Kolanoski2017
| Kolanoski2017 | |
|---|---|
| BibType | ARTICLE |
| Key | Kolanoski2017 |
| Author(s) | Martina Kolanoski |
| Title | Undoing the Legal Capacities of a Military Object: A Case Study on the (In)Visibility of Civilians |
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| Tag(s) | EMCA, In Press, Ethnomethodology, Military, German, Legal |
| Publisher | |
| Year | 2017 |
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| Journal | Law and Social Inquiry |
| Volume | 42 |
| Number | 2 |
| Pages | 377-397 |
| URL | Link |
| DOI | 10.1111/lsi.12284 |
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Abstract
International law dictates that actors in armed conflicts must distinguish between combatants and civilians. But how do legal actors assess the legality of a military operation after the fact? I analyze a civil proceeding for compensation by victims of a German-led airstrike in Afghanistan. The court treated military video as key evidence. I show how lawyers, judges, and expert witnesses categorized those involved by asking what a “military viewer” would make of the pictures. During the hearing, they avoided the categories of combatants/civilians; the military object resisted legal coding. I examine the decision in its procedural context, using ethnographic field notes and legal documents. I combine two ethnomethodological analytics: a trans-sequential approach and membership categorization analysis. I show the value of this combination for the sociological analysis of legal practice. I also propose that legal practitioners should use this approach to assess military viewing as a concerted, situated activity.
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