Author Archives: Emma Larking

About Emma Larking

Emma Larking is a visiting fellow at the School of Regulation and Global Governance (RegNet), Australian National University. She is author of Refugees and the Myth of Human Rights: Life outside the Pale of the Law (Ashgate/Routledge, 2014) and coeditor (with Hilary Charlesworth) of Human Rights and the Universal Periodic Review (Cambridge University Press, 2014). Her current research considers the capacity of human rights to redress material inequality. She is also interested in political mobilizations for social justice, with a focus on antipoverty campaigns and the global food sovereignty movement.

Introduction to Dossier on Human Rights Rituals

Abstract: In this special issue, four essays draw on distinct traditions in law, literary studies, history, and anthropology to explore international human rights law through a lens rarely used in this domain—that of ritual. This introductory essay explains the significance of collective rituals as socially structuring events that embody power relations. It considers the role of ritual in instigating or strengthening community, and as a mode of governance that may circumvent the emergence of more violent regimes. It discusses how law generally is authorized and Continue reading → Continue reading →