Expert ignorance : the law and politics of rule of law reform

Today, a transnational constellation of 'rule of law' experts advise on 'good' legal systems to countries in the Global South. Yet these experts often claim that the 'rule of law' is nearly impossible to define, and they frequently point to the limits of their own expertise. In this innovative book, Deval Desai identifies this form of expertise as 'expert ignorance'. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, Desai draws on insights from legal theory, sociology, development studies, and performance studies to explore how this paradoxical form of expertise works in practice. With a range of illustrative cases that span both global and local perspectives, this book considers the impact of expert ignorance on the rule of law and on expert governance more broadly. Contributing to the study of transnational law, governance, and expertise, Desai demonstrates the enduring power of proclaiming what one does not know. Cover Half-title page Series page Title page Copyright page Dedication Contents List of Figures List of Tables Acknowledgements In Lieu of an Abstract To the Reader Executive Summary Table of Cases List of Abbreviations 1 Introduction 1.1 From Disenchanted to Self-Denying Expertise 1.2 Expert Ignorance 1.3 Argument 1.4 Organisation of the Book 2 Ignorance and the Practice of Rule of Law Reform 2.1 Introduction: Thomasistic Critique 2.2 Genres of Critique of Rule of Law Reform 2.3 The Anxious Rule of Law Reformer 2.4 Counterpoints 2.5 Disordering Rule of Law Reform 2.6 A Note on Style and Form 3 Projecting the Rule of Law 3.1 Introduction 3.1.1 Context 3.2 Organisational Sociology 3.2.1 The Project 3.2.2 Analysis 3.3 Critical Discourse Analysis 3.3.1 Context 3.3.2 Ambiguity in the Law 3.3.3 Discourses of Conflict, Development, and Governance in ADAs 3.3.3.1 Conflict 3.3.3.2 Governance 3.3.3.3 Development 3.3.4 Analysis: Re-Contextualising the Contextualisation of ADAs in Country 3.4 Ethnography of Practices 3.4.1 Boarding 3.4.2 On-Board 3.4.3 Boardroom 3.4.4 Back-Room 3.4.5 Back-and-Forth 3.4.6 Trip Report 3.5 Analysing the Project 3.6 Conclusion 4 Performing the Rule of Law 4.1 Introduction: Presenting Expert Ignorance 4.2 Theory: Shadows of a Fantasy of Attaining the Sublime 4.2.1 The Sublime 4.2.2 Fantasy 4.2.3 Shadow 4.3 Method: To Act, to Do, to Perform 4.3.1 Structural Performance Analysis and Phenomenologies of Performance 4.3.2 Stanislavski’s System 4.3.3 Style 4.4 Performing the Project: Staging Rules and Regulations 4.4.1 Ohio Impromptu 4.4.1.1 Overview 4.4.1.2 Analysis of the Play 4.4.2 The Project in Two Scenes 4.4.3 Analysis of the Action 4.5 Performing the Workshop: Painting the Rule of Law by Numbers 4.5.1 Introduction 4.5.2 The Archbishop’s Ceiling 4.5.2.1 Overview 4.5.2.2 Analysis of the Play 4.5.3 Plotting Implementation 4.5.3.1 Analysis of the Action 4.5.4 Analysis 4.6 Denouement 5 Law and Politics of Rule of Law Performances 5.1 Interlude: Measure for Measure, Rule of Law Reformers, and ‘the Duke of Dark Corners’ 5.2 The Legal and Political Effects of Rule of Law Reform 5.2.1 Ignorance Work 5.2.2 Implementation Work 5.2.3 Action as Ignorance and Implementation; Reform as Performance 5.3 Conclusion 6 Historicising Rule of Law Performances 6.1 Rule of Law Reform: A History of Many Histories 6.2 From a Sociology of Rule of Law Reform to Self-Denying Rule of Law Reformers 6.3 A History of the Free-Floating Institutional Reformer 6.4 Conclusion 7 The Sociology of Rule of Law Performers 7.1 Problem-Driven Iterative Adaptation 7.2 Reform and the Social Organisation of Reformers 7.3 Conclusion 8 Conclusion 8.1 Summary of the Argument 8.2 Taking the Measure of Expert Ignorance: From Rule of Law Reform to Governance? 8.3 Interlude: Brexit, Ignorans, and Ignorandum 8.4 Finding Expert Ignorance Elsewhere 8.5 The Politics of Critical Method Bibliography Index