Anil Kaan Yildirim

I am a PhD candidate in Politics at Univeristy of Exeter. I hold an MA in International Security and Development from Swansea University and a BA in Political Science and International Relations from Boğaziçi University.

My doctoral research, titled "On the Walls of Polis: Examining the Empire’s Administration of Life and Death in Afghanistan from the Perspectives of Foucault, Agamben, and Mbembe," explores the complex dynamics of state power and its administration of life in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2021. Under the supervision of Dr. Shubranshu Mishra and Professor Laleh Khalili, my work critically examines the Empire's strategies in the context of state-building, particularly through the lens of Foucault's biopolitics, Agamben's concept of homo sacer, and Mbembe's necropolitics.

This research aims to uncover the underlying differences in the Empire's perceptions of sacred lives and those deemed expendable in global politics, offering a nuanced understanding of the state-building project in Afghanistan. By synthesizing the perspectives of these three theorists, my project contributes to the broader discourse on the administration of life and death in the context of modern imperial practices.