“Yes, [We Bow,] But not a Deep Bow:” Qualia and the Thinkability of Caribbean Jurisprudence

Abstract

Drawing from fourteen months of ethnographic research, this article offers an analysis of the Caribbean Court of Justice's (CCJ) efforts to develop Caribbean jurisprudence as an example of how the work of postcolonial courts might be understood not as mimesis, but as productive qualia-tative labor. The semiotic concept of qualia helps to refocus attention on the deliberate "Caribbeanness" that the CCJ endeavors to combine with already well-established "courtly" features, such as deferential courtroom bows and familiar judicial robes. The article argues that by thoughtfully weaving together Caribbean and courtly qualities, the CCJ works to develop Caribbean jurisprudence by making it sensible-that is, both comprehensible and experienceable.

Law, Language, and a Nonsovereign Caribbean

“…This is why the CCJ keeps doing what it is doing and saying what is saying; while a regional future may not be just around the corner, it is a far more hopeful one than a sovereign horizon never meant to arrive. Cabatingan 2016Cabatingan , 2018aCabatingan , and 2018b). 3.…”

“…22In other work, I describe how the CCJ's project of region‐making employs a wide variety of techniques, from reconceptualizing history to monitoring courthouse fashion and bodily comportment (see Cabatingan 2016, 2018a, and 2018b). …”