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Working against the tendency to conflate the analytic categories “rule of law,” and “law and order,” Nick Cheesman's Opposing the Rule of Law: How Myanmar's Courts Make Law and Order (Cambridge University Press, 2015) makes a significant two-fold contribution, one as “the first serious attempt for half a century to situate Myanmar's courts in its politics;” and the other, that rather than reproduce the binaried, linear thinking inherent to terms like “rule by law,” Cheesman exposes and repairs a significant conceptual weakness in rule of law scholarship through the analytic lens of law and order. Martin Krygier writes, “Opposing the Rule of Law combines three elements rarely seen in one place: fine-grained, indeed masterly, unravelling of Myanmar criminal laws social and political history, character and significance; an original and sophisticated account of the rule of law and its enemies in Myanmar, generally, and in principle; and uncommonly fine prose. It is a tour de force, instructive–indeed illuminating–and a pleasure to read.” Eve Darian-Smith highlights the study's rich empirical research and assesses the book as “an extraordinary achievement.” Engaging with Opposing the Rule of Law'scareful and nuanced analysis reveals that this praise, from leading scholars of rule of law, social theory, legal anthropology, and socio-legal studies, is well deserved. Jothie Rajah is Research Professor at the American Bar Foundation, Chicago. She writes on rule of law discourses and can be reached at jrajah@abfn.org.
Working against the tendency to conflate the analytic categories “rule of law,” and “law and order,” Nick Cheesman’s Opposing the Rule of Law: How Myanmar’s Courts Make Law and Order (Cambridge University Press, 2015) makes a significant two-fold contribution, one as “the first serious attempt for half a century to situate Myanmar’s courts in its politics;” and the other, that rather than reproduce the binaried, linear thinking inherent to terms like “rule by law,” Cheesman exposes and repairs a significant conceptual weakness in rule of law scholarship through the analytic lens of law and order. Martin Krygier writes, “Opposing the Rule of Law combines three elements rarely seen in one place: fine-grained, indeed masterly, unravelling of Myanmar criminal laws social and political history, character and significance; an original and sophisticated account of the rule of law and its enemies in Myanmar, generally, and in principle; and uncommonly fine prose. It is a tour de force, instructive–indeed illuminating–and a pleasure to read.” Eve Darian-Smith highlights the study’s rich empirical research and assesses the book as “an extraordinary achievement.” Engaging with Opposing the Rule of Law’scareful and nuanced analysis reveals that this praise, from leading scholars of rule of law, social theory, legal anthropology, and socio-legal studies, is well deserved. Jothie Rajah is Research Professor at the American Bar Foundation, Chicago. She writes on rule of law discourses and can be reached at jrajah@abfn.org. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Working against the tendency to conflate the analytic categories “rule of law,” and “law and order,” Nick Cheesman’s Opposing the Rule of Law: How Myanmar’s Courts Make Law and Order (Cambridge University Press, 2015) makes a significant two-fold contribution, one as “the first serious attempt for half a century to situate Myanmar’s courts in its politics;” and the other, that rather than reproduce the binaried, linear thinking inherent to terms like “rule by law,” Cheesman exposes and repairs a significant conceptual weakness in rule of law scholarship through the analytic lens of law and order. Martin Krygier writes, “Opposing the Rule of Law combines three elements rarely seen in one place: fine-grained, indeed masterly, unravelling of Myanmar criminal laws social and political history, character and significance; an original and sophisticated account of the rule of law and its enemies in Myanmar, generally, and in principle; and uncommonly fine prose. It is a tour de force, instructive–indeed illuminating–and a pleasure to read.” Eve Darian-Smith highlights the study’s rich empirical research and assesses the book as “an extraordinary achievement.” Engaging with Opposing the Rule of Law’scareful and nuanced analysis reveals that this praise, from leading scholars of rule of law, social theory, legal anthropology, and socio-legal studies, is well deserved. Jothie Rajah is Research Professor at the American Bar Foundation, Chicago. She writes on rule of law discourses and can be reached at jrajah@abfn.org. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Working against the tendency to conflate the analytic categories “rule of law,” and “law and order,” Nick Cheesman’s Opposing the Rule of Law: How Myanmar’s Courts Make Law and Order (Cambridge University Press, 2015) makes a significant two-fold contribution, one as “the first serious attempt for half a century to situate Myanmar’s courts in its politics;” and the other, that rather than reproduce the binaried, linear thinking inherent to terms like “rule by law,” Cheesman exposes and repairs a significant conceptual weakness in rule of law scholarship through the analytic lens of law and order. Martin Krygier writes, “Opposing the Rule of Law combines three elements rarely seen in one place: fine-grained, indeed masterly, unravelling of Myanmar criminal laws social and political history, character and significance; an original and sophisticated account of the rule of law and its enemies in Myanmar, generally, and in principle; and uncommonly fine prose. It is a tour de force, instructive–indeed illuminating–and a pleasure to read.” Eve Darian-Smith highlights the study’s rich empirical research and assesses the book as “an extraordinary achievement.” Engaging with Opposing the Rule of Law’scareful and nuanced analysis reveals that this praise, from leading scholars of rule of law, social theory, legal anthropology, and socio-legal studies, is well deserved. Jothie Rajah is Research Professor at the American Bar Foundation, Chicago. She writes on rule of law discourses and can be reached at jrajah@abfn.org. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Working against the tendency to conflate the analytic categories “rule of law,” and “law and order,” Nick Cheesman’s Opposing the Rule of Law: How Myanmar’s Courts Make Law and Order (Cambridge University Press, 2015) makes a significant two-fold contribution, one as “the first serious attempt for half a century to situate Myanmar’s courts in its politics;” and the other, that rather than reproduce the binaried, linear thinking inherent to terms like “rule by law,” Cheesman exposes and repairs a significant conceptual weakness in rule of law scholarship through the analytic lens of law and order. Martin Krygier writes, “Opposing the Rule of Law combines three elements rarely seen in one place: fine-grained, indeed masterly, unravelling of Myanmar criminal laws social and political history, character and significance; an original and sophisticated account of the rule of law and its enemies in Myanmar, generally, and in principle; and uncommonly fine prose. It is a tour de force, instructive–indeed illuminating–and a pleasure to read.” Eve Darian-Smith highlights the study’s rich empirical research and assesses the book as “an extraordinary achievement.” Engaging with Opposing the Rule of Law’scareful and nuanced analysis reveals that this praise, from leading scholars of rule of law, social theory, legal anthropology, and socio-legal studies, is well deserved. Jothie Rajah is Research Professor at the American Bar Foundation, Chicago. She writes on rule of law discourses and can be reached at jrajah@abfn.org. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In Authoritarian Rule of Law: Legislation, Discourse and Legitimacy in Singapore (Cambridge University Press, 2012), Jothie Rajah tells a compelling story of the rule of law as discourse and praxis serving illiberal ends. Through a series of case studies on legislation criminalizing vandalism and regulating the print media, legal profession, and religion in Singapore, Rajah raises critical questions about the meaning and place of law in a postcolony that celebrates colonialism as a cause of its modernity, prosperity and plurality. Terrence Halliday describes Rajah's work as “theoretically innovative, empirically compelling, and gracefully written”, adding that it “has far-reaching consequences for national leaders who seek ‘third ways' in which economic development is partitioned from political liberalism”. As Halliday suggests, the contents of Authoritarian Rule of Law transcend the confines of the small city-state with which it is primarily concerned, and go to global debates about legislation, discourse and legitimacy, as well as to the inherent tensions in the rule-of-law ideal itself.
In Authoritarian Rule of Law: Legislation, Discourse and Legitimacy in Singapore (Cambridge University Press, 2012), Jothie Rajah tells a compelling story of the rule of law as discourse and praxis serving illiberal ends. Through a series of case studies on legislation criminalizing vandalism and regulating the print media, legal profession, and religion in Singapore, Rajah raises critical questions about the meaning and place of law in a postcolony that celebrates colonialism as a cause of its modernity, prosperity and plurality. Terrence Halliday describes Rajah’s work as “theoretically innovative, empirically compelling, and gracefully written”, adding that it “has far-reaching consequences for national leaders who seek ‘third ways’ in which economic development is partitioned from political liberalism”. As Halliday suggests, the contents of Authoritarian Rule of Law transcend the confines of the small city-state with which it is primarily concerned, and go to global debates about legislation, discourse and legitimacy, as well as to the inherent tensions in the rule-of-law ideal itself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In Authoritarian Rule of Law: Legislation, Discourse and Legitimacy in Singapore (Cambridge University Press, 2012), Jothie Rajah tells a compelling story of the rule of law as discourse and praxis serving illiberal ends. Through a series of case studies on legislation criminalizing vandalism and regulating the print media, legal profession, and religion in Singapore, Rajah raises critical questions about the meaning and place of law in a postcolony that celebrates colonialism as a cause of its modernity, prosperity and plurality. Terrence Halliday describes Rajah’s work as “theoretically innovative, empirically compelling, and gracefully written”, adding that it “has far-reaching consequences for national leaders who seek ‘third ways’ in which economic development is partitioned from political liberalism”. As Halliday suggests, the contents of Authoritarian Rule of Law transcend the confines of the small city-state with which it is primarily concerned, and go to global debates about legislation, discourse and legitimacy, as well as to the inherent tensions in the rule-of-law ideal itself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In Authoritarian Rule of Law: Legislation, Discourse and Legitimacy in Singapore (Cambridge University Press, 2012), Jothie Rajah tells a compelling story of the rule of law as discourse and praxis serving illiberal ends. Through a series of case studies on legislation criminalizing vandalism and regulating the print media, legal profession, and religion in Singapore, Rajah raises critical questions about the meaning and place of law in a postcolony that celebrates colonialism as a cause of its modernity, prosperity and plurality. Terrence Halliday describes Rajah’s work as “theoretically innovative, empirically compelling, and gracefully written”, adding that it “has far-reaching consequences for national leaders who seek ‘third ways’ in which economic development is partitioned from political liberalism”. As Halliday suggests, the contents of Authoritarian Rule of Law transcend the confines of the small city-state with which it is primarily concerned, and go to global debates about legislation, discourse and legitimacy, as well as to the inherent tensions in the rule-of-law ideal itself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In Authoritarian Rule of Law: Legislation, Discourse and Legitimacy in Singapore (Cambridge University Press, 2012), Jothie Rajah tells a compelling story of the rule of law as discourse and praxis serving illiberal ends. Through a series of case studies on legislation criminalizing vandalism and regulating the print media, legal profession, and religion in Singapore, Rajah raises critical questions about the meaning and place of law in a postcolony that celebrates colonialism as a cause of its modernity, prosperity and plurality. Terrence Halliday describes Rajah’s work as “theoretically innovative, empirically compelling, and gracefully written”, adding that it “has far-reaching consequences for national leaders who seek ‘third ways’ in which economic development is partitioned from political liberalism”. As Halliday suggests, the contents of Authoritarian Rule of Law transcend the confines of the small city-state with which it is primarily concerned, and go to global debates about legislation, discourse and legitimacy, as well as to the inherent tensions in the rule-of-law ideal itself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices