Interrupting the courtroom organism: screaming bodies, material affects and the theatre of cruelty

This article offers a method of reading the courtroom which produces an alternative mapping of the space. My method combines a reading of Antonin Artaud’s Theatre of Cruelty with a Deleuzian theoretical analysis. I suggest that this is a useful method since it allows examination of the spatial praxes of the courtroom which pulsate with a power to organize, terrorize and to judge. This method is also able to conceptualize the presence of ‘‘screaming’’ bodies and living matter which are appropriated to build, as well as feed the presence and functioning of the courtroom space, or organism. By using a method that articulates the cry of these bodies in the shadow of the organism, it becomes clear that this cry is both unwelcome and suppressed by the courtroom. The howl of anxious bodies enduring the process and space of the law can be materialized through interruptions to the courtroom, such as when bodies stand when they should not and when they speak when they should be silent. These vociferous actualizations of the scream serve only to feed the organism they seek to disturb, yet if the scream is listened to before it disrupts, the interruption becomes-imperceptible to the courtroom. Through my Artaudian/Deleuzian reading, I give a voice to the corporeal gasp that lingers before the cry, which is embedded within the embodied multiplicity from which it is possible to draw a creative line of flight. The creative momentum of this line of flight produces a sustainable interruption to the courtroom process, which instead of being consumed by the system, has the potential to produce new courtroom alignments. My text therefore offers an alternative reading of the courtroom, and in doing so also offers a refined understanding of how to productively ‘‘interrupt’’ the courtroom process.

Flesh of the Law: Material Metaphors

Existing legal metaphors, even the predominantly spatial and corporeal ones, paradoxically perpetuate a dematerialized impression of the law. This is because they depict the law as universal, adversarial, and court-based, thus ignoring alternative legalities. Instead, there is a need to employ more radically material metaphors, in line with the material turn in law and other disciplines, in order to allow law's materiality to come forth. I explore the connection between language and matter (the ‘flesh’ of the law) through legal, linguistic, and art theory, and conclude by suggesting four characteristics of material legal metaphors.

Introduction: The ‘material turn’ in migration studies

This introduction firstly discusses the ongoing paradigm shift in the study of transnational migration, in particular the emergent interest in the convergence of migration and material culture as the starting point of our investigation. Then it highlights three aspects that this Special Issue could further in the current study of migration and materialities: namely, historical consciousness in materialising migration experiences and the notion of generational transmission; the everyday experience of body as the site for mutual constitution between subject and object; and the unique value of a language-based, interdisciplinary-oriented approach for migration studies. In the final part, it summarizes the four articles that follow, highlighting the contribution that each makes to our overall objective of making a ‘material turn’ in migration studies, and discusses some ways it could be further developed.

Localism as restorative politics; social capital and anti-politics in the London Borough of Burgundia

ABSTRACT The purpose of this paper is to explore the political implications of policies and measures designed to promote “localism”. That is to say, the devolution of power down to a neighbourhood level, as enacted under the 2011 Localism Act. The implementation of localism in London boroughs will be examined. The context is the current concern over disengagement in an era of “anti-politics”, so it is intended to gain an understanding of how localism is interpreted and implemented on the ground. A tentative thesis, of a “restorative politics”, is proposed, such that localism is dynamic and is generating healthy political activity which counters anti-politics in the local community. This could have profound implications for the political parties locally and at Westminster. The extant theories about localism include constructivist interpretations suggesting that a neo-liberal localism is anti-political. This is contested. An emerging narrative heralding a new dawn of empowerment, and related themes concerning social capital, subsidiarity and anti-politics are reviewed. A necessarily empirical approach is adopted in an essentially functionalist frame of reference. There is a review of both academic and policy literature, combined with interviews of professionals involved in localism. This paper is designed to scope a future more substantial piece of research. The conference brief asks; “what scales or levels are appropriate for organising politics in this century”. In a century so far characterised by disillusionment, democratic deficits and abstention, the answer may be; local. The Good Life is lived locally in shared experience and familiar surroundings, hitherto not much amenable to local change. Burgundia is a reference to the film “Passport to Pimlico” (1949), when ABSTRACT The purpose of this paper is to explore the political implications of policies and measures designed to promote “localism”. That is to say, the devolution of power down to a neighbourhood level, as enacted under the 2011 Localism Act. The implementation of localism in London boroughs will be examined. The context is the current concern over disengagement in an era of “anti-politics”, so it is intended to gain an understanding of how localism is interpreted and implemented on the ground. A tentative thesis, of a “restorative politics”, is proposed, such that localism is dynamic and is generating healthy political activity which counters anti-politics in the local community. This could have profound implications for the political parties locally and at Westminster. The extant theories about localism include constructivist interpretations suggesting that a neo-liberal localism is anti-political. This is contested. An emerging narrative heralding a new dawn of empowerment, and related themes concerning social capital, subsidiarity and anti-politics are reviewed. A necessarily empirical approach is adopted in an essentially functionalist frame of reference. There is a review of both academic and policy literature, combined with interviews of professionals involved in localism. This paper is designed to scope a future more substantial piece of research. The conference brief asks; “what scales or levels are appropriate for organising politics in this century”. In a century so far characterised by disillusionment, democratic deficits and abstention, the answer may be; local. The Good Life is lived locally in shared experience and familiar surroundings, hitherto not much amenable to local change. Burgundia is a reference to the film “Passport to Pimlico” (1949), when a London neighbourhood declared independence and its citizens temporarily created the Good Life for themselves. Is the 21st century localism generating a restorative politics?