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Superfluousness, Human Rights And The State: Applying Arendt To Questions Of Femicide, Narco Violence And Illegal Immigration In A Globalized World, Emma Norman Dec 2010

Superfluousness, Human Rights And The State: Applying Arendt To Questions Of Femicide, Narco Violence And Illegal Immigration In A Globalized World, Emma Norman

Emma R. Norman

This paper shows how Hannah Arendt’s disturbing notion of superfluousness and her critique of human rights are highly applicable to the problems globalization has brought to the U.S.-Mexico border region and beyond, with worrying consequences. In theory, ‘inalienable’ human rights form a safety net to catch those whose governments fail to afford them political rights. But, as Arendt pointed out, such minimum rights only function if one’s state is willing and able to guarantee them. For her, stateless persons are deprived of both a territory and of occupying a ‘niche in the framework of the general law.’ They are thus …


International Boggarts: Carl Schmitt, Harry Potter And The Transfiguration Of Identity, Emma R. Norman Dec 2010

International Boggarts: Carl Schmitt, Harry Potter And The Transfiguration Of Identity, Emma R. Norman

Emma R. Norman

Of all the magical monsters in Harry Potter, boggarts are interesting both for the narrative function they perform, and for how they emphasize the complex relation between identity and violence in international politics. In this paper I show that the Potter series illuminates how globalization has transfigured our conceptions of collective identity and violence—to the point where conventionally accepted theories of international relations are having trouble dealing with them. Boggarts arouse our deepest fears, and amorphously shape-shift according to those fears. Consequently, no one knows what a boggart really looks like—adding to our insecurities. The parallels with contemporary international relations …