The implicated subject: Colonial atrocity, harki identity, and an ontology of the in-between

Abstract

Michael Rothberg’s concept of the “implicated subject” complicates the boundaries between the categories of “victim” and “perpetrator.” Rothberg’s work provides a wide framework developed through a comparative lens, broaching several nations and time periods—and, as I argue, can be extended even further. As I develop in this article, I see the “implicated subject” as a richer notion yet, one that not only imbricates victim and perpetrator but also subject and object, human and inhuman. Thus, focusing on the “implicated subject” as an ontological problematic, I add another case study to Rothberg’s rich work—harki soldiers—in order to underscore how “implicated subjects” shed light on patterns of dehumanization and help us understand permutations of being in times of extreme cruelty.