Josephine Jarpa Dawuni and Akua Kuenyehia: International Courts and the African Woman Judge: Unveiled Narratives
| Date | 01 December 2019 |
| Published date | 01 December 2019 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/jols.12196 |
INTERNATIONAL COURTS AND THE AFRI CAN WOMAN JUDGE:
UNVEILED NARRATIVES e dited by JOSEPHINE JARPA D AWUNI
AND AKUA KUENYEHIA
(Abingdon: Routledge, 2017, 182 pp., £36.99)
In reviewing this edited collection on `unveiling' the role of and the
experience of the African woman judge in international courts, I start by
providing a glimpse of the main objectives and main contentions of the book.
I do not delve into every single story but, rather, focus on the main
theoretical frameworks chosen, the main aims set out by the editors, and
what I regard as the main contribution of the book. I turn to some writings
about the use of storytelling/narrative in critical race, feminist, and women's
studies scholarship as this is the main theoretical and methodological
approach followed in the book. I am interested in how the book, the stories
told, and the experiences revealed result in us thinking differently about the
African woman judge; the use of legal narratives; and a jurisprudence
coming to the fore through the presence of African women judges in
international courts and the work done by them.
The book and its use of narrative prompted me to turn to Walter
Benjamin's essay titled, `The storyteller' in which he laments that the craft
of storytelling is dying out. I read the stories of the different women judges
alongside Benjamin's views on storytelling. For Benjamin, `the storyteller in
his living immediacy is by no means a present force. He has already become
something remote from us and something that is getting even more distant.'
1
THE MAIN OBJECTIVES AND CONTENTIONS
The book comprises seven chapters, each focusing on a particular African
woman judge, plus an Introduction and Conclusion. The editors are clear on
what this volume is not. In the Introduction, titled `Challenging Gender
Universalism and Unveiling the Silenced Narratives of the African Woman
Judge', Dawuni states that the work is neither `a compilation of celebratory
stories about African women' nor `an essentialized account of all African
women who are serving, have served, or will serve on international courts.'
The aim of the work is, rather, to `remove the veil of silence' that has hidden
the stories of African women and their plights in the legal profession
nationally and internationally. It is important also that any attempt to
universalize or generalize the experience of the African woman judge is
thwarted by paying attention to the `lived realities of the woman judge'. At
the same time, the possibility for shared experiences is not rejected totally.
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1 W. Benjamin, Illuminations (1968) 83.
ß2019 The Author. Journal of Law and Society ß2019 Cardiff University Law School
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