Crimes in Archival Form - by Ken MacLean (Paperback)

About the Book

"Crimes in Archival Form explores the many ways in which human rights "facts" are produced rather than found. With Myanmar as his case study, Ken MacLean examines the fact-finding practices of a human rights group, two cross-border humanitarian agencies, an international law clinic, and a global NGO-led campaign. Foregrounding fact-finding, in critical yet constructive ways, prompts long overdue conversations about the possibilities and limits of human rights documentation as a mode of truth-seeking. Such conversations are particularly urgent in an era when the perpetrators of large-scale human rights violations exploit misinformation, weaponize disinformation, and employ outright falsehoods, including deep fakes, to undermine the credibility of those who document abuses and demand accountability in the court of public opinion and in courts of law. To respond to such attacks, MacLean compels practitioners and scholars alike to be more transparent about how human rights "fact" production works, why it is important, and when its use should prompt concern"--

Book Synopsis

Crimes in Archival Form explores the many ways in which human rights "facts" are produced rather than found. Using Myanmar as his case study, Ken MacLean examines the fact-finding practices of a human rights group, two cross-border humanitarian agencies, an international law clinic, and a global NGO-led campaign. Foregrounding fact-finding, in critical yet constructive ways, prompts long overdue conversations about the possibilities and limits of human rights documentation as a mode of truth-seeking. Such conversations are particularly urgent in an era when the perpetrators of large-scale human rights violations exploit misinformation, weaponize disinformation, and employ outright falsehoods, including deepfakes, to undermine the credibility of those who document abuses and demand accountability in the court of public opinion and in courts of law. MacLean compels practitioners and scholars alike to be more transparent about how human rights "fact" production works, why it is important, and when its use should prompt concern.

From the Back Cover

"Original, insightful, unconventional, unique, critical, and revealing, Crimes in Archival Form offers a firsthand account and a thorough reassessment of facts-production in the field of human rights. It is rich in context and significant in its policy and theoretical implications. A timely and impactful book that will appeal to a broad audience, including scholars, policy makers, and activists who work on human rights, research methodology, and Myanmar."--Ardeth Maung Thawnghmung, author of Everyday Economic Survival in Myanmar

"Crimes in Archival Form is a landmark study of how state violence is documented under protracted military dictatorship and a welcome corrective to overstated critiques of the global human rights project. Ken MacLean offers a close and nuanced look at how facts about atrocities are produced, and why it matters. At once critical and empathetic, this is engaged social science at its best."--Nick Cheesman, author of Opposing the Rule of Law: How Myanmar's Courts Make Law and Order

About the Author

Ken MacLean is a Professor at the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Clark University. He has more than two decades of experience researching state-sponsored violence, human rights violations, and conflict-induced displacement in Myanmar.