Haunting justice: queer bodies, ghosts, and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia

Biddolph, C

Haunting justice: queer bodies, ghosts, and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia

Biddolph, C

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Publisher:: ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: International Feminist Journal of Politics, 2024, 26, (2), pp. 216-239
Issue Date:: 2024-01-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Biddolph, C https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3588-3128
dc.date.accessioned	2024-10-23T01:38:49Z
dc.date.available	2024-10-23T01:38:49Z
dc.date.issued	2024-01-01
dc.identifier.citation	International Feminist Journal of Politics, 2024, 26, (2), pp. 216-239
dc.identifier.issn	1461-6742
dc.identifier.issn	1468-4470
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/181540
dc.description.abstract	International criminal justice involves stories of war and violence. These stories establish survivors, perpetrators, and scenes of trauma, offering representations of embodied experiences of violation. All bodies are subject to violence, but not all bodies are seen–or heard–in international criminal justice. In this article, I argue that queer bodies–that is, those with non-normative sexual and gender practices and identities, such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA+) people–are largely missing from international criminal justice discourses. While queer bodies are frequently targets of violence, their stories are excised from the findings and prosecution of crimes by these mechanisms. Embracing a queer hauntological approach, I focus on the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and argue that queer bodies figure in ghostly ways. I explore how queer bodies haunt ICTY discourses and argue that queer ghosts can disrupt cisheteronormative representations of justice. The article deconstructs the juridical assumption that all violent and violated bodies are stable, straight, and cisgender and proposes that queer ghosts can challenge this legal subjectivity. I conclude that queer bodies and stories are written out of ICTY discourses, but in their ghostliness, in their haunting, there always already exists the possibility of disruption.
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
dc.relation.ispartof	International Feminist Journal of Politics
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1080/14616742.2024.2333113
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess
dc.subject	1606 Political Science, 1699 Other Studies in Human Society, 1801 Law
dc.subject.classification	Gender Studies
dc.subject.classification	4404 Development studies
dc.subject.classification	4405 Gender studies
dc.subject.classification	4408 Political science
dc.title	Haunting justice: queer bodies, ghosts, and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	26
utslib.for	1606 Political Science
utslib.for	1699 Other Studies in Human Society
utslib.for	1801 Law
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences/School of International Studies and Education
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access	*
dc.date.updated	2024-10-23T01:38:46Z
pubs.issue	2
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	26
utslib.citation.issue	2

Abstract:

International criminal justice involves stories of war and violence. These stories establish survivors, perpetrators, and scenes of trauma, offering representations of embodied experiences of violation. All bodies are subject to violence, but not all bodies are seen–or heard–in international criminal justice. In this article, I argue that queer bodies–that is, those with non-normative sexual and gender practices and identities, such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA+) people–are largely missing from international criminal justice discourses. While queer bodies are frequently targets of violence, their stories are excised from the findings and prosecution of crimes by these mechanisms. Embracing a queer hauntological approach, I focus on the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and argue that queer bodies figure in ghostly ways. I explore how queer bodies haunt ICTY discourses and argue that queer ghosts can disrupt cisheteronormative representations of justice. The article deconstructs the juridical assumption that all violent and violated bodies are stable, straight, and cisgender and proposes that queer ghosts can challenge this legal subjectivity. I conclude that queer bodies and stories are written out of ICTY discourses, but in their ghostliness, in their haunting, there always already exists the possibility of disruption.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/181540