Law and disorder in the postcolony*

Comaroff, Jean; Comaroff, John L.

doi:10.1111/j.0964-0282.2007.00010.x

Cited by 258 publications

(146 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Comaroff and Comaroff (2014) explained the economic and political changes suffered in the Global South " . .…”

Section: The Structural Violencementioning

confidence: 99%

The Relevance of Criminal Courts in the Global South

Ciocchini¹

2017

Laws

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Abstract:The literature on comparative law has a long and robust tradition, but studies comparing courts and judicial systems are scarce. Comparative studies in the Global South, following Shapiro's institutional approach, have aimed to measure the involvement of courts in politics by assessing the power of the judiciary in society, the level of judicial independence, and their role in the context of the judicialization of politics. The focus was on the high courts, including either Constitutional or Supreme Courts. Criminal courts have not received similar attention despite the influence of their everyday decisions on people's lives and their perception of the judicial system. This article argues that developing a comparative approach for criminal courts in the Global South is needed to help understand the role they play in the development of the rule of law and democratic life. This comparative study helps understand the impact of judicial reform programmes in the Global South. These reforms, inspired by a neoliberal paradigm, have focused on improving the efficiency of the courts. The reforms have promoted managerial techniques detrimental to the standards of due process. Any assessment of the impact of the reforms on the courts in the Global South should start by recognising the widely differing settings under which they operate. This context is characterised by serious economic constraints, such as a lack of material and human resources, and a democratic deficit legacy from the past authoritarian regimes, including widespread police abuse and corruption. Given this context, the role of the courts in ensuring due process and the legality of police procedures is crucial. The impact of the judicial reforms promoting managerial rationality in recent decades must be analysed. To examine the role courts are playing in criminal matters, two cases were explored where courts have undergone extensive judicial reforms, Argentina and the Philippines.

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“…Comaroff and Comaroff (2014) explained the economic and political changes suffered in the Global South " . .…”

Section: The Structural Violencementioning

confidence: 99%

The Relevance of Criminal Courts in the Global South

Ciocchini¹

2017

Laws

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“…But the widespread move to single-party electoral politics across most of the continent after independence made clear that this was rooted less in the idea of choice, and more in what John and Jean Comaroff have called the 'fetishization' of the ballot, which imbues voting itself with an ordering agency that underwrites the notion of lawful order and authorises state power. 20 Against this backdrop, Uganda's 1980 elections drew on a regional and continental experience in which the ballot was much more about statebuilding than about substantive political choice: the polls were seen, as the Observer Group put it, as 'an essential first step towards national rehabilitation'.…”

Section: What Are Elections For?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“A valid electoral exercise”? Uganda's 1980 Elections and the Observers’ Dilemma

2017

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The presence at Uganda's 1980 general elections of a Commonwealth Observer Group might be seen as a seminal moment. This was the first formal international observation of polls in a sovereign African state and the precursor of multiple similar missions that later became routine. Yet the 1980 mission sits uneasily in the history of election observation. The observers endorsed the results despite evidence of malpractice, and Uganda plunged into civil war within months. Internationally, the mission is now either forgotten or treated as an embarrassment. Within Uganda, it has been denounced as part of an outsider conspiracy to foist an unwanted president on an unwilling people. This article argues that the 1980 mission was neither entirely seminal nor an aberration, and that both the elections and observation were driven partly by actors within Uganda rather than simply imposed by outsiders. The availability of UK government records allows us to see the events of 1980 as a particularly clear example of a recurring “observers’ dilemma.” Ideally, elections combine democracy and state-building. They offer people a choice as to who will lead or represent them, and at the same time they assert through performance a crucial distinction between a capable, ordering state and a law-abiding citizenry. Yet these two aspects of elections may be in tension; a poll that offers little or no real choice may still perform “stateness” through substantial, orderly public participation. When that happens in what would now be called a “fragile state,” should international observers denounce the results?

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“…La mayor parte de la producción académica establece la década de 1980 como el momento en el cual emerge con mayor fuerza la educación en derechos humanos en la región (Basombrio, 1991;Bolívar, 2002;Espinel, 2009Espinel, , 2010Espinel, y 2013Flowers, 2004;Magendzo, 1993, 1996, 2000y 2006y Sacavino, 2012y 2013. Al respecto, Sacavino (2013) indica que "para fines de la década del 80 la educación en/para los derechos humanos en América Latina se presentaba como una práctica nueva que estaba en busca de su propia identidad" (p. 72).…”

Section: La Educación En Derechos Humanosunclassified

Entre la educación en derechos humanos y los derechos humanos escolares: una aproximación desde la perspectiva de los saberes escolares

Hurtado

Heredia

2015

Pedagogía y Saberes

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ResumenComprender la insuficiencia de la educación en derechos humanos como herramienta analítica implica definir el campo simbólico que rodea, desde hace más de tres déca-das, su institucionalización. Sin lugar a dudas, la principal razón para impugnar la idea de educación en derechos humanos como un saber escolar -sin que por ello no permita reflexionar acerca de diversas relaciones entre escuela y derechos humanos-tiene que ver con que no se produce en el marco de la escuela misma, e incluso, a diferencia de otras disciplinas o formas de conocimiento, las apropiaciones por parte de los sujetos educativos han dado lugar a nuevas tensiones que generan dislocaciones en la escuela misma. Palabras claveEducación en derechos humanos, saber escolar, derechos humanos escolares ResumoCompreender a insuficiência da educação em direitos humanos como ferramenta analítica implica definir o campo simbólico que abrange, desde faz mais de três décadas, sua institucionalização. Sem lugar a duvidas, o principal motivo para questionar a ideia de educação em direitos humanos como um saber escolar -sem que isso não permita refletir perto de diversas relações entre a escola e direitos humanos-tem que ver com que não se produz no marco da escola mesma, ou também, a diferença de outras disciplinas ou formas de conhecimento, as apropriações por parte dos sujeitos educativos hão dado lugar a novas tensões que geram deslocamentos na escola mesma. Palavras chaveEducação em direitos humanos, saber escolar, direitos humanos escolares Abstract Understanding the inadequacy of human rights education as an analysis tool implies to define the symbolic field that for more than three decades, has accompanied its institutionalization. Certainly, the main reason to refute the idea of human rights education as a school knowledge refers to the kind of knowledge which is not produced in the school itself. Even more, unlike other disciplines and ways of knowledge, the appropriations by education subjects have given rise to new tensions that produce dislocations at school.

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Law and disorder in the postcolony*

Cited by 258 publications

References 25 publications

The Relevance of Criminal Courts in the Global South

The Relevance of Criminal Courts in the Global South

“A valid electoral exercise”? Uganda's 1980 Elections and the Observers’ Dilemma

Entre la educación en derechos humanos y los derechos humanos escolares: una aproximación desde la perspectiva de los saberes escolares

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