Constructing the Sovereign; Techniques of Governing Through Life and Death in the Syrian Conflict

Abstract

Literature on war crimes and crimes against humanity often focuses on political and legal perspectives, addressing international law and situations of a singularly recognized sovereign entity. This thesis seeks to explore conflict situations where multiple competing and irregular state-forms exist, using the Syrian conflict as a case study. Engaging with necropolitics, debilitation, and slow violence to understand techniques of governing through life and death, this research utilizes reporting on the Syrian conflict by non-governmental and international organizations to illustrate how war crimes and crimes against humanity function to produce sovereignty and legitimacy. Further, this research argues that the employment of techniques of governance by state-claiming actors in Syria indicates a relationship between the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity and the capacity of state-claiming actors to produce and reproduce sovereignty over territory and populations.