Colonial Discourse and Gender in U.S. Criminal Courts

Cultural Defenses and Prosecutions

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Gender Studies, Political Science, Government
Cover of the book Colonial Discourse and Gender in U.S. Criminal Courts by Caroline Braunmühl, Taylor and Francis
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Caroline Braunmühl ISBN: 9781136341168
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Publication: August 6, 2012
Imprint: Routledge Language: English
Author: Caroline Braunmühl
ISBN: 9781136341168
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Publication: August 6, 2012
Imprint: Routledge
Language: English

The occurrence in some criminal cases of "cultural defenses" on behalf of "minority" defendants has stirred much debate. This book is the first to illuminate how "cultural evidence" — i.e., "evidence" regarding ethnicity — is actually negotiated by attorneys, expert/lay witnesses, and defendants in criminal trials. Caroline Braunmühl demonstrates that this has occurred, overwhelmingly, in ways shaped by colonialist and patriarchal discourses common in the Western world. She argues that the controversy regarding the legitimacy of a "cultural defense" has tended to obscure this fact, and has been biased against minorities as well as all women from its inception, in the very terms in which the question for debate has been framed.

This study also breaks new ground by analyzing the strategies, and the failures, in which colonialist and patriarchal constructions of cultural evidence are resisted or — more commonly — colluded in by opposing attorneys, witnesses, and defendants themselves. The constructions at hand emerge as contradictory and unstable, belying the notion that cultural evidence is a matter of objective "information" about another culture, rather than — as Braunmühl argues — of discourses that are inevitably normatively charged.

Colonial Discourse and Gender in US Criminal Courts moves the debate about cultural defenses onto an entirely new plane, one based upon the understanding that only in-depth empirical analyses informed by critical, rigorous theoretical reflection can do justice to the irreducibly political character of any discussion of "cultural evidence," and of its presentation in court.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The occurrence in some criminal cases of "cultural defenses" on behalf of "minority" defendants has stirred much debate. This book is the first to illuminate how "cultural evidence" — i.e., "evidence" regarding ethnicity — is actually negotiated by attorneys, expert/lay witnesses, and defendants in criminal trials. Caroline Braunmühl demonstrates that this has occurred, overwhelmingly, in ways shaped by colonialist and patriarchal discourses common in the Western world. She argues that the controversy regarding the legitimacy of a "cultural defense" has tended to obscure this fact, and has been biased against minorities as well as all women from its inception, in the very terms in which the question for debate has been framed.

This study also breaks new ground by analyzing the strategies, and the failures, in which colonialist and patriarchal constructions of cultural evidence are resisted or — more commonly — colluded in by opposing attorneys, witnesses, and defendants themselves. The constructions at hand emerge as contradictory and unstable, belying the notion that cultural evidence is a matter of objective "information" about another culture, rather than — as Braunmühl argues — of discourses that are inevitably normatively charged.

Colonial Discourse and Gender in US Criminal Courts moves the debate about cultural defenses onto an entirely new plane, one based upon the understanding that only in-depth empirical analyses informed by critical, rigorous theoretical reflection can do justice to the irreducibly political character of any discussion of "cultural evidence," and of its presentation in court.

More books from Taylor and Francis

Cover of the book Integrated Treatment for Co-Occurring Disorders by Caroline Braunmühl
Cover of the book US National Defense for the Twenty-first Century by Caroline Braunmühl
Cover of the book Doctor Faustus by Caroline Braunmühl
Cover of the book Encyclopedia of Government and Politics by Caroline Braunmühl
Cover of the book King Lear by Caroline Braunmühl
Cover of the book The Europeanisation of Contested Statehood by Caroline Braunmühl
Cover of the book Transforming Education in the Gulf Region by Caroline Braunmühl
Cover of the book The Asian Pacific American Heritage by Caroline Braunmühl
Cover of the book Sustaining Mobile Learning by Caroline Braunmühl
Cover of the book General Economic History by Caroline Braunmühl
Cover of the book Global Governance and NGO Participation by Caroline Braunmühl
Cover of the book Constructing the Colonized Land by Caroline Braunmühl
Cover of the book Routledge Handbook of Indian Cinemas by Caroline Braunmühl
Cover of the book Landmarks in Modern Latin American Fiction (Routledge Revivals) by Caroline Braunmühl
Cover of the book Families and Forgiveness by Caroline Braunmühl
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy