Affective Justice.

Anthropologist Kamari Maxine Clarke (UCLA) writes that this study works toward "an anthropology of international justice." It focuses on how justice is embedded in a web of layered emotional meanings. Rather than seeking to explain directly why so many of the cases taken up by the International Criminal Court (ICC) are aimed at African perpetrators or why African leaders have pushed back, the author seeks to describe a "practice theory" of affective justice, which she describes as "people's ... production of justice through particular structures of power, history, and contingencies" (p. 3). Clarke contends that the practices of affective justice "are invisible and may only become evident long after tensions are documented." But observers have noticed for some time that the ICC has singled out Africa more than any other region. It is not clear to this reviewer why an anthropological theory centered on emotion is necessary to notice or explain this fact. Case studies of the #BringBackOurGirls campaign, the 2013 Kenyan presidential election, and the creation of an African Criminal Court stray from this promising starting point. And the extensive use of anthropological jargon makes for a dense and difficult read. Summing Up: Optional. Graduate students, researchers, faculty. --Scott Waalkes, Malone University