'Kony 2012' and the Portrayal of African Conflict April 10, 2012

Favorite:

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2012/03/30/Annual_Ben_Ferencz_Panel_Africa_and_the_ICC

Kamari Maxine Clarke, Associate Professor of Anthropology and a Research Associate at the Yale Law School, talks about the controversial message of the most viral video of all time, "Kony 2012", and the implication of the "oversimplified" narrative.

----

Although initially a strong supporter of the International Criminal Court (ICC), the African Union (AU) has emerged in recent years as a strong opponent of the Court's work. With only African situations and accused persons in the ICC dock, the AU now insists that the ICC has become an imperialist neo-colonial institution. This interdisciplinary panel will discuss the mounting AU/ICC tension; assess the legal, historical, and policy reasons that explain the complex on-off relationship, and consider its implications for the future of the ICC.

Which problems is international law particularly well-suited to solve? Which seem to defy its regulation? What tools does international law have to manage this complexity? Where are best practices emerging? What has our profession learned in the last half-century? Is law, with its emphasis on rules and stability, conceptually and functionally capable of responding to the challenges of complexity? If not, how should law react? What do experts from outside the legal profession, from technology, finance, counterinsurgency, climate science, and risk, believe law can add? During the 2012 ASIL Annual Meeting we will address these questions and discuss how international law responds to complexity.

Kamari Maxine Clarke, Ph.D., University of California, Santa Cruz, 1997, M.A. Yale Law 2002, is an Associate Professor of Anthropology and a Research Associate at the Yale Law School, with a courtesy appointment in African American Studies. She is also the Chair of the Council on African Studies at the MacMillan Center.