Personal profile

Research

I research transitional justice, the politics of international law and courts, and the legalisation and judicialisation of politics in mainly Africa. I have researched the politics of the International Criminal Court for 15 years.

My research asks the following questions:

  • What makes the International Criminal Court a political organisation and how does its investigations and prosecutions affect national, regional and global politics?
  • Why do governments prefer to avoid arresting ICC suspects?
  • Which norms and visions animate the ICC and its critics?
  • What is transitional justice today and why do vastly different post-conflict countries adopt similar transitional justice policies?
  • Why, how and when did a transitional justice standard emerge?
  • How does international law and legal actors affect political processes, including peace processes?
  • Why did Africa establish more international courts than any other region?
  • Why are many African governments and citizens critical of the International Criminal Court?

My current research project investigates 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 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. 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.

I teach the following courses: Power, Conflict and Justice (MA); International Institutions and Global Governance (BA); the Relationship between Law and Politics (MA); and Case Study and Process Tracing Methods (MA).

External positions

Council Member, Rådet for International Konfliktløsning

3 Nov 2018 → …

Keywords

  • Economics, Politics
  • African Politics
  • African States
  • Civil War
  • Conflict Resolution
  • Kenya
  • Peace Processes
  • Uganda
  • Law, Ethics
  • Human Rights
  • International Criminal Court
  • International Judicial Interventions
  • International Justice
  • Legalisation of Politics
  • War Crimes Tribunals

Publication network

Recent external collaboration on country/territory level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots or