Violent infrastructure, nationalist stigmatisation and spatial erasure

Item Type Journal Article Author Somdeep Sen URL https://doi.org/10.1177/02633957221148070 Volume 44 Issue 1 Pages 102-118 Publication Politics ISSN 0263-3957 Date 2024-02-01 Extra Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd DOI 10.1177/02633957221148070 Accessed 2024-08-19 04:12:54 Library Catalog SAGE Journals Language en Abstract This article studies the violent politics of stigmatisation and erasure of nationalist urban infrastructure. In general, urban infrastructure is a mechanism of state power. But, through the case of the imposing presence of Turkish nationalist infrastructure in the Kurdish city Diyarbakir, it demonstrates that when tied to an antagonistic nationalist political project, this infrastructure is often purposefully built to violently cleanse urban spaces of the national “other”. Be it a statue, a mural or a picture of a nationalist leader – this infrastructure is incapable of inflicting physical pain. Nonetheless, its violence is symbolic and meant to have a real effect on Diyarbakir’s Kurds’ ability and willingness to identify as Kurds. That said, violence does not entirely inform the spatial experience of those targeted by this nationalist infrastructure. The article demonstrates that Kurdish residents also found ways of remaining unaffected, even treating the infrastructure laden with Turkish nationalist iconography as a reminder of their own Kurdish identity. This article thus expands our understanding of what nationalist infrastructure does. It may be designed to be violent. However, it also reveals itself to be a site of contestation – equally inspiring the persistence of the counter-narrative of the national “other”.