Images of justice
A certain conception of person is an internal image to any schematization of justice. Abstract justice is a rational concept, which holds that relevantly similar individuals are to be treated similarly. What constitutes an individual when justice is applied in a concrete society, however, depends on...
Gespeichert in:
Veröffentlicht in: | International journal for the semiotics of law = Revue internationale de sémiotique juridique 1994-10, Vol.7 (3), p.241-251 |
---|---|
1. Verfasser: | |
Format: | Artikel |
Sprache: | eng |
Schlagworte: | |
Online-Zugang: | Volltext |
Tags: |
Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
|
Zusammenfassung: | A certain conception of person is an internal image to any schematization of justice. Abstract justice is a rational concept, which holds that relevantly similar individuals are to be treated similarly. What constitutes an individual when justice is applied in a concrete society, however, depends on that society's definition of person. Inherent to the US system of justice & many others is the distinction between civilized persons who are members of the legal community & barbarians who are not ruled by law. Because justice systems emerge from nation-state formation (which generally occurs by internal or external colonization), they are based on the self-identities & definitions of person of dominant ethnic groups. These cultural images of person are thus internal to justice systems & blind to alternatives. Ethnic suppression or cleansing results from this blindness, which holds that other groups have no legal existence. The relationship of US justice & American Indians is used to illustrate this argument. E. Blackwell |
---|---|
ISSN: | 0952-8059 1572-8722 |
DOI: | 10.1007/BF01101729 |