Global norms and local courts : translating the 'rule of law' in Bangladesh / Tobias Berger.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Berger, Tobias, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Rule of law.

Rule of law--Bangladesh.

Bangladesh.

Physical Description:

x, 196 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Oxford, United Kingdom : Oxford University Press, 2017.

Summary:

What happens to transnational norms when they travel from one place to another? How do norms change when they move; and how do they affect the place where they arrive? This book develops a novel theoretical account of norm translation that is located in-between theories of norm diffusion and norm localization. It demonstrates how such translations do not follow linear trajectories from 'the global' to 'the local', rather, they unfold in a recursive back and forth movement between different actors located in different contexts. As norms are translated, their meaning changes; and only their meaning changes in ways that are intelligible to people within a specific context, the social and political dynamics of this context change as well. This book analyses translations of 'the rule of law', focusing On contemporary donor-driven projects with non-state courts in rural Bangladesh, and shows how in these projects, global norms change local courts-but only if they are translated, often in unexpected ways, from the perspective of international actors. Based on extensive fieldwork, this book reveals how grassroots-level employees of local NGOs significantly alter the meaning of global norms-for example when they translate secular notions of the rule of law into the language of Islam and Islamic law-and thereby enhance participatory spaces for marginalized people. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Introduction: Global Norms and Local Courts 1

1.1 Global Norms and Local Courts 3

1.2 Central Arguments 6

1.3 Doing Translation Research 13

1.4 Outline of the Book 16

Part I

2 Norms in Translations 21

2.1 The Chemistry of Diffusion and the Crooked Ways of Norms 22

2.2 The Notion of Translation 24

2.3 Analysing Translations of the Rule of Law' 33

2.4 Conclusion 46

3 The Village Courts in Bangladesh 48

3.1 Historical Trajectory 49

3.2 Bangladesh's Recent Political History 55

3.3 The Legal Landscape in Contemporary Bangladesh 60

3.4 Conclusion 72

4 Between the State and the Shalish: The Logic of Non-Enforcement 74

4.1 Thick Description: A Shalish in Hathazari 74

4.2 The Logic of Non-Enforcement 80

4.3 Normative Orders: The Languages of Harmony and Islam 85

4.4 Conclusion 90

Part II

5 The Project 'Activating the Village Courts' 95

5.1 The Project Genesis 96

5.2 The Project Design 99

5.3 Translations within the Official Project Narrative 101

5.4 Conclusion 112

6 Translating Institutions 113

6.1 Comparing Areas of Intervention: The Role of Translators 114

6.2 Thick Description: The Village Court-Turned-Shalish 118

6.3 Resistance of the Chairmen 122

6.4 Conclusion 129

7 Translating Practices and Normative Orders 130

7.1 Documenting the Village Courts and the Symbolic Power of Paperwork 131

7.2 Translations of Normative Orders 140

7.3 Who Has the Right to Speak for Islam? 147

7.4 Conclusion 150

8 Conclusion: All That's Lost in Retranslation 152

8.1 Translating Institutions, Practices, and Normative Orders 153

8.2 All That's Lost in Retranslation 158

8.3 Translations beyond 'the Rule of Law' and Bangladesh 163.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780198807865

0198807864

OCLC:

982093060