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The courtroom as an affective arrangement

Analysing atmospheres in courtroom ethnography

Bibliographic Data

ID14799677
AuthorsJonas Bens (0000-0003-3485-0436, Freie Universität Berlin, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume50
Issue3
Pages336-355
Publication date2018-09-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0732-9113 • E-ISSN: 2305-9931
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/07329113.2018.1550313
OpenAlexW2910825726
LanguageEN
Citations received30
References cited103

This article proposes a methodological approach to courtroom ethnography by developing the idea of the courtroom as an affective arrangement. In the courtroom, humans and their linguistic utterances, but also material objects and infrastructures, visuals, voices, and sounds are relationally entangled. This is the analytical entry point for ethnographically describing the atmosphere of a court proceeding without reducing atmosphere either to the result of courtroom talk or to the emotional experiences of the participants. For a thick ethnographic description of courtroom atmospheres, the ethnographer should point out how all kinds of different bodies perform in the theatre of power that is a court proceeding

Aesthetics · Art · Atmosphere (unit · Ethnography · Meteorology · Physics · Point (geometry · Political science · Power (physics · Sociology · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Anthropology · Geographies of human-animal interactions · Law · Law in Society and Culture

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Unique citing works30
Citations per year5
Citation span2020 - 2026 (7)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 30
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