Areas of Interest

Colonialism and Modernity, War, Violence, Development, Memory, Sociolegal Studies, Social and Political Thought, Middle Eastern Studies.

Bio

A former lawyer, Samera Esmeir recived her Ph.D. in Law and Society from New York University. She is currently working on her book manuscript wich is an historical study of Egypt under British rule and a theoretical exploration of the juridicalization of the "human". Entitled Juridical Humanity, this manuscript investigates the role played by the violence of imperial colonialism in the constitution of "universal humanity," and in inscribing the human as the teleology of modern law. She has been also working on other research projects that focus on the contemporary Middle East, and specifically on questions of violence, war, and the security state. She maintains an interest in legal history (and its rhetoric) and is working on two small research projects. The first is an investigation of the colonial histories of the field of "comparative law." The second is a legal history of treason in Israel. Samera Esmeir was also the co-editor and cofounder of Adalah's Review, a sociolegal journal published in Arabic, Hebrew and English that focuses on the Palestinian minority in Israel.    

Selected Publications

"The Violence of non-Violence: Law and War in Iraq", Journal of Law and Society, Vol. 34, issue 1 (March 2007)

"On Making Dehumanization Possible," PMLA: The Journal of Modern Languages Association, Vol. 121, No. 5 (October 2006)

"In the Name of Security: Introduction," Adalah's Review, vol. 4, p.1 (2004).

"1948: History, Memory, Law," Social Text 75, vol. 21, No. 2 (Summer, 2003) .