Bare Life

Bare life is the human being stripped of his or her social existence and denied membership of a political community which guarantees their rights and civic status. In the state of bare life, the rule of law ceases and people can be killed and tortured with impunity. This is a condition into which more and more people are currently being precipitated. Some of the issues this raises are discussed in "Soundings 32". Faisal Devji writes on Al-Qaeda; Kurt Jacobsen documents the rehabilitation of the strategy of 'pacification' in Iraq; Michael Rustin looks at the implications of Robert McNamara's recent recantations; Sayeed Khan argues that western support for the mujahidin in Afghanistan was a key factor in the rise of Islamic terrorists; Doreen Massey draws attention to the fact that London, as well as being a place where diversity is celebrated, is a main site in the production of neoliberal globalisation; Ejos Ubiribo speaks to young men and women involved in gun crime; and Ruth Lister calls for those living in poverty to be given respect and recognition as citizens.
Elsewhere in the issue, Robin Wilson discusses inter-ethnic conflict in Northern Ireland; Richard Minns looks at the crucial role of pensions in the development of the Israeli state; Pat Devine revisits the political history of the 1970s, arguing that we are still living with the consequences of the events of that decade; and Janet Newman reflects on competing ideas about the nature of the public, and the different terrains across which battles about public life are currently being fought.