Beyond Complicity: Why We Blame Each Other Instead of Systems, Beyond Complicity: Why We Blame Each Other Instead of Systems

"Beyond Complicity offers a rigorous and engaging analysis of what it means to be complicit. Drawing on historical and contemporary examples, this book explains how ideas of responsibility and accountability are articulated and connected in accusations of complicity. Only by understanding these connections can we move beyond complicity and effectively challenge injustice in the world in which we live."--Austin D. Sarat, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science, Amherst College "Francine Banner has tackled an issue of extraordinary importance and relevance to society today. She has done so with deftness and aplomb, touching a wide range of topics, some historical, others contemporary. Her impressive ability to merge the two has much to teach us. I applaud her courage, depth, and honesty."--Amos N. Guiora, author ofArmies of Enablers: Survivor Stories of Complicity and Betrayal in Sexual Assaults"In this impressively sweeping book, Banner carefully maps complicity's ubiquity and shows it to be a double-edged sword. Too-ready accusations that others are complicit can focus undue attention on individuals and distract from structures of injustice, but honest self-evaluation of one's own complicity in those structures can be a useful prod to efforts to dismantle them."--Michael C. Dorf, Robert S. Stevens Professor of Law, Cornell Law School"Showing the promise and limits of the concept of complicity, this fascinating account compellingly argues for less blaming and more political will to create better--more responsible--practices, systems, and cultures."--Martha Minow, 300th Anniversary University Professor, Harvard University