A Postcolonial Critique of Tear Gas Use

Throughout the 20th and 21st century, there has been widespread acceptance of the use of tear gas against “uncivilized,” or otherwise “problematic” populations. Tear gas was deployed extensively in colonial territories and later escaped legal constraint with the Chemical Weapons Convention, in which tear gas is banned in warfare but permitted for ‘law enforcement including domestic riot control purposes.’ Thus, this thesis asks: How have democracies used tear gas differentially as a means for disciplining and policing marginalized populations domestically? And in what ways can insights from postcolonialism aid our understanding of how the use of tear gas on certain groups has been rendered possible? Through looking at how the function of tear gas, specifically against particular (frequently dehumanized) groups, has been shaped, this thesis will demonstrate the ways in which various democracies’ use of this weapon is facilitated, legitimized, and normalized. The main argument is that the deployment of tear gas by state power, especially to discipline “othered” bodies, cannot be fully understood within a contemporary context but rather by the past. Through drawing upon postcolonial insights, this research will demonstrate the kinds of populations that are teargassed and why it is important to understand the role of their identities, histories, and representations.

A postcolonial critique of tear gas use will be presented through examining how earlier histories and their legacies perpetuate systems of domination that not only further exclude and marginalize particular groups but also rationalize their suppression through teargassing. This thesis will not only deconstruct boundaries between the “civilized” and “uncivilized” that have been maintained through the process of “othering,” law relating to the international and domestic spheres, policing and war within the metropole and colonial spheres, and the biopolitical perpetuation of “us” versus “them” but also provide a reinscribed history of the evolving use of tear gas during the 20th century. Furthermore, this thesis offers an analysis of the routine use of tear gas against Black Lives Matter demonstrators in the United States (policed bodies), civilians in Indian-administered Kashmir (occupied bodies), and non-European refugees in Calais (displaced bodies) by authorities in order to highlight the contours and boundaries of dehumanization that render certain groups more legitimate targets for this type of violence than others. Ultimately, this thesis contends that as tear gas continues to alter modes of governance, particularly as it pertains to “less desirable” groups in democratic states, it is important that the repressive and differential use of this weapon be brought to light.