6. ‘An Auschwitz every three months’

Abstract

‘ “An Auschwitz every three months”: to society as camp?’ examines the meaning and significance of the concentration camp. There is no single type of concentration camp and no clear dividing line between a concentration camp and other sites of incarceration. Are concentration camps ‘states of exception’ divorced from society and the rule of law, and, if so, do they therefore function as windows onto the deeper desires of modern states’ leaders or are they aberrant sites? Can a meaningful comparison be made between concentration camps such as those under the Nazi regime and refugee camps or detention centres? What about contemporary settings such as favelas, shanty-towns, and sweatshops in the global south?