An Illustration of Anthropology’s Contribution to Refugee Law Research

IF 1.5 Q1 LAW
Katia Bianchini
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Abstract This article contributes to the debates on the role of anthropology in refugee law research by showing the added value of an interdisciplinary approach to the understanding of complex asylum claims related to cultural and religious beliefs that are unfamiliar to the Western perspective. Based on the analysis of asylum claims in UK courts involving witchcraftbased persecution in the country of origin—both applicants who feared becoming victims of witchcraft practices and those who could be accused of having engaged in witchcraft practices—I demonstrate how anthropology can provide the tools for bridging the gaps between the law in the books and its implementation in practice and solving issues that are beyond the scope of the law. In particular, anthropology can feed into a broader legal conceptualization that accounts for the realities of our diverse societies and helps explain how fear of persecution due to witchcraft can indeed be real and connected with serious human rights violations. Moreover, cultural expertise can assist in assessing asylum claims in their cultural, historical, and political contexts, affording the claimant a fairer and better adjudicated outcome. Nevertheless, the use of anthropology inevitably comes with some challenges related to the different fields’ epistemologies, languages, and styles, as well as a lack of appreciation for interdisciplinarity in some areas of academia.
人类学对难民法研究的贡献
摘要本文通过展示跨学科方法对理解与西方视角不熟悉的文化和宗教信仰相关的复杂庇护申请的附加价值,为人类学在难民法研究中的作用的辩论做出了贡献。基于对英国法院涉及原籍国基于巫术迫害的庇护申请的分析,我展示了人类学如何提供工具,弥合书籍中的法律与其在实践中的实施之间的差距以及解决法律范围之外的问题。特别是,人类学可以融入更广泛的法律概念,解释我们不同社会的现实,并有助于解释对巫术迫害的恐惧是如何真实存在的,并与严重侵犯人权行为有关。此外,文化专业知识可以帮助评估文化、历史和政治背景下的庇护申请,为申请人提供更公平、更好的裁决结果。然而,人类学的使用不可避免地会带来一些与不同领域的认识论、语言和风格有关的挑战,以及对学术界某些领域的跨学科性缺乏认识。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
German Law Journal
German Law Journal Social Sciences-Law
CiteScore
2.70
自引率
7.70%
发文量
75
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