule and elevate them to the status of human beings. These legal
reforms intersected with a new historical consciousness that
distinguished freedom from force and the human from the
pre-human, endowing modern law with the power to accomplish but
never truly secure this transition.
In colonial Egypt, the state introduced legal reforms that
claimed to liberate Egyptians from the inhumanity of pre-colonial
rule and elevate them to the status of human beings. These legal
reforms intersected with a new historical consciousness that
distinguished freedom from force and the human from the
pre-human, endowing modern law with the power to accomplish but
never truly secure this transition.
Samera Esmeir offers a historical and theoretical account of the
colonizing operations of modern law in Egypt. Investigating the
law, both on the books and in practice, she underscores the
centrality of the "human" to Egyptian legal and colonial history
and argues that the production of "juridical humanity" was a
constitutive force of colonial rule and subjugation. This
original contribution queries long-held assumptions about the
entanglement of law, humanity, violence, and nature, and thereby
develops a new reading of the history of colonialism.
Samera Esmeir offers a historical and theoretical account of the
colonizing operations of modern law in Egypt. Investigating the
law, both on the books and in practice, she underscores the
centrality of the "human" to Egyptian legal and colonial history
and argues that the production of "juridical humanity" was a
constitutive force of colonial rule and subjugation. This
original contribution queries long-held assumptions about the
entanglement of law, humanity, violence, and nature, and thereby
develops a new reading of the history of colonialism.
