Affective Justice

“At its creation, many African countries embraced the International Criminal Court, but subsequent events produced substantial African opposition. This important and insightful book, based on extensive ethnographic research, explores the court and how Africans feel about it. Some see the International Criminal Court as a beacon of hope while others see it as a legacy of colonialism. The book focuses on how affects such as a desire for justice through law and the anger at the plunder of resources shape international justice itself.” -- Sally Engle Merry, Silver Professor, New York University
“Affective Justice is set against the background of worldwide disappointments in the performance of the International Criminal Court arising from its prosecutorial incongruences. Kamari Maxine Clarke offers a phenomenology of justice and an anthropology of judicial practices as negotiated assemblages of sentiments of participants of unequal power, judicial competence, and material means as foundations of the institutions of justice. The book captures the complexity of evolving African attitudes toward the ICC like no book before it. A must-read for anyone interested in the future of international justice!” -- Siba N'Zatioula Grovogui, Cornell University
"Kamari Maxine Clarke’s superb ethnographic and critical study of the place of the International Criminal Court (ICC) within African history and politics demands a fundamental reevaluation of the meaning of “justice” against a background of colonial and neocolonial violence, postcolonial critique, and enduring inequalities of international power." -- Mark Goodale * Opinio Juris *
“In Affective Justice, Clarke innovatively explores the making of international criminal justice from the standpoint of affects and emotions and, in doing so, offers an unprecedented and indispensable theorization of international criminal justice which—after reading this book—can simply not be ignored any longer.” -- Caroline Fournet * Law & Society Review *
“Through an ethnographic interrogation of the predicament of identifying and reacting to acts of injustice in Africa (at different levels) and the politics of law, Clarke has provided a compelling read…. This book is strongly recommended to technocrats in the ICC itself and to academics and policy makers in Africa and the rest of the world.” -- Tapiwa Victor Warikandwa * Anthropology Southern Africa *
“Affective Justice is a signifi­cant achievement in the anthropology of international law and a welcome addition to human rights and African studies. It should be, and I expect it to be, widely read and debated.” -- Niklas Hultin * Anthropological Quarterly *
“Clarke’s groundbreaking new book comes out in the context of renewed debate about the International Criminal Court (ICC) and prospects for the global anti-impunity movement.... Affective Justice is a must read for those following these events and for anyone interested in international justice more broadly.” -- Casey McNeill * Law, Culture and the Humanities *