Abstract
This paper argues that U.S. counterterrorism in the Middle East is rooted in a longer history of anti-Black state violence, particularly the gendered subjugation of Black women. Drawing on Black feminist theory and critical security studies, I show that practices central to contemporary counterterrorism, surveillance, dehumanization, and racialized threat construction, emerged earlier in the state’s response to enslaved African women and later to Black political movements such as the Black Panther Party. Through a qualitative comparison of these domestic histories with post-9/11 operations, including drone warfare and the abuses documented at Abu Ghraib, I trace how the Black female body has served as a template for defining and disciplining “terroristic” subjects. By highlighting the absence of gender and race in mainstream counterterrorism literature, this project demonstrates that U.S. counterterrorism abroad extends, rather than departs from, domestic strategies used to police Black communities, revealing a continuous racial logic that structures who is constructed as a threat.
Presenters
Rhyen HuntStudent, MA Global Studies - Area Concentration Middle East, UC Berkeley, California, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Vectors of Society and Culture
KEYWORDS
COUNTERTERRORISM, U.S. FOREIGN POLICY, MIDDLE EAST, GENDER, ANTIBLACKNESS, SECURITY STUDIES
