CLUSTERINTRODUCTION:
GLOBALINJUSTICE,PASTANDFUTURE:EXAMPLESFROMARABUPRISINGS,INTERNATIONALLAW,ANDTORTURE
GILGOTT*
Thefollowingsetofessaysgrewoutofaquestionnotoftenaskedinlegalstudies:howcanwemakesenseoftheinternationalorderintermsofresistanceandracializedformsofdifference?1 Theessaysinthisclusterpointoutthewaysinwhichlawandnormativityconstructthepoliticsandconceptsofarigidlyhierarchicalandimperialorder,whilesimultaneouslychannelingresistance,politicalsubjectivity,andaffect,eventowardformswemightcall"counter-law"or"counternormativity."Thelatter-reconstitutivepolitics-oftenconfrontslawasoppression,evenwhileactivatinglaw's generativepotentialasalocusofpoliticalandmoralcapital. Thisclustercritiquesconstitutedformsofpowerintheinternationalorder,suchastheinternationalsystemof imperial internationallaw (includingits offerof"provisionalsovereignty"tostatesoftheglobalsouth),the"rulesoftheglobaleconomy,"and"globaljustice." Againstthesestructures,the authors pose the possibilities of a Third World-oriented revisioningofinternationallaw-apost-empirepaxArabica,apostcrisispoliticsofdemocraticrectificationandrepair,andacommunitybasedethic(orkoinonia)tocountervailthecoldcomfortofglobaljusticeunderglobalcapitalism.
The LatCrit XVI theme of global justice confronts questionsarisingatthefrontieroflawandpolitics. Moreover,eachofthefour
*AssociateProfessor,DePaulUniversity,International Studies,Ph.D.,J.D.
l.But see generally BALAKRISHNAN RAJAGHOPAL, INTERNATIONAL LAWFROM BELOW: DEVELOPMENT, SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND THIRD WORLDRESISTANCE(2003).
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essaysinthisclusterspeakstocontemporaryprocessesoftransitionthathavebeensetinmotionaroundus. Theseprocessesappearwithabrupteffect(asinthecaseoftheArabrevolts),butalsointheformoflongerterm,creepingchanges,asinthepositioningofhumanrightsas global capitalism's moral cover story, while the great publicminded,middleclass-driveneconomicsystemoftwentiethcenturyAmericaisdismantled. Theessaystraceaspiritofsolidaritythroughvarioustransitioncontexts. Eachauthorthuspresentsastoryofpoliticaldominationthatoccursthroughthemechanismsoflawandempire,andimportantly,asenseofhowinternationalsolidaritymightlookmovingforwardthroughhistoricchangesandchallenges.
Theframingoftheinternational(legal)orderthroughaglobaljusticelensoccursintheseessaysthroughanumberofrelatedmoves.First, globalized"structures of dependency" are spotlighted, withspecialemphasisontheroleofglobalcapital,U.S.hegemony,andtheongoingeffectsandinstitutionsofpastcolonizationsandimperialauthority. Second,thenotionsof"politicalresistanceandsolidarity"aretiedtothesestructuraldynamics. Third;classicconceptsof"politics-becoming-law"-self-determinationandsovereignty-areclarifiedinrelationtothepoliticsofstrugglecalledforthbystructuresofdependency.TheseglobalpowerstructuresareframedgenerallyasaEuro-American-dominated,politicaleconomyofglobalization,rationalizedbytheverycoreconceptsofsovereignty,"globaljustice,"andhumanrights.
JoseMariaMonzon's article,WhereHasTheoryGone?Some
QuestionsAboutGlobal Justice, considers the discourseof globaljustice itself as constitutive of the "capitalist power-buildingprocess."2 Monzonseespresent-day rationalizationsofcapitalism,suchasdemocracy,humanrights,andglobaljustice,asformsthroughwhichneoliberalcapitalism's survivalisdefendedandstrengthened.Monzon's work is a reflection on this particularly culturalistdimensionofcapitalism(andresistancetoit)withhisupdatetotheclassic concept of koinonia. Monzon's goal is to analyze theapparatus of global justice-now integrally bound up with thediscourseofhumanrights-asexpressiveof"thecapitalistmind,"that
2. Jose MariaMonzon, Where Has Theory Gone? Some Questions About
GlobalJustice,42CAL.W.INT'LL.J.293(2012).
is, how global justice relates to "the transnational ruling classideology"asdescribedbyMonzon.
TheproblemMonzonidentifiesishowahierarchicalandcreative
destructivesocialsystem(suchasglobalcapitalism)thatsurvivesacrossages(despitealongrecordofdepredation)managestowintheconsentofthoseitmaydamage? Thisclassictensionattheheartofthe critical social theory of hegemony is resolved as capitalismbecomes"recycled"throughitsinstrumentalizationofsocially-derivedvaluesunderaglobaljusticerubric. Asexamples,MonzoncitesthejudicialreformsinLatinAmericathatareprimarilyresponsivetothenarrowimperativesoftheglobaleconomicsystem. Monzonseestheseandotherexamplesasinstancesofabroaderculturalprojectofcapitalism,toreifyconsumptive,egoisticalindividualismasanaturalstate. Similarly,onamacro-sociologicalscale,Monzonidentifiesadynamic by which national societies become conditionallyincorporated into the global capitalist order. At both levels, acommoncultureestablishesconditionalincorporationintothesystem.Monzonwritesthat"globalization," whichisbothaviolentanda"soft"imperial-colonialregime,"needsacommonculturewhoseelementsareprovidedbycapitalistideals,attitudesandvalues." Arhetoricallycounter-poisedbutsystem-enhancingnotionof"globaljustice"arisesfromthiscontext.
Monzon sees the resulting culture of a capitalist community
(koinonia)tobeatonceAnglo-AmericanandEurocentric,effectivelynullifying local or national cultural communal alternatives as itspreads. Moreover,theThirdWorldstateitselfbecomesinfusedwithsuch capitalist cultural formations,withthe resulting internationalorderfunctioninglikean"informalcommonwealth." Intheend,Monzontriestoenvisionthepoliticsofglobaljusticeundersuchaculturalconstruct. Thedilemmaforcapitalismistoovercomethesociallydestructive"externalities"itcreatesthroughakindofdecadence-fightingculture,withoutjeopardizingthesystemsofexploitation and accumulation that create those destructiveexternalities. ForMonzon,thepossibilitiesfortransformativejusticeandsolidaritylieinapraxis-orienteddemocratizingandredistributiveconception,albeitonethatcapitalismmayfindantitheticaltoitscorepurposes.
AntonyAnghie'sessayentitledLatCritandTWAILdiscussesthe
historicalandstructuralrealitybehindthenormative/legalframework
ofinternationalorderasprovidedbytherelationsofcolonialism(withglobalization understood asakind ofsubgenus).3 Anghie seeks togainleverageonthestructuralviolenceofcolonialismbygraspingthelegal ontologies it generates, such as those of sovereignty, whichtodayobscureandsustaintheinternationalorder's ongoingexclusionsandhierarchy. Anghieseesacommoncommitment betweenTWAILandLatCrittoconstructoppositional knowledge. Heapproaches thesovereignty doctrine in international lawthrough theperspective ofthose it hashistorically excluded anddisempowered. In thisway,Anghieoffersacrucialrestatementofsovereignty:itisprimarilyadoctrineofexclusion,notequalityandempowerment, whichemergedinthecolonialencounterandwasusedtorobnon-European peopleoftheirpoliticalindependence andsubstitute initsplacesubalternlegalstanding.
Anghie's essayalludes tothe waysthesovereignty doctrine hasbuiltintoit"mechanisms ofexclusion" thatdevelop witheverynewencounterwith"others." Hedevelopshiscritiquebylookingattheexclusionsinherentinabstractframingsregardingthefundamentalquestionofinternationallaw'sbindingnessaslaw. Anghiearguesthatthisdiscussionissimplyirrelevant totheexperience ofThirdWorldpeopleswhoseeinternational lawassynonymous withexclusionandsubjugation-alltoonon-abstract realitiesinthecolonialencounter.Mainstream thinkingcannotsquarewiththerealization thatlawdoesnot transcend,but rather grows fromthe colonial encounter.Sovereigntycannotcreateequalitybecauseitperpetuallyreinscribescolonialrelations.
Anghie'salmostsatiricalinvocationanddissectionofthatearlyinternational lawpromoter, Christopher Columbus, should probablyvie for primacy in introductory international law texts with theAustinian"isinternationallawlaw?"debate. Anghierhetoricallyasksaboutwhatlawcouldexistbetweentheincommensurable societiesofthe Columbus-Indigene encounter. In the end, perhaps the criticalproject Anghie envisions as a shared commitment of LatCrit andTWAIL is a kind of programmatic answer to this question, aselaborated through a critical intellectual framework and amethodologyof"looking tothebottom." Anghiecloseswithabriefreflection on the possibility of contestation and reconstruction that
3. AntonyAnghie,LatCritandTWAIL,42CAL.W.INT'L L.J.311(2012).
grows from centering the experiences of those who have beensubjectedtotheinternationalorder'sstructuresandnarrativesofexclusion. Finally,followingKeithAoki,Anghiecallsforunderstandingthelocalandgloballevelsofanalysisofraceandeconomicstructuresatlinked.
Next, Asli Baliand Aziz Rana, informed by Anghie's critical
framework,analyzethemeaningandcontextoftheArabSpringuprisingsandtheinternationalorder'sresponse,intheiressay,PaxArabica?:ProvisionalSovereigntyandInterventionintheArabUprisings.4 Theyshedlightonanunderlyingimperialframeworkwhoselegalrationalizationof"provisionalsovereignty"isimposedupongroupssuchastheArabpublicswhononethelesshaverisenupto assert democratic control over national and regional politicalsystems. BaliandRanashowhowtheU.S.responsetothevariousArabuprisings,whileseeminglyadhoc,followsa"realist" patternthatbothresultsfromandfurtherinscribestheprincipleofperipheral/provisionalsovereignty. Arabpublics,likeothersubordinatedgroupsintheinternationalorder,arenottreatedasfully"sovereign"unlesstheysupportastatethatfunctionstomaintainthedesiredregionalandinternationalorder. Theneedsandapparatusoftheglobalorregionalordertruncatethesegroups' politicalautonomy. LikeAnghie,BaliandRanaseeprovisionalsovereigntyasafundamentalfeatureoftheglobalorderthatprevents"weak"statesfromshapingdomesticdecisions.
BaliandRanaoutlinetheapparentcontradictionsinU.S./Westernapproaches in five of the Arab countries experiencing massuprisings-contradictions"resolved"throughtheindeterminate,moralizing discourse of the pax Americana. Sometimesconsiderationsofsecurityandorderlytransitionmandatecounterrevolutionarynon-intervention,suchasinEgypt,Yemen,andBahrain. Yetatothertimes,arighteouscallismadetounconditionalanddecisiveregimechangethroughforceofarmssuchasinLibyaand Syria. These seemingly contradictory outcomes corresponddirectlytothegeopoliticalmapandpreferencesofpaxAmericanaintheregion. BaliandRanaunderstandthe(non)interventionsnotasisolatedcases,butratheraspartofongoingstatist/clientelistpolitical
oligarchicformations,oftensynonymouswithpaxAmericana. Theseare,ofcourse,preciselytheformationsthatallsuchrevoltsmusteventuallyconfront,whethervalidatedandforcefullysupportedbytheWestornot.
ForBaliandRana,therevolutionaryagendasoftheArabuprisingsraisequestionsofpoliticalsubjectivityformationthataretooseldombroughtintoanalysesofsocialmovements. Theparticulareffectsofregional/transnationalsolidarityformationsareimportantaspectsofhowBaliandRanacometounderstandthesignificanceoftheupnsmgs. Theroleofsocialmediainthevariousuprisings,particularlyinEgypt'sTahrirSquaremovement,hasbeenthesubjectofmuchdiscussionanddebate. ButBaliandRanaturnthediscussiontowardthewayssocialmediahavegenerallyenabledanetworkoftransnationalsolidarityandregionalpoliticalsubjectivitythatisoverlaidbynationalformations. Pan-ArabandotherThirdWorldintemationalismsstandasimportanthistoricalprecedentsforBaliandRana. Inthesamewaysthattheseearlierpoliticalformationsfundamentallychallengedtheinternationalorderbyrejectingthepoliticalimaginaryandstructureofcolonialsovereignty,today'suprisingsframeachallengethatmaynotacquiesceintheindefinitedeferralofrealpoliticalcontractandsovereignty(effectivepoliticalautonomyandcontrolofpoliticsinthehandsofthepublic)throughstate-clientventriloquisms. PaxArabicaisthetransnational,regionally-rooted,popularly-ledpoliticalformationthatmaypromiseamorejustandsecurefutureforpeopleintheregionandbeyond.
Inthefinalessayinthiscluster,TortureinChile(1973-1900):
AnalysisofOneHundredSurvivors'Testimonies,HugoRojas-CorralexplorestheformationofresistantpoliticalsubjectivitythroughanalysisofthepublishedtestimoniesofChileantorturesurvivorsoftheAllendeera.5 Rojas-Corralpainstakinglyanalyzesonehundredtestimonialsofsurvivorsfirstpublishedin2008,andidentifiesthefourmainthemesinthesesurvivors' statementsthathefeelsmosthelptofacilitateunderstandingoftheirstories.
Rojas-Corral'sworkopensanimportantwindowintothebroader
questionsofhowlocalstrugglesforprogressandinclusion,whichmaynecessarilycomeintoconflictwithpowerfulglobalinterestsand
5. Hugo Rojas-Corral, Torture in Chile (1973-1990): Analysis of One
HundredSurvivors'Testimonies,42CAL.W.INT'LL.J.253(2012).
theforcesofpaxAmericana,mayremainrootedtonationalformsofpoliticalsubjectivityandaffect. Thecultureoftortureisapoliticalsubject-killingmachine,hollowingoutthepossibilityofresistance.For example, Judith Butler arguesthat the U.S. military's use oftorture"seekstoexposethestatusofthetorturedasthepermanent,abased,andaberrantoutsidetosubject-formationassuch. Ifthesearesubjectsofsomekind,theyareoutsidethecivilizationaltrajectorythatsecures the human, which gives the defenders of civilization the
'right' to exclude them more violently."6A discernible political
function of torture is to destroy or hollow out the possibilityofresistantpoliticalsubjectformation. Suchradicallydemocraticsubjectivitiesrefusedissolutionintothegrandsubjectoftheimperialstateorgod-likeglobalcapitalandthusmaythreatenconstitutedpowers. The destructionand categorical"erasure" ofsuchsubjectivitiesisanattempttoput theproverbialgeniebackinthebottle:toreversethesocialandpsychologicalconditionsofpossibilityforresistantpoliticalsubject/affect. ThereassertionofsuchsubjectivitythroughthepublictestimoniesRajas-Corralanalyzesisanythingbutaturningbackanddoesnotfunctionlikeahumanrightsreport. Itistheperformanceofthatwhichwastohavebeenpermanentlyerasedfromnationalpoliticallife:thepossibilityofamilitantlyanti-imperial,democratic,politicalsubjectivity.
Rajas-Corral's workbearsonthequestionsofpoliticalresistance
and internationalsolidarity thatI wouldliketo explore brieflyinclosing.Insomesense,thegoalsandnatureofinternationalsolidarityshould be measured inaccordance with the standards of politicalcontract democracy and non-conditional, non-exclusionarysovereigntythataresketchedbythesewriters. Onecentraldimensionof anti-systemic struggle for oppressed groups-many of whomexperiencevariousformsofracializationintheirpoliticalandsocialcontexts-istheformationofakindofresistantidentitythatisoftenboundupwithlocaltradition,evenasitarisesindirectresponsetomacro-level forces. These are political subjectivities or affectivepositions that tend to be decidedly group-based in their politicalontologyandsocialeffects. Ifwerecognizeinsuchadescriptiontherudiments of what we might see as the "modern human rights
subject," thenwe may find the work of international law's humanrights project to be important in solidarity work. But generally,Anghie's question regarding Columbus remains: howdowefashionlawinthecontextofsuchincommensurability? ForColumbus, thatincommensurability wascreated bytheimmediate factsofconquest.Forus,asimilarimpedimenttofindingaplacefor"universal"internationallawinsolidaritywithoppressedgroupsinheresintheincommensurableintereststhatanimateandgrowfromtheongoingdualityofempowerment/disempowermentthatcharacterize attemptsunderglobalizationtorationalize theimperialthroughruleoflawandnormativity.