Siyasal Mekân Olarak Kamp: Egemenlik ve İstisna Hali

Abstract

Concentration camps are marked in our memories as one of the darkest and the most inhumane practices in the recent past. The conception of camp, which the first examples have appeared in the late 19. century and the early 20. century, is a completely modern problem for the political sciences, with its slightly longer than 100 years of existence. Death and sufferings caused by concentration camps, especially during the Second World War period, have paved the way for a worldwide awareness for this practice. Condemned at every chance, concentration camps were thought to be abolished and hoped that this dark practice will never resurface again thanks to the awareness emerged after the Second World War. However, incarceration of the masses, after stripping them from all of their humane values, have continued to exist. The fact that the concentration camps have continued to exist regardless of ideology, regime and the laws, supports the idea that the camp phenomenon is a direct construction of the sovereign’s judgement. Because of the state of exception which suspends the law or just the exceptional nature of the camp, the practice of detaining and isolating the people who have been branded as dangerous or undesired have never been truly prevented. This Master’s Theses, by investigating various examples of camp practices throughout the history, argues that even having different characteristics and conditions, all the camps are same due to the same foundation they share. This foundation, which makes camps possible, is the state of exception. The reason behind the appearances of camps regardless of the regime and ideology of the states they are built on, will be examined through sovereign’s decision to exalt itself over the laws or it’s complete control over the areas that stay out of the boundaries law. In the first chapter; state of exception and camp will be examined as well as the other concepts directly related to them such as sovereign, sovereignty and political space. Historical examination and the structure of the state of exception will take place in the second chapter while its relation with the camp practice will be discussed in the third chapter through various examples.