At the heart of the state : the moral world of institutions

Author(s)

• Fassin, Didier
• Brown, Patrick

Bibliographic Information

At the heart of the state : the moral world of institutions

Didier Fassin ; translated by Patrick Brown and Didier Fassion

（Anthropology, culture and society）

Pluto Press, 2015

• : pbk
• : hbk

Note

Originally published in French by Seuil, 2013

Translated from the French

Includes bibliographical references (p. [269]-281) and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

The state is often regarded as an abstract and neutral bureaucratic entity. Against this common sense idea, At the Heart of the State argues that it is also a concrete reality with a morality, embodied in the work of its agents and inscribed in the issues of its time. A political and moral anthropology, this book is the result of a five-year investigation conducted by ten scholars, based in France. It analyses, amongst other topics, the police, the court system, the prison apparatus, the social services and mental health facilities. Combining genealogy and ethnography, its authors show that these state institutions do not simply implement laws, rules and procedures: they mobilise values and affects, judgements and emotions. In other words, they reflect the morality of the state.

Table of Contents

Series Preface Acknowledgements Can States be Moral? Preface to the English Edition Introduction: Governing Precarity - Didier Fassin Part I: Judging 1. The Right to Punish: Assessing Sentences in Immediate Appearance Trials - Chowra Makaremi 2. Justice for Immigrants: The Work of Magistrates in Deportation Proceedings - Nicolas Fischer 3. In Search of Truth: How Asylum Applications are Adjudicated - Carolina Kobelinsky Part II: Repressing 4. Maintaining Order: The Moral Justifications for Police Practices - Didier Fassin 5. Sanctioning behind Bars: The Humanisation of Retribution in Prison - Fabrice Fernandez 6. Assisting or Controlling? When Social Workers Become Probation Officers - Yasmine Bouagga Part III: Supporting 7. Discipline and Educate: Contradictions within the Juvenile Justice System - Sebastien Roux 8. Listening to Suffering: The Treatment of Mental Fragility at a Home for Adolescents - Isabelle Coutant and Jean-Sebastien Eideliman 9. Profiling Job Seekers: The Counseling of Youths at an Employment Center - Sarah Mazouz Conclusion: Raisons d'Etat - Didier Fassin Glossary Bibliography List of Contributors Index

by "Nielsen BookData"

Details

• NCID: BB19655367
• ISBN:
  • 9780745335599
  • 9780745335605
• Country Code: uk
• Title Language Code: eng
• Text Language Code: eng
• Original Language Code: fre
• Place of Publication: London
• Pages/Volumes: xi, 288 p.
• Size: 24 cm
• Subject Headings:
  • LCSH : Political ethics
  • LCSH : Social ethics
  • LCSH : Social policy -- Moral and ethical aspects
• Parent Bibliography ID:
  • BA20764781