Doctoral Dissertation Research: Seeking Redress and Producing Justice in Diverse Forums

在民主过渡期间，当新的法律制度将习惯法置于普遍宪法权威之后时，寻求正义的做法仍然存在于刑事司法系统之外。那些为不当行为寻求补救的人经常在非法庭论坛上寻求补救，受害者例如向酋长、邻里团体和家庭提出上诉。这些解决争端的非法庭途径不仅提供了多种补救途径；它们还可能提供构建不法行为和伸张正义的替代模式。这一研究项目研究如何在不同的补救论坛内和在不同的补救论坛之间寻求补救和伸张正义，审查司法实践如何将不确定的申诉塑造为公认的违规类别。这项研究提出了三组问题：1)不法行为的受害者如何寻求补救？2)不同的申诉论坛之间有什么关系？3)通过申诉论坛，不法行为如何构成违法行为？这个项目承诺阐明人们如何在不同的方式和背景下寻求补救，以及人际伤害如何以不同的方式分类。对正义的要求是公民身份的根本基础。例如，美国大学、军事法庭审理军官不当行为案件的第九条投诉，以及代表家人、朋友和邻居的义务警员提供了不同的刑法以外的仲裁和裁决投诉的模式，以及对公民和国家之间的关系的不同看法。因此，该项目的更广泛的利害关系涉及不法行为和政治排斥的经历，特别是在其第一次求助不一定是刑事司法系统的人群中。为了审查纠正不法行为的努力，该项目侧重于性暴力，并对在不受欢迎的性行为背景下寻求正义的做法进行了个案研究。密歇根大学人类学系博士生索尼娅·鲁普西奇将在南非进行为期12个月的调查，她将采用一系列人类学方法，包括采访那些参与为不当行为寻求和提供补救的人，以及在正式和非正式的争端解决论坛(如法庭、首席法庭和邻里观察会议)上进行观察。这项研究将跟踪受害者及其家人通过不同的补救地点寻求正义的做法，并跟踪不确定的冤情在合并为不同类别的冤情时的平行流动情况。

When new legal systems subordinate customary law to universalizing constitutional authority during democratic transitions, justice seeking nevertheless persists outside the criminal justice system. Those seeking redress for wrongdoing often pursue remedies in non-court forums, with victims appealing, for example, to chiefs, neighborhood groups, and family. These non-court avenues for resolving disputes do not simply offer multiple routes to remedy; they also may offer alternative modes of constructing wrongdoing and producing justice. This research project studies how remedies are sought and justice is produced in and between different forums of redress, examining the ways practices of justice shape indeterminate grievances into recognized categories of transgression. The study asks three sets of questions: 1) How do victims of wrongdoing seek remedy? 2) What is the relationship between different forums of redress? 3) How is wrongdoing constituted as transgression through forums of redress? This project promises to shed light on how people seek redress in various ways and contexts, and how interpersonal harm comes to be classified in different ways. Claims to justice serve as the very foundation of citizenship. For example, Title IX complaints in American universities, military tribunals judging cases of officer misconduct, and vigilantism on behalf of family, friends, and neighbors offer different modes of arbitrating and adjudicating complaints outside criminal law and differing ideas about the relationship between citizens and states. Thus the broader stakes of this project concern experiences of wrongdoing and political exclusion, especially among populations whose first recourse is not necessarily the criminal justice system. To examine efforts to remedy wrongdoing, this project focuses on sexual violence and undertakes a case study of justice-seeking practices in the context of unwanted sex. Sonia Rupcic, a PhD candidate in the Anthropology Department at the University of Michigan, will conduct a 12-month investigation in South Africa, employing a range of anthropological methods, including interviews with those involved in seeking and offering redress for wrongdoing, and observation in formal and informal forums of dispute resolution (e.g., courtrooms, chief tribunals, and neighborhood watch meetings). The research will follow the justice-seeking practices of victims and their families through diverse sites of redress and track the parallel movement of indeterminate grievances as they coalesce into distinct categories of wrongs.