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Crafting the State

Posted on 29 April 2024

An Interview with José Ciro Martínez and Omar Sirri

bakers making bread in an amman

Dr. José Ciro Martínez and co author Omar Sirri were interviewed recently for a follow up piece on their article “Bureaucraft: Statemakers in Amman and Baghdad” which was originally published in the August 2023 issue of the Society’s peer-reviewed journal, Cultural Anthropology.

In this interview, they reflect on their research trajectory, collaborative process, as well as on analytical, methodological, and political implications of their research.

The interview is available to read here: "Crafting the State: An Interview with José Ciro Martínez and Omar Sirri"

In the original article, José Ciro Martínez and Omar Sirri explored how the state comes into being through the skilled practices of those people implementing policy on the ground. Through an “unlike comparison” of bakers and soldiers, they invited readers to look beyond the bureaucratic sphere in any conventional sense. Instead, they turned their view towards wider bureaucratic assemblages. Developing the concept of bureaucraft, Martínez and Sirri drew attention to the role of technique and skill in making the state.