Joseph Pugliese

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About

Joseph Pugliese is a critical legal scholar whose work interrogates the intersections of law, technology, and violence. His research focuses on the biopolitics of warfare, particularly how legal frameworks are reconfigured by emerging military technologies. In his highly influential article, "Prosthetics of Law and the Anomic Violence of Drones" (2011), Pugliese examines how U.S. drone strikes in Afghanistan and Pakistan produce a form of "anomic violence"—killing that operates beyond traditional legal boundaries. He argues that drones function as prosthetic extensions of the state, enabling a disembodied, remote form of warfare that redefines sovereignty and legal accountability. With 27 citations, this work has shaped debates in critical legal studies, surveillance studies, and postcolonial theory. Pugliese’s broader contributions include analyzing racialized and colonial dimensions of state violence, making him a key voice in understanding the ethical and political implications of technologically mediated warfare. His scholarship challenges readers to confront the hidden legal architectures that normalize killing at a distance.