The silent wars of the ordinary

Bitter neighborliness and the judiciary in Haiti

Bibliographic Data

ID14799986
AuthorsM Motta (0000-0001-6892-1920, University of Bern, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume52
Issue2
Pages111-133
Publication date2020-05-03
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)
DOI10.1080/07329113.2020.1755537
OpenAlexW3018272080
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited44

The general concern of this paper revolves around the interplay between state and unofficial law in rural Haiti. By looking at the complex relation between legal and extrajudicial means of managing the consequences of a homicide, I examine the dynamics of imposition, appropriation, and resistance to state law in a postcolonial context. Yet, my concern is less with the devastating manifestation of overt violence than with the quotidian struggles people have to deal with, which I call “the silent wars of the ordinary.” Through a close description of the case at hand, I aim to draw a different picture of what commonly counts as law, as well as the ways in which people relate to the judiciary. My ambition is to allow for another understanding of the making of ordinary legality by demonstrating how the silent wars of the ordinary are intrinsically constitutive of such making

Appropriation · Context (archaeology · Criminology · Epistemology · Homicide · Poison control · Political science · Principle of legality · Resistance (ecology · Sociology · State (computer science · Suicide prevention · Caribbean and African Literature and Culture · Colonialism, slavery, and trade · History · Law · Philosophy · Sex work and related issues

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