The Politics of Gender Justice at the International Criminal Court: Legacies and Legitimacy

by Louise Chappell

Overview

In 1998, the Rome Statute to the International Criminal Court (ICC) emerged as a groundbreaking treaty both due to its codification of international criminal law and its recognition of the crimes committed against women in times of war and conflict. The ICC criminalized acts of rape, sexual slavery, and enforced pregnancy, amongst others, to provide the most advanced articulation ever of gender based violence under international law. However, thus far no scholarly book has analyzed whether or not the implementation of the ICC has been successful. The Politics of Gender Justice at the International Criminal Court fills this intellectual gap, specifically examining the gender justice design features of the Rome Statute (the foundation of the ICC), and assessing the effectiveness of the statute's implementation in the first decade of the court's operation. Louise Chappell argues that although the ICC has provided mixed outcomes for gender justice, there have also been a number of important breakthroughs, particularly in regards to support for female judges. Meticulous and comprehensive, this book refines the notion of gender justice principles and adds a valuable, but as yet unrecognized, gender dimension to the burgeoning historical institutionalist approach to international relations. Chappell links feminist international relations literature with feminist institutionalism literature for the first time, thereby strengthening and adding to both fields. Ultimately, Chappell's analysis is an essential step towards attaining a greater degree of gender equality in the context of international law. The definitive volume on gender and the ICC, The Politics of Gender Justice at the International Criminal Court is a valuable resource for students and scholars of international relations, international law, and human rights.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780190493981
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	12/01/2015
Series:	Oxford Studies in Gender and International Relations
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Louise Chappell is Professor in Social Sciences and International Studies at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia and the author of The Politics of Human Rights in Australia (with John Chesterman and Lisa Hill, Cambridge University Press, 2009) and Gendering Government: Women's Engagement with the State in Australia and Canada (University of British Columbia Press, 2002)

Table of Contents

Abbreviations Figures and Tables Preface and Acknowledgements Chapter 1: The Politics of Gender Justice at the International Court Chapter 2: The International Criminal Court in Time and Space Chapter 3: Representing Gender Justice at the International Criminal Court Chapter 4: Recognising Gender Justice at the International Criminal Court Chapter 5: Redistributing Gender Justice at the International Criminal Court Chapter 6: Complementing Gender Justice through the International Criminal Court Chapter 7: Legacies and Legitimacy of International Gender Justice Bibliography

Editorial Reviews

"I recommend this book highly to anybody interested in the critical analysis of international law and institutions. It is well written, bundles a lot of evidence, and structures it through a thoughtful framework. It makes feminist sense of the ICC. Without doubt, it will soon become a classic of ICC research."
- Politics & Gender

"Louise Chappell has penned a significant book. Far removed from a recitation of expanded sexual violence provisions within the Rome Statute, or a reiteration of the constricted definition of gender, Chappell sharply defies how to tally whether the International Criminal Court has delivered upon a gender justice mandate that is inextricable from its very institutional legitimacy."
- Blog of the European Journal of International Law

"This is a grounded and highly innovative assessment of the experiences of women under the consolidating regime of international criminal law. Combining qualitative, quantitative and theoretical insights, this book provides us with a state of the art analysis that is essential reading for all those interested in the future of gender justice under international law."
-Fionnuala Ni Aoláin, Robina Chair in Law, Public Policy, and Society, University of Minnesota Law School

"This pioneering book offers a riveting account of the struggles of the ICC - and gender justice actors in and around the Court - to put its innovative gender mandate into action. It provides a clear-sighted and unflinching appraisal that is empirically rich, politically astute, and theoretically sophisticated. Chappell does not shirk from trenchant critique of the Court's faltering progress and indifferent record to date but she does so with nuance and a deep understanding of the wider context. The book exposes a complex of institutional, cultural and political obstacles that stand in the way of gender justice, but also the small wins, green shoots and future opportunities for positive change. The Politics of Gender Justice at the International Criminal Court will quickly become the benchmark for feminist scholarship not only on the ICC but also on gendered institutions of global governance more widely."
-Fiona Mackay, Professor of Politics, University of Edinburgh

"With theoretical breadth, penetrating analysis, and empirical richness, Louise Chappell explains the breakthroughs and roadblocks of the ICC's groundbreaking ventures into gender justice. For understanding, predicting, implementing and advocating the Court's gender justice trajectory, this book will stand as the foundational resource for scholars, practitioners, and activists alike."
-Benjamin N. Schiff, Professor of Politics, Oberlin College

"Louise Chappell has conducted a superb examination of the state of gender justice at the International Criminal Court (ICC). This significant and thoroughly-researched work provides a groundbreaking account of the promise created with the adoption of the Rome Statute, which was drafted to undo centuries of gender inequality in international criminal and humanitarian law. She carefully tracks the ways in which that promise has - and has not - been realized in the practice of the ICC. This book skillfully bridges the sometimes separate worlds of gender researchers and those interested in international criminal justice, and is easily accessible to scholars and practitioners alike."
-Valerie Oosterveld, Associate Professor and Associate Dean, University of Western Ontario Law School

From the Publisher