Justice in the Balance - by Jessica Greenberg

Book Synopsis

Established as a post-World War II response to conflict and fascism, the European Court of Human Rights is routinely characterized as the most successful human rights institution in the world. Based in Strasbourg, France, its jurisdiction extends to over 700 million people on European soil across the 46 Council of Europe member countries. The Court is the crown jewel of the Council, an international organization dedicated to human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. And yet, for years, European institutions have been haunted by the specter of failure. In the shadow of rising populism, inequality, and war, faith in democracy and the rule of law has been shaken to its core. Drawing on extensive fieldwork conducted over eight years with human rights advocates, lawyers, and judges at the European Court of Human Rights, this book asks: What kind of justice is possible through law?

Drawing on participant observation, in-depth interviews, and archival research, Jessica Greenberg tracks two paradoxical experiences of the European human rights system and the Court: on the one hand, the Court as a bureaucratic "machine;" on the other, the Court as the "conscience of Europe." She argues that human rights frameworks fuel imaginative approaches to social change, and compel legal actors to creatively navigate institutions through advocacy, persuasion, and innovative interpretation of what the law is and what it should be.

Review Quotes

"At a time when the efficacy of international legal instruments is under intense scrutiny, Justice in the Balance could not be timelier. Jessica Greenberg moves beyond the binary of dismantling or maintaining the existing international legal order to examining how liberal institutions, human rights, and rule of law are being navigated and reconceptualized in post-liberal futures. In tracing the evolution of the European Court of Human Rights, Greenberg highlights the tensions between individual justice and structural reform, challenging us to rethink the possibilities of justice. An important and impressive contribution. A must read!" --Kamari Maxine Clarke, Distinguished Professor, University of Toronto

"In this quietly brilliant book, Greenberg challenges both overly cynical and overly idealistic visions of the language and promise of law. Through her stunning, intimate analysis of the European Court of Human Rights, she sheds light on a burning issue of our time - how and whether human rights discourses can matter in the face of brute force and power." --Elizabeth Mertz, University of Wisconsin Law School

"Why do we turn to the law in times of crisis, even when we anticipate that it may disappoint us? In her enlightening and brilliantly written book, Jessica Greenberg examines the most renowned living legal utopia--the European Court of Human Rights--to explore both the credibility of its promises and the predictability of its failures." --Angelika Nussberger, Former Vice-President of the European Court of Human Rights

About the Author

Jessica Greenberg is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She is the author of After the Revolution: Youth, Democracy, and the Politics of Disappointment in Postsocialist Serbia (Stanford, 2014).