I Can’t Breathe: Heeding the Call of Justice

Abstract

The state formation of neoliberal authoritarianism, and political subjects attached to this state, took shape in the wake of the 1968 presidential election in the United States. Now the state sought to manage inequality – if not enjoy it – rather than ameliorate it. Policing became more militarized, and police were encouraged to go beyond law enforcement to control the perception of disorder. Police were also encouraged to kick ass. The enjoyment of militarized policing of those poor and black, or the enjoyment of police kicking the asses of those poor and black with regard to minor violations, indicate the points of subjective affective attachment to neoliberal authoritarianism. The New York Police Department’s and the Ferguson Police Department’s disparate policing of those poor and black are institutional manifestations of these affective attachments. In the wake of the NYPD’s killing of Eric Garner, and the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, the protests of the people have forced us to heed the call of justice: We Can’t Breathe!