Punishment in International Society

Punitive practices are highly revealing of a society's social fabric, its normative order, and power structure. Punishment in International Society examines the penal philosophies and practices in international society. The contributions to this book show the added value of a punitive lens to international politics in two major ways: First, punitive practices reveal the contours of the international normative order, its structures, and hierarchies. Such a perspective highlights the prominent position of individuals in the current normative order, but it also reveals a major divergence in the international normative order between a global North that emphasizes individualized, retributive punishment for atrocity crimes and a global South that puts reparations for past colonial wrongs on the agenda. Second, in contrast to a nation-state, the authority to sanction and act in defense of the normative order is far more dispersed and contested in international society. Although there is a demand to embed punitive practices in procedures and institutions, the most legitimate site of such authority remains contested as regional organizations such as the African Union compete with the United Nations for the authority to defend the normative order.

This book brings together an international roster of scholars from the social sciences, law, and humanities. The contributions demonstrate that punitive practices have been more prevalent than commonly acknowledged as they have often been masked as (self-)defence, reparations, or coercive diplomacy. By approaching international punishment from various disciplines, this volume sheds new light on different dimensions of the punitive practices across the globe.