(Non)-lethality and war

Tear gas as a weapon of governmental intervention

Bibliographic Data

ID12918697
AuthorsMiguel De Larrinaga (University of Ottawa, corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume9
Issue3
Pages522-540
Publication date2016-06-16
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueCritical Studies on Terrorism (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1753-9161 • E-ISSN: 1753-9153
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17539153.2016.1197626
OpenAlexW2443456478
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited37

This article attempts to think through the relationship between lethality and war through the object of tear gas from its invention to contemporary uses. First, I examine the way in which tear gas migrates from a zone of lethal/non-lethal conceptual indistinction, to one where the same rationalities operate but the intent of their use is opposed in relation to life and death. Second, from this biopolitical distinction, I trace its use in the governing of colonial populations and populations under occupation, and its recent weaponisation in “domestic” spaces. These contemporary uses of tear gas, I argue, can be seen as what Sloterdijk would call “atmosterror” which contribute to blurring the lines between war and peace

Aesthetics · Art · Biology · Biopower · Colonialism · Criminology · Environmental ethics · Intervention (counseling · Lethality · Object (grammar · Political science · Politics · Relation (database · Sociology · Global Security and Public Health · Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics · Law · Medicine · Philosophy · Political Theology and Sovereignty

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