A return of the repressed: Symptom, fantasy and campaigns for justice for Guantánamo detainees post-2010

Abstract

The article develops a theory of the symptom and argues for a symptomal analysis of contemporary political situations, in particularly those that resonate with exception. By focusing on Guantánamo detainees and habeas corpus petitions, the article analyses the language of law and public attitude towards the closure of the facility. The article shows how the legal situation of detainees post-2010 is determined not by the binary distinctions (identity/difference, normal/exceptional) but by attempts to eliminate these binaries and bring detainees under the normal rule of law. The attempts to bring the detainees under the normal rule of law are social fantasies, that is different narratives, which determine how we understand and engage with the law in Guantanamo. Fantasies are always fragmented at their core, and Al-Adahi case with the lack of public response to it reveals this fissure in the form of ‘the return of the repressed’. In doing so, the article shows how the overcoming of the exception is a fantasy of modern politics and points to the moment the repressed truth is revealed.