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The JUSTEXPORTS Project

Promoting Justice in a Time of Friction: Scandinavian Criminal Justice Exports & Rule of Law Promotion

A female police officer talks to young men from South Sudan.

Norway's police work in the UN operation in South Sudan. Photo: UNMISS (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

About the project

Scandinavian states export criminal justice through their foreign policy and development aid programs. These exports target countries as different as Afghanistan, Colombia, DR Kongo, Kosovo, Lithuania, and Ukraine and concern issues that range from specific reforms of the national criminal justice system to broader international initiatives on women’s rights, transnational organized crime and international justice. However, the role of criminal justice exports and what it says about Scandinavian penal power and position(ing) in the international order has never been explored.

Combining insights from global criminology, international relations, and sociology of law, JustExports explores the overall research question ‘How do Scandinavian states engage in criminal justice exports?’ through three sub-questions (1) How do criminal justice exports travel?; (2) What are similarities and differences in Scandinavian states’ foreign policy use of criminal justice exports; and (3) How do geopolitical changes shape the use of criminal justice exports in Scandinavian states’ foreign policy and development aid?

Sub-projects

The abovementioned questions are analysed across different sub-projects that explore three different levels of Scandinavian criminal justice exports:

#1 - The field of Scandinavian penal exports

The sub-project provides a discursive overview of how Scandinavian criminal justice exports travel, by developing an open access database on criminal justice exports in Scandinavian foreign policy and development aid. Our aim is to provide a comprehensive overview of the field of Scandinavian criminal justice exports and rule of law promotion as an object of criminological study.  

Please contact Katrine Antonsen for questions regarding this sub-project.

#2 - Scandinavian justice exports to national criminal justice

The sub-project focuses on Scandinavian criminal justice exports to national criminal justice systems in a state in or recovering from conflict. Based on extensive fieldwork, this sub-study will provide insight into everyday practices of justice promotion by Scandinavian actors.

A PhD or postdoctoral fellowship is currently open for this part of the study. 

The selected fellow is expected to – within the scope of JUSTEXPORTS – develop an independent PhD or postdoctoral research project. Examples of what such a project may focus on include but is not limited to (i) case studies of Scandinavian efforts to improve and strengthen the criminal justice system and rule of law in a specific country (e.g. Georgia, Moldova, Kosovo, or – topically – Ukraine); (ii) case studies of specific forms of Scandinavian criminal justice exports (e.g. gender justice; restorative justice; drug policy; prison reform); or (iii) case studies of professional networks of criminal justice expertise (e.g. police; correctional services; judges; forensic experts) established for international deployment from Denmark, Norway and/or Sweden.

#3 - Scandinavian justice exports to international and global criminal justice

The sub-project focuses on Scandinavian criminal justice exports to and through multilateral organizations, such as the African Union and the United Nations. Through document analysis, field observations and interviews with diplomats and practitioners, we study how the Scandinavian states promote and support different international criminal justice and rule of law initiatives. This includes for instance developing legal structures to punish tax frauds and encourage transparency and/or enable good practice of law of the sea in West African countries and Asia. Our analysis provides new insight into the role of penalty and criminal justice discourse in foreign policy.

Please contact Randi Solhjell for questions regarding this sub-project.

Project period

The project runs from 2021–2026.

Financing

JustExports is financed by the Norwegian Research Council’s FRIHUMSAM Research Scheme on Young Research Talents and has been granted NOK 8 mil. Project number: 314208.


Publications

  • Lohne, Kjersti (2024). Penal Logics in International Politics: Nordic Foreign Policy on International Justice. In Wagner, Wolfgang; Durmusoglu, Linet R.; Hola, Barbora; Kroeze, Ronald; van Prooijen, Jan-Willem & Werner, Wouter G. (Ed.), Punishment in International Society: Norms, Justice, and Punitive Practices. Oxford University Press. ISSN 9780197693483.

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Published Dec. 22, 2021 2:13 PM - Last modified Nov. 1, 2023 11:10 PM

Contact

Project leader