WAR AND PEACE IN THE GLOBAL VILLAGE: BIO-POLITICS OF DISABILITY IN KANDAHAR AND BEYOND

Abstract

War and conflict are endemic in contemporary global society. Conflict situations not only result in more people with disabilities, but also disproportionately affect people with disabilities already living in conflict-ridden situations. This paper argues that disabled bodies caught amidst contemporary conflict situations highlight the somewhat paradoxical nature of the world we live in today—where global economic and political forces that instigate conflict are also responsible for alleviating its aftermath. These arguments are made through a bio-political analysis of Iranian film-maker Mohsen Makhmalbaf’s 2001 movie Kandahar set in the war-ravaged deserts of Afghanistan. Using this story as backdrop, this paper discusses and critiques the bio-politics of contemporary conflicts and the dispensing of post-conflict humanitarian aid and offers an alternative from of bio-politics exercised by people with disabilities as part of the global anti-war agenda.