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Targeting in International Law : Counterinsurgency and the Legal Materiality of the Principle of Distinction

Parsa, Amin LU (2023)
Abstract

This book is about how distinctions are drawn between civilians and combatants in modern warfare and how the legal principle of distinction depends on the technical means through which combatants make themselves visibly distinguishable from civilians. The author demonstrates that technologies of visualisation have always been part of the operation of the principle of distinction, arguing that the military uniform sustained the legal categories of civilian and combatant and actively set the boundaries of permissible and prohibited targeting, and so legal and illegal killing. Drawing upon insights from the theory of legal materiality, visual studies, critical fashion studies, and a dozen of military manuals he shows that far from being... (More)

This book is about how distinctions are drawn between civilians and combatants in modern warfare and how the legal principle of distinction depends on the technical means through which combatants make themselves visibly distinguishable from civilians. The author demonstrates that technologies of visualisation have always been part of the operation of the principle of distinction, arguing that the military uniform sustained the legal categories of civilian and combatant and actively set the boundaries of permissible and prohibited targeting, and so legal and illegal killing. Drawing upon insights from the theory of legal materiality, visual studies, critical fashion studies, and a dozen of military manuals he shows that far from being passive objects of regulation, these technologies help to draw the boundaries of the legitimate target. With its attention to the co-productive relationship between law, technologies of visualisation and legitimation of violence, this book will be relevant to a large community of researchers in international law, international relations, critical military studies, contemporary counterinsurgency operations and the sociology of law.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Book/Report
publication status
published
subject
pages
171 pages
publisher
Routledge
external identifiers
  • scopus:85176871818
ISBN
9780367640545
9781003818922
DOI
10.4324/9781003121947
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
ce23dcda-a518-4f94-92ae-dac4d036e604
date added to LUP
2024-01-12 12:00:52
date last changed
2024-04-27 07:24:05
@book{ce23dcda-a518-4f94-92ae-dac4d036e604,
  abstract     = {{<p>This book is about how distinctions are drawn between civilians and combatants in modern warfare and how the legal principle of distinction depends on the technical means through which combatants make themselves visibly distinguishable from civilians. The author demonstrates that technologies of visualisation have always been part of the operation of the principle of distinction, arguing that the military uniform sustained the legal categories of civilian and combatant and actively set the boundaries of permissible and prohibited targeting, and so legal and illegal killing. Drawing upon insights from the theory of legal materiality, visual studies, critical fashion studies, and a dozen of military manuals he shows that far from being passive objects of regulation, these technologies help to draw the boundaries of the legitimate target. With its attention to the co-productive relationship between law, technologies of visualisation and legitimation of violence, this book will be relevant to a large community of researchers in international law, international relations, critical military studies, contemporary counterinsurgency operations and the sociology of law.</p>}},
  author       = {{Parsa, Amin}},
  isbn         = {{9780367640545}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{12}},
  publisher    = {{Routledge}},
  title        = {{Targeting in International Law : Counterinsurgency and the Legal Materiality of the Principle of Distinction}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781003121947}},
  doi          = {{10.4324/9781003121947}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}