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/ ix / Acknowledgments Denken ist danken; no attempt at thinking is complete unless it includes some attempt at thanking. This is particularly true for a book such as this, whose thinking came into being through an especially long and circuitous path. This book originated in a dissertation written under the direction of John Mowitt in the Department of Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Even though the present text bears little resemblance to that dissertation, the hand of my dissertation committee nevertheless remains impressed upon its every page. In addition to John, whose astonishing and capacious mind is matched only by his generous spirit, I thank Cesare Casarino, Lisa Disch, Qadri Ismail, and Thomas Pepper for their teaching and friendship. In the MacArthur Program at the University of Minnesota, I had the privilege to encounter unusually concrete and detailed discussions over matters South African.For creating and maintaining that rare intellectual space, I thank Bud Duvall, Allen Isaacman, Jim Johnson, and Karen Brown Thompson. The dissertation began to pass into a book manuscript under the guidance of two editors at the University of Michigan Press, Jim Reische and Melody Herr. I thank Jim and Melody for their counsel as well as for their superhuman patience. My outside reviewers exposed important weaknesses in the manuscript. I thank André du Toit, Daniel Herwitz, Fiona Ross, and several anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful, probing, and in many cases unanswerable criticisms. Along the way, claims were tested and honed in dialogue with many interlocutors. For their correspondence and conversation about this book, I thank Zackie Achmat, Rita Barnard, Louise Bethlehem, Claudia Braude, Timothy Campbell, Tasneem Carrim, Johnny de Lange, Christopher Dole,Antje du Bois-­Pedain,Tony and Hillary Hamburger , Brent Harris, Verne Harris, Helen Kinsella, Mark Kende, Ahmed x / Acknowledgments Kathrada, Stephanie Marlin-­ Curiel, Monika Mehta, Fazela Mohamed, Saliem Patel, Surren Pillay, Sayres Rudy, Joseph Schneider, Charlie Sugnet, Jody Swilky, and Amanda Swarr. For enabling, encouraging, and, when all else failed, finally demanding the completion of this book,I thank my dear colleagues inAmherst College’s Department of Law, Jurisprudence and Social Thought (LJST). Founded in 1992, LJST is a department that to this day retains all the vitality, inventiveness , and excitement of an ongoing event. I couldn’t wish for better intellectual companions than David Delaney, Lawrence Douglas, Megan Estes, Nasser Hussain, Austin Sarat, and Martha Umphrey. Along with Tom Dumm and Andy Poe, my intrepid comrades in “theory corridor,” my LJST colleagues have provided steadfast friendship during trying times, unsparing criticism and exacting standards, and above all good humor and ready laughter. Special thanks are due to Austin, who threw his shoulder behind this book at critical moments early and late in its development; and to Nasser, whose writings, co-­ teaching, and (memorable) commentary have been hugely influential both for this book’s content and for its form. If Part 1 of this book is a footnote to Nasser’s research on the jurisprudence of emergency, Part 2 is a footnote to Premesh Lalu’s studies of the postcolonial episteme. It is no hyperbole to thank Premesh not only for his thought but also for spurring my interest in South Africa in the first place. This book is in many ways just the latest chapter in an ongoing discussion that began with this irrepressible teacher, insatiable intellect, and dear friend almost twenty years ago on Minneapolis’s Franklin Avenue. It was therefore both fitting and a great privilege to be able to host Premesh at Amherst College as a Copeland Fellow during the 2011–­ 12 academic year, when further conversations with him allowed me to put the finishing touches on this book. Amherst College is also a place where skilled undergraduates play an uncommonly direct part in faculty research, and this book is no exception. It was written with the research assistance of six phenomenally talented students: Charles Bourjaily, Jessie Oh, Harshit Rathi, Adam Shniderman, Meghna Sridhar, and Nicole Starrett. Nicole’s work on the manuscript was especially astute: I thank her for her detailed edits, perceptive critiques, and key recommendations. For the opportunity to hire and work with these gifted students, as well as for his unwavering and indispensable support over the years, I thank Amherst College’s Dean of Faculty Gregory Call. Acknowledgments / xi This is a book that has been written in libraries, both in South Africa and the United States. My ability to travel to these libraries was enabled by an ACLS/SSRC...

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