ABSTRACT
While few mainstream accounts of international criminal law pay close attention to the complex circumstances giving rise to international criminal trials, critical scholars take these circumstances seriously. Yet, many of their critical examinations are concerned with complementing the mainstream’s treatment of politico-strategic affairs through foregrounding the often-neglected politico-economic dimension of these trials. Building on both mainstream and critical approaches, this chapter highlights an important politico-cultural dimension by situating those trials in a deeper and more profound context of modernity. Instead of offering more constructive criticism aimed at helping to ensure the smooth enforcement of international criminal law, this chapter takes shape as a critique, revealing that international criminal trials are never detached from underlying configurations of material and ideational power. In fact, this bifurcation not only illustrates how these power configurations operate in and through the trials themselves but also signals the need for legal scholars to broaden their notion of the political.
