ANTH330 Justice and Development Unit Guide, Semester 1, 2012 ANTH330 Unit Guide 2012 1 ANTH330 Unit Guide 2012 2 General information Unit convenor Dr Jaap Timmer Email: [email protected] Phone: 02 9850 8077 or 8121 Office: Building W6A, Level 6, Room 603 Consultation hour: Thursdays 13:30 – 14:30 (during semester), and by appointment General inquiries Payel Ray Email: [email protected] Phone: 02 9850 8077 Office: Building W6A, Level 6, Room 615 Students in this unit should read this Unit Guide carefully. Although the unit convenor reserves the right to make minor alterations during the course of the semester, most essential information for this unit is in this guide. Please contact the convenor if you have any questions. ANTH330 Unit Guide 2012 3 Academic Contents In Kafka’s parable “Before the Law” we see, quite famously, that the story’s protagonist (known only as “the man from the country”) is forced to wait before the gate of law for his whole life. The gatekeeper, whose only purpose seems to be to bar the man’s way, keeps him sitting on a stool just before the gate. As the man is dying from old age, he has this well- known exchange with the gatekeeper: “Everyone strives to attain the Law,” answers the man, “how does it come about, then, that in all these years no one has come seeking admittance but me?” The doorkeeper . bellows in his ear: “No one but you could gain admittance through this door, since this door was intended only for you. I am now going to shut it.” We see here a famous parable that epitomizes our relationship to the law and thereby to politics more generally. Although Kafka does not mention justice here, it seems to underlie the concept of law described here. Justice is what is promised by law; its possibility is what keeps us obedient, patient, and hopeful. In the face of the law, the man from the country spends his life (just as we in turn spend our lives) waiting for a justice that never arrives. He is rendered an obedient subject, subordinate to and reflective of an absolute, sovereign authority in whose name he continues to wait. Yet, while it never arrives, the idea of justice does not seem to leave the practice of law itself unaffected. Indeed, the law can itself be said to be a product of our expectation for justice. Although the man from the country never gets “access” to law in its perfect and fullest sense (a law infused with justice, we could call this Law, with a capital L), it permeates and regulates his life nonetheless. The gatekeeper is effectively a lawmaker to the man from the country; he does not allow him entry, and he exercises authority over him, even as the basis of his power lies in what happens beyond the gate. It is his own (purported) access to and relationship with Law that makes the gatekeeper a figure to be reckoned with. The respect and deference that the man from the country displays to him are due to this imagined connection. As is his wont, Kafka’s parable about the law describes the way that we experience and understand law and justice even as it also playfully subverts our expectations. Insofar as the parable demonstrates both the immanence of Law and its nonarrival, it suggests that the nature of waiting in this case may not be what we think it is. Kafka’s parable invites us to think about what the law (in its ordinary “small l” sense) is when it is not connected to the Law, when it is experienced only in its banal ordinariness, its day-to-day mediocrity. What if, Kafka seems to be asking us, there were nothing behind that gate? Or perhaps more accurately, what if we knew that we were never going to get through it (something the man from the country finds out only at the very end of his life, when it is too late)? Would that change our relationship to law and to our idea of justice? Would it alter the quality of our political obedience? From: Martel, James 2011. “Waiting for Justice: Benjamin and Derrida on Sovereignty and Immanence.” Republics of Letters: A Journal for the Study of Knowledge, Politics, and the Arts 2(2): 158-172. ANTH330 Unit Guide 2012 4 Development, law reform and access to justice are emerging and connected issues throughout the developing world. Many so-called developed countries too have in the last decade decided to remake their constitutions, partly as a condition of their entry into supra- national 'blocs' like the European Union. Underlying both these developments is a bourgeoning tradition of legal reform that aims to facilitate development and modernization on the assumption that prosperity and justice follow judicially affirmed rights. But there is surprisingly little evidence that legal reform is effective in furthering development. In this unit we survey the theoretical literature concerning the relationship between law and development. We will see that anthropology offers valuable insights into the circumstances and conditions in which people evaluate justice and development. And a novel perspective will be offered by exploring different theories of justice and investigating their presumptions about what it is to be human. This unit targets students interested in development, the anthropology of the state, legal anthropology, legal pluralism, legal reform, and access to justice. It brings to life the ways in which the institutions and interactions of human society shape regulations and laws. It also invites students to learn more about development efforts that promote legal reform and advocate the rule of law while recognizing the need to work with non-state justice systems. Topics of study include • The idea of justice • Good governance and development • Legal pluralism • Non-state and customary justice systems • The anthropology of the state • Constitutionalism • Citizenship Unit Outcomes 1. analyse and discuss anthropological and other scholarly literature on the subjects of justice, law, development, legal anthropology, and the anthropology of the state. 2. analyse and discuss claims about justice and development made in the media and from other public sources 3. gather, arrange and analyse media sources on a particular topic or topics in a portfolio format 4. participate in discussions making use of anthropological writing and theories ANTH330 Unit Guide 2012 5 Graduate Capabilities 1. Discipline Specific Knowledge and Skills Our graduates will take with them the intellectual development, depth and breadth of knowledge, scholarly understanding, and specific subject content in their chosen fields to make them competent and confident in their subject or profession. They will be able to demonstrate, where relevant, professional technical competence and meet professional standards. They will be able to articulate the structure of knowledge of their discipline, be able to adapt discipline-specific knowledge to novel situations, and be able to contribute from their discipline to inter-disciplinary solutions to problems. 2. Critical, Analytical and Integrative Thinking We want our graduates to be capable of reasoning, questioning and analysing, and to integrate and synthesise learning and knowledge from a range of sources and environments; to be able to critique constraints, assumptions and limitations; to be able to think independently and systemically in relation to scholarly activity, in the workplace, and in the world. We want them to have a level of scientific and information technology literacy. 3. Problem Solving and Research Capability Our graduates should be capable of researching; of analysing, and interpreting and assessing data and information in various forms; of drawing connections across fields of knowledge; and they should be able to relate their knowledge to complex situations at work or in the world, in order to diagnose and solve problems. We want them to have the confidence to take the initiative in doing so, within an awareness of their own limitations. 4. Creative and Innovative Our graduates will also be capable of creative thinking and of creating knowledge. They will be imaginative and open to experience and capable of innovation at work and in the community. We want them to be engaged in applying their critical, creative thinking. 5. Effective Communication We want to develop in our students the ability to communicate and convey their views in forms effective with different audiences. We want our graduates to take with them the capability to read, listen, question, gather and evaluate information resources in a variety of formats, assess, write clearly, speak effectively, and to use visual communication and communication technologies as appropriate. 6. Engaged and Ethical Local and Global citizens As local citizens our graduates will be aware of indigenous perspectives and of the nation’s historical context. They will be engaged with the challenges of contemporary society and with knowledge and ideas. We want our graduates to have respect for diversity, to be open- minded, sensitive to others and inclusive, and to be open to other cultures and perspectives: ANTH330 Unit Guide 2012 6 they should have a level of cultural literacy. Our graduates should be aware of disadvantage and social justice, and be willing to participate to help create a wiser and better society. 7. Socially and Environmentally Active and Responsible We want our graduates to be aware of and have respect for self and others; to be able to work with others as a leader and a team player; to have a sense of connectedness with others and country; and to have a sense of mutual obligation. Our graduates should be informed and active participants in moving society towards sustainability. 8. Capable of Professional and Personal Judgement and Initiative We want our graduates to have emotional intelligence and sound interpersonal skills and to demonstrate discernment and common sense in their professional and personal judgement.