Making sense of state violence: Understanding public inquiries as political devices

Abstract

Whenever a political scandal or controversy erupts, one is likely to hear a familiar demand: “There must be a public inquiry!”. Inquiries are institutions of last resort, instigated only when something has gone wrong or must be urgently done, where the usual mechanisms of the state are found wanting. Often the focus of inquiries has been that which the state claims as its monopoly: the use of violence. There is a long and chequered history of inquiries appointed to investigate the state’s use of violence in (post)colonial contexts, military interventions and police actions. This special issue interrogates this history, contributing to wider debates in Critical Military Studies on war and violence. Inquiries are acts of epistemic sovereignty that seek to establish authoritative interpretations of events, and this has sometimes led to a dichotomous representation of inquiries as either promising fora for democratic accountability or tools for elite interests. This special issue seeks to overcome this dichotomy through interdisciplinary dialogue and a granular examination of the political cultures and epistemic practices of inquiries into state violence. In so doing, these articles offer a nuanced analysis of the political functions of inquiries and their potential for democratic accountability and justice.