Introduction
The study of such political concepts as the state of exception, necropolitics, and necroviolence is valuable for understanding the main idea of the work “Prevention through deterrence” by Jason de León. In this study, the author describes the mentioned phenomena by examining deterrence practices and provides examples of individuals who have crossed the Sonoran Desert. Thus, this paper will examine the situation on the border between the USA and Mexico by applying the terms of state of exception, necropolitics, and necroviolence in Jason de León’s work.
Analysis of the Border Situaion
First, it is necessary to understand the phenomenon of state of exception. It is defined as the process whereby sovereign authorities declare emergencies in order to suspend the legal protections afforded to individuals while simultaneously unleashing the power of the state upon them” (De Leon, 2015, p. 27). Jason de León, in his work “Prevention through Deterrence,” examines this phenomenon in relation to policies that flourish on the borders of America and Mexico (De Leon, 2015). On these lands, there is a cruel disregard for the supreme laws and human rights, where the right to “let live” works hand-in-hand with the right to “let die.” The author sees federal immigration policies as the main reason for these conditions.
The dominance of the state of exception in the adjacent territories of the United States and Mexico has contributed to the growth of concern about such phenomena as necropolitics and necroviolence. They are used to describe the ways in which power operates through the control and management of life and death (De Leon, 2015). In more detail, necropolitics refers to “governing through death; slow violence is both its mode of operation and its effect at the level of every day” (Mayblin et al., 2020, p. 111). Necroviolence, in turn, is “violence that humans perpetuate through the specific treatment of the dead” (Hameršak, 2022, p. 23).
De León explores how these phenomena are realized on the border of the two countries. Due to the migration policies created, inhuman treatment of people is carried out in this territory. It manifests itself both in direct physical violence and denied fundamental human rights. Thus, the phenomena of necropolitics and necroviolence carry the most detrimental basis, which values the lives of some individuals over others.
De León provides an essential insight into the problems of the state of exception, necropolitics, and necroviolence by the example of those who went to the border in the Sonoran Desert. Those people faced increased enforcement and the effects of criminalization policies of border crossing. There, people are treated with special cruelty, their lives are deemed disposable, and their identities are erased (Cruz-Manjarrez, 2013). They are subjected to violence and exploitation by smugglers, border patrol agents, and vigilantes (De Leon, 2015). In addition, individuals have to experience the harshest weather conditions, which themselves cause many deaths (De Leon, 2015). In addition, many people who found themselves at the border were denied food, water, and medical care.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Jason De León’s work entitled “Prevention through Deterrence” considers the border of America and Mexico as a state of exception. This circumstance manifests itself in the prosperity of such aspects as necroviolence and necropolitics, which deem human lives worthless and exposable. Through the experience of people crossing the Sonoran Desert, De León demonstrates the cruelty and fear that prevails in this territory, one of the reasons for which is the country’s migration policy.
References
Cruz-Manjarrez, A. (2013). Zapotecs on the move: Cultural, social, and political processes in transnational perspective. Rutgers University Press.
De Leon, J. (2015). The land of open graves: Living and dying on the migrant trail. University of California Press.
Hameršak, M. (2022). Interview with Jason De León. Etnološka Tribina, 52(45), 238-249.
Mayblin, L., Wake, M., & Kazemi, M. (2020). Necropolitics and the slow violence of the everyday: Asylum seeker welfare in the postcolonial present. Sociology, 54(1), 107-123. Web.