New Book: Immunity on Trial by Miriam Driessen

“Immunity on Trial reveals in a breathtaking way how Ethiopian citizens leverage the courts to challenge the overbearing influence of multinational corporations. The book is intellectually stimulating, ethnographically rich, and refreshingly unique in its approach to the anthropological study of Africa.” 

OMOLADE ADUNBI, author of Enclaves of Exception

Set against the backdrop of an extraordinary wave of litigation against Chinese corporations in Ethiopia, Immunity on Trial probes the question of immunity in everyday encounters steeped in highly asymmetrical power relations. Political and legal immunity are justified by the principle that certain social aims outweigh the value of imposing liability. To be exempt from the rules, however, is a privilege granted to or demanded by the powerful, one that is shaped by global inequalities.

Drawing on observations from the courthouse, interviews with litigants, judges, and court support staff, and analyses of case files, Miriam Driessen demonstrates how immunity is debated and delegitimized, or affirmed, by those who fight, exact, grant, or weigh it. From the construction site to the police station, from the registrar’s office into the courtroom, she documents tussles over immunity, unravelling the politics of dignity on which they are founded.

This book’s depiction of people struggling for dignity in the face of global inequality is a major contribution to studies of Chinese-African relations.”

DANIEL MAINS, author of Under Construction

Read or buy the book on the publisher's website