Research

I research transitional justice, the legalisation and judicialisation of politics in mainly Africa, and the politics of international law. I am interested in questions such as:

• What is transitional justice today and why does it often fail?
• Why, how and when did a transitional justice standard emerge?
• How does international law and the practice of international courts affect political processes, including peace processes?
• What does it mean to judicialise peace and does judicialisation help or hinder a negotiated solution to conflict?
• Why did Africa establish more international courts than any other region?
• Why are many African governments - and citizens - critical of the International Criminal Court?
• Which ideas and norms animate and explain African backlash global and regional courts?

My forthcoming research project will investigate the recent standardisation of transitional justice, collaborating with colleagues at Roskilde and Ulster Universities. The project investigates the consolidation and innovation of a transitional justice standard across four sites: UN headquarters, Colombia, Syria and Uganda.

My new book, Africa and the Backlash Against International Courts (London: Zed Books, 2020), co-written with Peter Brett, studies African government relations with the ICC and sub-regional courts in Africa, a relationship marked by different experiences of backlash. We argue against explanations focusing on sovereingty and direct focus toward strategies of legitimation and equal participation in world politics.

My first book studies the impact of ICC involvement on peace processes in Kenya and Uganda, The International Criminal Court and Peace Processes in Africa: Judicialising Peace (Routledge, 2018). It presents a theory about when and how ICC involvement helps and hinders a negotiated conflict settlement.

This academic year (2021/2022) I am teaching International Law for the Social Sciences (BA); International Politics (BA); International Institutions and Global Governance (BA); and the Politics of Global Humanitarianism (MA).