Colonial law transmuted cultural communities into political ones

Evidence

“The very category ‘native’ was legally dismantled as different groups of natives were set apart on the basis of ethnicity. From being only a cultural community, the ethnic group was turned into a political community.” — Gil Anidjar, The Jew, the Arab, 39

In addition to race, law thus constituted another, distinct categoryethnicity. “The very category ‘native’ was legally dismantled as different groups of natives were set apart on the basis of ethnicity. From being only a cultural community, the ethnic group was turned into a political community.” By invoking “local customs,” a sphere was created within (Western) law that was outside the law, within the law, yet outside of its jurisdiction, a sphere governed by distinct cultural and political imperatives. — Gil Anidjar, The Jew, the Arab, 39

Categorization

• DEFINE: Treats ethnicity itself as a colonial legal invention, not a pre-existing cultural reality — key for the book’s genealogy.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Gil Anidjar, The Jew, the Arab: A History of the…, 39
• XREF: connects to: Colonialism functioned through thingification that made the oppressed accept subjugation as natural. — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection: How Data Is…, 262; British colonial rule created ethnoracial divisions where pluralistic communal life existed. — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race: Reflections on…, 556; Pan-Arab political culture predates and outlasts colonial and state boundaries — Youssef Cherif, Neo-pan-Arabism: a renewed contract of…, 32 (+3 more)