The Prevention of Torture: An Ecological Approach

376 Pages·2018·2.55 MB·English

by  Danielle Celermajer

the prevention of torture
Thereisanurgentneedtoanalyzeandassesshowwepreventtortureagainstthe
background of a rigorous analysis of the factors that condition and sustain it.
Drawing on rich empirical material from Sri Lanka and Nepal, The Prevention
ofTorture:AnEcologicalApproachinterrogatestheworldsthatproducetorture,in
order to propose how to bring about systemic institutional and cultural change.
Critics have decried human rights approaches’ failure to attend to structural
factors, but this book seeks to go beyond a “stance of criticism” to take up the
positiveprojectofreimagininghumanrightstheoryandpractice.Itdiscusseskey
debates in human rights and political theory, as well as the challenges that
advocates face in translating situational analyses into real-world interventions.
Danielle Celermajer develops a new, ecological framework for mapping the
worlds that produce torture, thereby laying the foundations for developing
effectiveandsustainablepreventionstrategies.
DanielleCelermajerisProfessorofSociologyandSocialPolicyattheUniversity
ofSydney.ShereceivedagrantfromtheEuropeanUniontoestablishaMastersof
HumanRightsandDemocratizationintheAsiaPacificandanEUgranttolead
amultidisciplinaryprojectonthepreventionoftorture.HerbooksincludeSinsof
theNationandtheRitualofApology(CambridgeUniversityPress,2009),Power,
JudgmentandPoliticalEvil:HannahArendt’sPromise(2010)withAndrewSchaap
and Vrasidas Karalis, and A Cultural History of Law in the Modern Age
(forthcoming)withRichardSherwin.

The Prevention of Torture
an ecological approach
DANIELLE CELERMAJER
UniversityofSydney
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www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781108470452
doi:10.1017/9781108556583
©DanielleCelermajer2018
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Firstpublished2018
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names:Celermajer,Danielle,author.
title:Thepreventionoftorture:anecologicalapproach/DanielleCelermajer.
description:Cambridge,UnitedKingdom;NewYork,ny:CambridgeUniversity
Press,2018.|Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
identifiers:lccn2018011059|isbn9781108470452(hardback:alk.paper)
subjects:lcsh:Torture–Prevention–SriLanka.|Torture–Prevention–Nepal.|
Humanrights–SriLanka.|Humanrights–Nepal.|mesh:Torture|HumanRights
Abuses–prevention&control|HumanRights|SocialEnvironment|Models,
Theoretical|Nepal|SriLanka
classification:lcchv8599.n35c452018|ddc364.6/75–dc23
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ForNiushaandKryshaandthegirlswhodidnotcomeout

Contents
Acknowledgments pageix
ListofAbbreviations xii
Introduction 1
Vignette1 27
1 ThePrincipalApproachestoPreventingTorture 30
Vignette2 67
2 HowEffectiveHasTorturePreventionBeen? 69
Vignette3 99
3 TheSituationalConditionsofInstitutionalViolence 101
Vignette4 143
4 TheProductionofWorldsofTorture 145
Vignette5 186
5 Agents,Structures,andtheSocialImaginaryofHumanRights 188
Vignette6 231
6 TakingSituationalTheorytotheField 233
vii
viii Contents
Vignette7 278
7 ThePromisesandHazardsofPractice 280
Vignette8 308
Conclusion 309
References 330
Index 351