Abstract
The fake is a sign of our times. Yet while there are lots of fakes out there they are not just there for the finding. We are aware of fakes because they are called out, or, in other words, policed. This observation points to how the relationship between policing and fakes is normalised. Within it there are two assumptions at play: the fake is self-evidently problematic, and police are natural enforcers in the fight against that problem. Using the tools of ethnography, we seek to unsettle both assumptions. We argue the following: (1) the meticulous labour of policing is required to make fakes real; (2) policing itself creates insecurity for which the declaration of fakeness offers resolution; and (3) when we look at how police themselves create and extract value through fakes, we find that there are as many forms of policing as there are of fakes.
Original language | English |
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Journal | The Cambridge Journal of Anthropology |
Publication status | Accepted/In press - 1 Jul 2024 |