1. Introduction; 2. Ignorance and the practice of rule of law reform; 3. Projecting the rule of law; 4. Performing the rule of law; 5. Law and politics of rule of law performances; 6. Historicising rule of law performances; 7. The sociology of rule of law performers; 8. Conclusion
Adopts an interdisciplinary approach to study 'expert ignorance', or the power of experts who continually admit the limits of their knowledge.
Deval Desai is Lecturer in International Economic Law at the University of Edinburgh. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and the Young Academy of Scotland and was an inaugural International Rule of Law Fellow at the Bingham Centre.
''Disenchanted' expertise that becomes 'self-denying' rests on and
professes ignorance. In this provocative, innovative, and elegant
book, Desai explores 'expert ignorance' in rule of law reform
performances. He argues that expert ignorance moves the rule of law
in the direction of 'Governance'. Critical and political, the
argument deserves engagement.' Anna Leander, Professor of
International Relations and Political Science, Geneva Graduate
Institute
'In this pathbreaking study of the field of rule of law reform,
Desai explores the productive power of 'ignorance work' as a form
of expert practice, examining the ways in which it helps to produce
'provisional, fluid, and reconfigurable' forms of the rule of law.
With this innovative argument, which draws on his own years of
experience as a practitioner in the field, Desai firmly establishes
himself as one of the most insightful analysts of reflexive
expertise, not only in the field of development but also beyond.
This book is at the cutting edge of new thinking in critical
development studies and global economic governance.' Andrew Lang,
Chair in International Law and Global Governance, University of
Edinburgh
'Desai applies a sophisticated theoretical perspective to
critically examine the ideas and actions of law and development
scholars and practitioners. This penetrating and challenging
first-hand look at expert ignorance defies categorisation and
stands out in imagination and insight.' Brian Tamanaha, John S.
Lehmann University Professor, Washington University in St Louis
'In international development, 'building the rule of law' has the
paradoxical status of being perhaps its most widely supported yet
least successful policy objective. To this day, its leading
practitioners openly concede that they 'don't know what they are
doing' - or, indeed, what the rule of law itself even is. Desai
provides an insightful, compelling, and intellectually innovative
explanation of this paradox: law and development is replete with
expert ignorance, requiring its champions to simultaneously own and
disown, deploy and withhold, assert and deny, their expertise -
with all manner of vexing consequences. Forging a world in which
its most marginalised citizens begin to experience the law as a
legitimate, accessible, and effective part of the solution to
(rather than a source and compounder of) their problems requires
all of us to join Desai in diligently wrestling with this truly
unique challenge, in an ongoing quest for the correspondingly
unique responses it necessarily requires.' Michael Woolcock, World
Bank and Harvard University
'This erudite, engaging, and elegantly crafted book trespasses
disciplinary boundaries to offer rich and unexpected insights for
legal and social theorists, scholars of development and
international relations, and practitioners of all stripes. It
demands reading by those with a critical orientation towards
projects of legal change - and re-reading for Desai's eye for vivid
social, political, and lived detail.' Shalini Randeria, President
and Rector, Central European University
'Desai's own creativity as a storyteller makes the book well worth
reading.' Tommaso Soave, International Affairs
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