In the Q&A session following Prof. Puar's lecture
(see below), Prof. Joshua Schreier, professor of History and Jewish Studies at
Vassar (and former Director of the Jewish Studies Program), commented on her
charge of deliberate maiming as a tactic of "biopolitical control"
over the Palestinians. His
"question" is produced verbatim below:
Schreier: It’s something you are talking to as well, I’m kind of curious about this incredible apparat - technological apparatus that’s kind of being deployed here to do this kind of harm, to do this kind of maiming, to do this and the use of a kind of notion of you know of a disappearing society sometimes it’s the opposite of that. You know? It’s a tremend - as as horrific, as effective as it is at maiming and creating and maintaining these bodies, so many bodies alive yet disabled and stunted or whatever at the same time it’s - given the kind of discourse of demographic threat and the kind of biopolitical discourse, you know, it’s very thick over there, it’s interesting at the same time how much of a tremendous failure it is.
Puar: Oh the the biopolitical control ...
Schreier: Yeah, I mean it’s such a mammoth failure in the sense that it’s, you know, it can do all this incredible damage and yet there’s zero, obvious hegemony, there’s zero and the and the and the growth rate continues despite this incredible apparatus meant to control, stem, funnel or whatever. So I just, I don’t know, I don’t know how I can phrase that in a question but it’s puzzling.
