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About this talk

Why does the state matter to its people? How do people know and experience the state? And how did the state come to be both desired and dreaded by its subjects? Nida Alahmad will outline key arguments from her book State Matters: Theorising state fragmentation and consolidation from Iraq which is a study that offers a historically grounded social theoretical account of state consolidation in Iraq, from the foundation of the country as a League of Nations British Mandate in 1921 through to the post-2003 era. Through analysis of key historical episodes of state consolidation (and fragmentation) during the past century, she argues that consolidation rests on two sequential and interdependent factors. First, domination: the state's capacity to dominate land and population. Second, legitimation: whereby the state is accepted and expected by the population to be the final arbitrator of collective life based on common principles. Moving between intellectual traditions and disciplines, Alahmad demonstrates that a theorisation of state consolidation is a theorisation of the modern state. Registration This event is free to attend, but registration is required. Seating is allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Please note that food and drink is not permitted in R101. Image © butenkow / Adobe Stock

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