Rachel Wahl

Just Violence

Torture and Human Rights in the Eyes of the Police

• Gebundenes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

This book examines the beliefs of law enforcement officers who support the use of torture and the implications of these beliefs for officers' responses to human rights activism and education.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Stanford University Press
• Seitenzahl: 264
• Erscheinungstermin: 25. Januar 2017
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 231mm x 152mm x 20mm
• Gewicht: 481g
• ISBN-13: 9780804794718
• ISBN-10: 0804794715
• Artikelnr.: 45001315

Autorenporträt

Rachel Wahl is Assistant Professor in the Department of Leadership, Foundations, and Policy at the University of Virginia.

Inhaltsangabe

Contents and Abstracts
Introduction: Human Rights from the Other Side
chapter abstract
The chapter opens by showing that police officers and human rights
activists have different ideas not only about what is right, but also about
what is true, and that these gaps create problems for research on human
rights as well as for their actual protection. The chapter also outlines
the case, fieldwork, and theories on which the book is based. Key concepts
such as Charles Taylor's notion of social imaginaries are introduced, as
well as how these ideas help illuminate the way police understand violence
and respond to human rights messages. The chapter concludes with the book's
arguments regarding officers' moral beliefs, the relationship of their
beliefs to their working environment, and the implications of these beliefs
for human rights activism and education.
1Human Rights Education and State Violence
chapter abstract
This chapter reviews research on human rights education as well as studies
of state-sanctioned violence and torture in particular. The views of human
rights educators in India as well as the setting in which they work are
discussed. The chapter also examines the nature of state violence in the
country and the political and legal contexts in which the police operate.
Finally it considers the book's applicability to contexts beyond India.
2Police Beliefs and the Moral Imaginary of Violence
chapter abstract
If police upheld their conceptions of justice, they would still violate
human rights. This chapter reveals why. Rejecting the ideal of universal
equality, these police officers believe that there are different types of
people deserving different types of treatment. Their aim is not to protect
people from harm, therefore, but to harm the right people for the right
reasons. For these police, the human rights principle of protecting all
people's rights equally undermines justice. This perception challenges
human rights educators and activists, who hope to change officers' behavior
with education or an appeal to their consciences.
3Justice in Context
chapter abstract
In practice, police fail to uphold justice as even they conceive it. This
chapter explains how they understand this failure. Police view political
corruption, judicial inefficiency, and insufficient resources as problems
requiring a far broader application of violence than even they believe is
good. Attempting to solve systemic problems from within the system, the
officers often act in ways that exacerbate the violence. This chapter
displays the power that interpretation exerts in influencing police
behavior and the challenge it presents for activists attempting to garner
the acceptance of new norms.
4Police Respond to Human Rights Education
chapter abstract
In spite of officers' objections to the human rights framework, they do not
reject its language and logic. Instead, they use the language of rights to
articulate their own conceptions of justice and even to defend torture.
This chapter describes the microdynamics of resistance to international
human rights norms, revealing how local and state officials redefine what
it means to respect human rights. This redefinition allows police to
endorse "rights" as well as torture since in their view these principles
are not mutually exclusive. This stance makes it more difficult for
activists to shame officers for their violations.
5Complications of the Local: Violence, Religion, and Culture
chapter abstract
Indian police see human rights as acknowledged and upheld within their
local religious and cultural traditions. However, their identity as police
sets them apart from local culture and leads them to endorse violence
despite the conflict with both international and local norms. This chapter
reveals how police negotiate competing moral imaginaries that operate at
the local level, and how they ultimately reconcile violence with their
moral identities.
6Complications of the Global: Competing International Norms
chapter abstract
Local conceptions of policing and justice are not the only precepts that
compete with the human rights framework. This chapter probes the normative
competition between international discourses, and shows how police draw
from other global norms to deflect the criticism of human rights activists
and educators. Police reference the well-publicized violence committed by
strong Western countries such as the United States to challenge global
rights norms and to defend their own violence.
7Police Respond to Human Rights Activists
chapter abstract
Despite acquiring the language of human rights, police strongly reject the
activists and educators who promote these norms. This chapter shows how
police undermine human rights workers' legitimacy. Moreover, the chapter
reveals why activism and education can undermine each other, and discusses
the paradox this presents for human rights work.
Conclusion: Dilemmas and Possibilities
chapter abstract
The Conclusion addresses the ethical quandaries raised by the foregoing
arguments. Human rights workers face multiple tensions. To what degree do
they recognize the systemic causes of torture and to what degree do they
hold individual perpetrators accountable? Will perpetrators respond better
to education or to coercion through legal action? These tensions reflect a
larger one between the aspirational ethics of the human rights movement and
the tools of a justice system that leaves little room for the kind of
relational work that might provide the best means to stop torture. The book
concludes by suggesting a possible way forward in this terrain of complex
and imperfect choices.