Indirect Violence and Legitimation: Torture, Surrogacy, and the U.S. War on Terror

Document Type

Article

Journal Title

Societies Without Borders

Publication Date

2012

Abstract

This paper contributes to the sociological study of legitimation, specifically focusing on the state legitimation of torture and other forms of violence that violate international normative standards. While sociologists have identified important discursive techniques of legitimation, this paper suggests that researchers should also look at state practices where concerns regarding legitimacy are “built in” to the very practice of certain forms of violence. Specifically, the paper focuses on surrogacy, through which powerful states may direct or benefit from the violence carried out by client states or other armed groups while at the same time attempting to appear separate from and blameless regarding any resulting human rights violations. The utility of this concept is demonstrated in case studies of torture in the U.S. “War on Terror,” examining the policy of extraordinary rendition and U.S. policy regarding Iraqi-state torture during its occupation of that nation. The case studies are developed from analyses of human rights reports, leaked military documents from U.S. soldiers in the Iraq War, and U.S. newspaper and television coverage.

Comments

The definitive article is available on the Societies Without Borders website at: https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/swb/vol7/iss3/2/.

Thanks to Case Western Reserve University for the work in making these articles available in a free and open platform.

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Societies Without Borders - is brought to you for free and open access by Case Western Reserve University School of Law Scholarly Commons.

This article - has been accepted for inclusion in Societies Without Borders by an authorized administrator of Case Western Reserve University School of Law Scholarly Commons.

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