Abstract

This thesis is an ethnography of the encounters between figures of the state and some death row detainees and their family members. The project explores what it means to be sentenced to death and executed in contemporary death row cases, what fantasies encounters with the ‘state’ imply or satisfy, and how time unfolds throughout the murder. As such, in exploring the genealogy and bureaucratization of murder, this ethnography problematizes the official discourses of abstraction, efficacy, and sanitization around the penalty. Instead, it focuses on the everydayness of the penalty within the legal and penal systems, and draws heavily on the details and nuances of encounters with state personnel in courtrooms, prisons, and morgues. In doing so, I ask who kills the bodies? How do they become killable? When do they (not) die? Whose are they? Where do they go? Starting with the body, and the networks in and through which the body moves, the project nevertheless expands on possibilities of presence despite the absence of the physical body, thereby pointing to the intricacies of and between life/death, human/nonhuman, and memory/future.

Department

Sociology, Egyptology & Anthroplology Department

Degree Name

MA in Sociology-Anthropology

Graduation Date

Fall 1-13-2019

Submission Date

1-13-2019

First Advisor

Saad, Reem

Committee Member 1

Sabea, Hanan

Committee Member 2

Fahmy, Khaled

Extent

205 p.

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Rights

The author retains all rights with regard to copyright. The author certifies that written permission from the owner(s) of third-party copyrighted matter included in the thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study has been obtained. The author further certifies that IRB approval has been obtained for this thesis, or that IRB approval is not necessary for this thesis. Insofar as this thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study is an educational record as defined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 USC 1232g), the author has granted consent to disclosure of it to anyone who requests a copy. The author has granted the American University in Cairo or its agents a non-exclusive license to archive this thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study, and to make it accessible, in whole or in part, in all forms of media, now or hereafter known.

Institutional Review Board (IRB) Approval

Approval has been obtained for this item

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