Paper registers detected desertion before a runaway was physically caught

Evidence

Unlike a soldier whose body had been tattooed by the authorities and whose desertion was discovered after he was found, a soldier whose name appeared in a village conscription register would have his desertion detected even before he was found. Any missing item could only be truly missing if it did not show up in the list; otherwise it was still considered present albeit only in name (ismi var cismi yok.: lit. having a name but no body). — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 486

Categorization

• XREF: ‘Having a name but no body’ anticipates the bureaucratic abstraction themes in Kafka and in James C. Scott’s legibility. — connects to: A lost register can threaten the state’s system of control — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 410