http://law.huji.ac.il/upload/AK_bureaucracygovernmentalityhumanrights.pdf
Tel Aviv University
Faculty of Social Sciences
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Yearly Course
Two weekly hours
Bureaucracy, Governmentality and Human Rights
Prof. Yehouda Shenhav
TA: Adv. Yael Berda
Guest lecturer: Adv. Michael Sfrad
The course will discuss managerial theory and practice, with an emphasis on control mechanisms that
developed in the context of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. We will examine the
historical sources of these mechanisms and attempt to situate them within the colonial context,
particularly the British and French. We will then demonstrate how the occupation is reflected, within
the spaces of sovereignty it creates, in the administrative practices of law enforcement agencies and
executive authorities. In addition, we will demonstrate how the occupation creates lawless spaces,
where people's lives become exposed to violence or the threat thereof. Simultaneously, we will analyze
the political and cultural implications of historical anachronism, relating them to questions of morality
and race, politics and sovereignty, and political theology. We will place special emphasis on the
relationship between race and bureaucracy and their ties with violence, in all its forms. Through the
course, we will familiarize ourselves with the complexity of maintaining human rights, particularly in
the unusual yet daily events in which they are most crucial. We will learn to listen to testimonies and
stories from the points of view of different actors in the event, and primarily "look over the shoulder"
of those working in service of the state, in order to try and understand the mechanisms and the
networks of events operating in reality.
Course structure
The course is a seminar combining theory and practice. In addition to Prof. Shenhav's lectures, Adv.
Michael Sfrad, the legal advisor of "Yesh Din" will accompany the course as a guest lecturer. Every
two weeks, the students will take part in Yesh Din's project of observers of military courts, and in
Machsom Watch's project of assistance at the District Coordination Offices in the Palestinian
territories. Under the direction of these organizations, the students will be involved in documentation,
advocacy and coordination while maintaining a journal documenting their activity. The students will be
guided by Adv. Yael Berda, both individually and in groups. Students will receive transportation
expenses and a yearly scholarship of NIS 1450.
At the end of the year, each student will submit an article based upon her activities and experiences,
with reference to the course's theoretical content. Some of the articles will be collected in a book edited
by Prof. Shenhav, Adv. Sfard and Adv. Berda, in cooperation with the organizations.
Schedule and outline
October 24 – Lecture 1: Introduction of the course, group guidance
Prof. Shenhav, Adv. Sfard, Adv. Berda
October 31 – Field work
November 7 – Lecture 2: Development of bureaucratic thought, managerial revolution and rationalism
as an ideology
November 14 – Field work
November 24 – Legalization of the occupation and international law – Guest lecturer: Michael Sfrad
November 28 – Field work
December 3 – Lecture 3: Bureaucracy and political catastrophes
December 12 – Field work
December 19 – Lecture 4: Sovereignty, governance and power
December 20 – Field work
January 2: Testimony and confession. Guest lecturer: Michal Givoni
January 9 – Field work
January 16 – Field work
February 27 – Lecture 5: Political theology and the state of emergency
March 6 – Lecture 6: Imperialism, colonialism – occupier and occupied: from co-dependency to
"exposed life"
March 13 – Field work
March 20 – Field work
March 27 – Racialization and apartheid
April 10 – Field work
April 17 – Lecture 7: The security paradigm
April 24 – Field work
May 8 – Lecture 9: Bureaucracy of the occupation
May 15 – Field work
May 29 – Lecture 10: Globalization of terrorism, disaster management and humanitarian organizations
June 5 – Concluding meeting
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