The Making of a Region, the Writing of the Book: Law and Nonsovereignty in the Caribbean
What does it mean to make a region? What is a region in a world dominated by the
model of the sovereign nation-state? And what does a newly established court of law
have
to
do with this? In this talk, Lee Cabatingan begins to address these questions through
a
discussion
of her recently published book, A Region among States: Law and Nonsovereignty in the
Caribbean (Univ of Chicago Press, 2023). Based on long-term ethnographic research
at the
Caribbean Court of Justice, headquartered in Trinidad and Tobago, Cabatingan offers
her
analysis of the region-making work of this legal tribunal, arguing that the Court
“cites to” but
does not mimic familiar nation- and state-making techniques. That is, the Court, like
much of
the postcolonial Global South, walks a fine line between making the region a legible
and
legitimate entity (by utilizing classic tools of nation-state building, for example)
and creating
a
polity that is better suited to the needs of the small island states of the Caribbean
(by
refusing
sovereignty, for instance). Throughout her talk, Cabatingan also provides insight
into how
she
conducted her ethnographic research, important considerations of her positionality
in the
field,
the development of her arguments, her ethical commitments, and the process of writing
the
book.
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