On March 23rd, 2019, the state of Texas banned abortion as the COVID-19 pandemic led to…
Business as Usual in the DR Congo: Patriarchy, Authoritarianism, and Global Complicity
“In much of Africa, ‘wife’ is a four-letter word,” writes Oyèrónkẹ́ Oyèwùmí (2000: 1096, emphasis in original). “[Instead] Mother…
Waiting for LGBTQI+ Asylum Seekers in Germany: A Form of State Control and Resistance
Since 2016, the European Union has made efforts to streamline and simplify the administrative procedure for international refugee protection…
Restricting and Shaping Women’s International Migrations from Indonesia
ases of abuse and violence against Indonesian migrant domestic workers abroad regularly make headlines nationally and internationally…
“Would You Come With Me to the Line?”: Lawfare and Legal Accompaniment at the US-Mexico Border
Between July 2015 and July 2018, when I did ethnographic fieldwork on the politics of care, hospitality…
Kashmiri Goats, Imaginaries of Freedom, and the Planetary Pandemic
Weeks after governments around the world imposed travel restrictions and quarantine orders that removed humans from typically busy markets, roads, and…
The Specter of Gender Discrimination in the Removal of Kashmir’s Autonomy
On August 5, 2019, the quasi-autonomy of Indian administered Kashmir was removed militarily without consulting the Kashmiri legislature or the people. This move was as illegal (Parthasathy 2019) and deemed…
Social Contract and Its Discordance in Gilgit-Baltistan
Historically, the region of Gilgit-Baltistan in Pakistan was governed through “microstates” and tribal councils in different valley domains. For centuries…
Laughter and leaked memos: debating state violence at a Kashmiri baker’s shop
A few days before India imposed a curfew and a communication blockade in Kashmir on August 5, 2019,[1] I left the region with a sense of foreboding…
Call for Nominations: Editor(s) of Political and Legal Anthropology Review (PoLAR)
The APLA Board of Directors seeks nominations for the next editor(s) of the Political and Legal Anthropology Review (PoLAR). We aim to announce the appointment by February 2021. The new editors…
Insecurity on Both Sides of the Line of Control
Although Prime Minister Modi’s revocation of Article 35A and Kashmir’s Special Status on August 5, 2019 has…
“The Kashmirization of India”: Comparison, Solidarity, and “Paranoid” Reading
What happens when the state of…
Chicaneries of Power and Subterfuge: Constitutional Laws on Kashmir
On August 5 and 6, 2019, the Union Government of India unilaterally revoked…
Bollywood and the Banality of Militarization
On August 5, 2019, the Parliament of India unilaterally rescinded Article 370 of the Indian Constitution granting relative autonomy to the state…
Care of the Land: Sovereignty and Stewardship
The removal of Article 370 also stripped away Article 35A, that recognized the permanent residents (“state subjects”)…
Which Kashmir? Pakistan wala ya India? Konsa Kashmir? Pakistan’s or India’s?
Last year, after the AAA meeting in Vancouver…
