Research project State Agents on Trial: Hierarchies of State Criminality in Israel and France Print Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn Send by email Recent works highlight the role of hierarchies in rendering some occurrences of violence tolerable and others unbearable (Derek 2021; Moyn 2021; Ticktin 2011). In this context, this project investigates (1) which hierarchies are at work around state criminality; and (2) what these hierarchies unveil about social tolerance of state violence. To address these questions, the project explores how legal-normative infrastructures facilitate hierarchies of state crime in Israel and France through an examination of State Security Agents’ (SSAs) court trials. As a performative instrument to restore state authority and public trust, SSAs’ trials are an essential arena for exploring changing attitudes towards state criminality. The reversal of roles seen in them – an SSA as the perpetrator – requires the public to reconsider the state’s employment of violence in the name of security.