Decolonial Futures: From Imperialism to OverLife
Princeton University Visiting Professor Fawzia Afzal-Khan has published an essay, “Afkar-e-taza! From Imperial OverKill to Decolonial OverLife,” in CounterPunch, examining the concept of “Overkill” as theorized by Palestinian Armenian scholar Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian. Shalhoub-Kevorkian, recently removed from her tenured position at Hebrew University for publicly characterizing the situation in Gaza as genocide, developed the concept during her visiting professorship at Princeton alongside Afzal-Khan.
Shalhoub-Kevorkian’s “Overkill,” as detailed in Afzal-Khan’s essay, builds upon the work of African scholar Achille Mbembe’s concept of “Necropolitics.” Both terms, according to the essay, describe the deliberate policies enacted by states – particularly neoliberal capitalist states, with Israel cited as a primary example – that target the bodies of populations deemed “unworthy” or “abject.” “Overkill” specifically focuses on the systematic dismantling of the colonized socio-political structure, attacking its cohesion and capacity for self-renewal. The essay asserts that this operates through “continuous and routinized death,” transforming fundamental aspects of life – family, community, and continuity – into tools of power.
The essay draws a direct connection between this theoretical framework and the ongoing conflict in Gaza, referencing Shalhoub-Kevorkian’s focus on “the ashlaa’ [body parts] of decomposed babies in incubators” as evidence of the “genocidal Nakba.” This imagery, the essay states, highlights the vulnerability of newborns and children, and the targeting of essential spaces like homes, schools, and hospitals.
Afzal-Khan, similarly a Distinguished Scholar at Montclair State University, has previously written for CounterPunch on topics including US campus repression related to Palestine, cancel culture, and decolonial thought. Her work, as outlined on the publication’s author page, frequently addresses issues of justice and resistance in both Pakistan, and Palestine. Her latest book is titled Siren Song: Understanding Pakistan Though it’s Women Singers.
The publication of Afzal-Khan’s essay coincides with a broader discussion within CounterPunch regarding the future of Israel, as evidenced by a recent article titled “The Self-Undoing of Israel: Has Zionism Crossed the Point of No Return?” by Richard Falk. Other recent articles address the potential for conflict with Iran and domestic political issues within the United States, including labor disputes at Kaiser Permanente and concerns over artificial intelligence.