Theatre of the rule of law
Subtitle: transnational legal intervention in theory and practice
By: Stephen Humphreys
Series: Cambridge studies in international and comparative law -- 73
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2010
Place of publication: Cambridge; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 295
ISBN-13: 9781107000780
Description: "Theatre of the Rule of Law presents the first sustained critique of global rule of law promotion - an expansive industry at the heart of international development, post-conflict reconstruction and security policy today. While successful in articulating and disseminating an effective global public policy, rule of law promotion has largely failed in its stated objectives of raising countries out of poverty and taming violent conflict. Furthermore, in its execution, this work deviates sharply from 'the rule of law' as commonly conceived. To explain this, Stephen Humphreys draws on the history of the rule of law as a concept, examples of legal export during colonial times, and a spectrum of contemporary interventions by development agencies and international organisations. Rule of law promotion is shown to be a kind of theatre, the staging of a morality tale about the good life, intended for edification and emulation, but blind to its own internal contradictions"--
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note: Introduction; Part I. Parameters: 'Rule of Law' as a Term of Art: 1. Society; 2. Economy; 3. Polity; Interlude. Precursors: colonial legal intervention; Part II. Theatre of the Rule of Law: 4. Market; 5. State; 6. Public; Conclusion.