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Liminality and the politics of the transitional

Malksoo, Maria (2018) Liminality and the politics of the transitional. In: Wydra, Harald and Thomassen, Bjørn, eds. Handbook of Political Anthropology. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK; Northampton, MA, USA, pp. 145-159. ISBN 978-1-78347-900-9. E-ISBN 978-1-78347-901-6. (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:70874)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided. (Contact us about this Publication)
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Abstract

This chapter addresses transitions in world politics through the lens of the concept of liminality. Liminality refers to the middle stage and consequent positioning of subjects in transition between socially established categories. Comparative Politics and International Relations (IR) tend to focus on states in transit, generally understanding politics through an institutionalist lens and thus lacking the depth of the internal meanings of transition as experienced by the communities and people in question. Taking a critical stance on the narrow transition paradigm in the study of international politics, the optic of liminality helps reorient the thinking of politics in the moment of transition via two examples, namely, transitional justice and the transformation of contemporary warfare. Russia’s idiosyncratic policies of reckoning with the violent legacies of its predecessor, the USSR, and its ongoing engagement in the war in Ukraine serve as illustrations of both lines of inquiry pursued here.

Item Type: Book section
Uncontrolled keywords: liminality, rites of passage, ambiguity, transformation of subjectivity, transitional justice, Russia’s permanent transition
Subjects: H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
J Political Science > JC Political theory
J Political Science > JZ International relations
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Politics and International Relations
Depositing User: Maria Malksoo
Date Deposited: 10 Dec 2018 08:48 UTC
Last Modified: 29 Sep 2021 10:22 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/70874 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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