Internal Exile

Stefanie Pukallus proposes a new framework for understanding internal exile as a universal phenomenon inherent to every society across the globe, emphasizing the role of communicative processes in establishing the civil-political logic that underpins all forms of societal exclusion.Defining and conceptualizing internal exile as the complete and permanent expulsion of certain groups from civil space on the basis of civil deficiency, Pukallus contends that this type of exile cannot be achieved through state power alone. Rather, this expulsion must first be legitimized by communicating a judgment of deficiency across all levels of society to establish it as an unquestioned truth. Rendering these groups inaudible and invisible, she posits, enables the public to forget and society to rid itself of responsibility for them.While decisions about which group is targeted and how the process itself unfolds in detail – including the scope and permanence of exile – depends on the nuances of its societal context, Pukallus argues that the ways in which any particular society reasons and justifies internal exile can only be fully understood by analyzing the degree of complicity between the state, institutions and individual citizens. The book concludes on three essential themes: immobility as a characterizing feature of internal exile, the aesthetic-sensorial nature of civil society and its role in civil judgments and action, and, ultimately, the question of whether an ‘after exile’ exists.