The Normalization of the Exception: The Nexus of Emergency Powers and Criminal Justice in Colonial and Postcolonial Jamaica

Authors

Jermaine AR Young, Florida International UniversityFollow

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Major/Program

Political Science

First Advisor's Name

Clement Fatovic

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee chair

Second Advisor's Name

Barry Levitt

Second Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Member

Third Advisor's Name

Alexander Barder

Third Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Member

Fourth Advisor's Name

Percy Hintzen

Fourth Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Member

Keywords

colonialism, criminal justice, emergency powers, Jamaica, state of exception, Zones of Special Operations

Date of Defense

6-3-2022

Abstract

Since the antiquity, the study of emergency powers has tended to revolve around the dichotomy between norm and exception, suggesting that governments follow established rules of law in ordinary circumstances and resort to extraordinary measures only in times of genuine emergency. My dissertation challenges this dichotomy by analyzing Jamaica’s colonial and post-colonial experiences with emergency powers in order to provide a different story about the norm-exception binary. In fact, Jamaica’s case shows there are no neat partitions between both spheres. Instead, what we see unfolding is the technical application of emergency provisions as legality, rule by law, rooted in continual legal violations and state violence for upholding the rule of law- substantive application and practices that reinforce civil liberties based on calculable, general, and prospective rules à la Locke.

The study used a qualitative case study methodology for highlighting how the exception as usually functioned as the norm. These consisted of colonial archives, first and second-hand narratives, texts of emergency legislations, Commissions of Enquiry reports, newspaper articles, and other pertinent government publications (colonial and post-independence). Overall, the study traces episodes of martial law, States of Emergencies (SOEs), and special laws-cum-emergency powers like the notable Zones of Special Operations (ZOSOs) as techniques of government spanning the colonial to post-independence eras. It shows that such “emergency tools” involve practices arbitrary and unlawful mass extended detentions, extrajudicial killings, and renditions function as a form of derogation of fundamental rights of Jamaicans (primarily those from a lower socio-economic background) and state violence that echo the continuity of illiberal colonial practices. Essentially, these highlighted practices continually blur the lines between norm and exception, colonial, and post-colonial. Contrary to earlier theorizations, the dissertation demonstrates that the boundaries between norm and exception in Jamaica have eroded in ways that are inconsistent with the country’s stated commitments to the rule of law and democratic values.

Identifier

FIDC010817

ORCID

http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0187-735X

Previously Published In

Young, Jermaine. 2022. “States of Exception as Paradigms of Government: Emergency and Criminal Justice in Jamaica?” Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies 47, no. 2 (accepted and forthcoming DOI: 10.1080/08263663.2022.2066819).

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Young, Jermaine AR, "The Normalization of the Exception: The Nexus of Emergency Powers and Criminal Justice in Colonial and Postcolonial Jamaica" (2022). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 5122.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/5122