Breger, Max
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Publication Access status: Open Access , Folter und Körperwissen – Notizen aus der laufenden Forschung(2020); ; The comparative research project “Torture and Body Knowledge” analyzes how torture techniques (as enacted practices and as systematized blueprints for action) and body knowledge (as knowledge about the body and as incorporated knowledge) interact with each other. Thereby, the project combines perspectives from the sociology of the body, the sociology of violence, and the sociology of knowledge. Empirically, the project focusses on three torture complexes, namely torture by US agencies during the Cold War and the so-called ‘War on Terror’, by Argentinean and Chilean dictatorships in Latin America, and by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. In addition to the project’s conceptualization, its research questions and aims, the contribution introduces to several points of discussion from the ongoing research. Based on the empirical findings from the three project areas, the team discusses questions pertaining the sociology of violence, which emerge from the analysis of torture as social interaction. These include the tension between assumptions of reciprocity versus othering, and between the violence of torture as an end in itself versus as a means to an end, as well as the asymmetric character of torture situations and the relevance of the “third”.Source Type:BookSeries:Siegener Working Papers zur Politischen Soziologie (SWoPS)Volume number:11 3 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Publication Access status: Open Access , Foltersituationen und Wissensflüsse(2024)In this open-access book, Max Breger explores questions of torture from the perspective of interactionist sociology. Torture is an extreme form of interpersonal action that, while delegitimized as a human rights violation, remains a common practice of modern states. Torturers exploit the various physical and psychological vulnerabilities of human beings to inflict suffering on perceived enemies and to exert dominance. But how can situations of torture be understood as social situations beyond this? What entanglements of knowledge about 'effective' torture techniques, enemy constructions, and legal norms—such as the global prohibition of torture—are relevant here? The U.S. torture complex during the so-called War on Terror serves as the empirical case, which was established as a targeted policy of the U.S. government by the CIA and parts of the U.S. military outside the rule of law following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Drawing on organizational documents such as memoranda and interrogation plans, as well as testimonies from torture survivors and former personnel at sites like Guantánamo, Max Breger examines torture situations within their historical and organizational contexts. Through his sociological analysis of knowledge, the body, and violence, he contributes to the understanding of the legitimization and exercise of state violence.Source Type:Doctoral Thesis5 5
