Contemporary international criminal law after critique:Towards decolonial and abolitionist (dis-)engagement in an era of anti-impunity

Contemporary international criminal law (ICL) is a well-established field of scholarship and practice that wields significant influence in framing how certain events come to be understood and acted upon. Yet, as the field has increasingly captured the public’s attention and imagination, a body of critical scholarship has risen in prominence that seeks to test and challenge ICL’s underlying assumptions. In such a climate, this article suggests that ICL not only has moved beyond its inception and consolidation phases, but is beginning to emerge from its critical period towards a ‘post-critical’ phase where critique is becoming increasingly normalized within the field, with both reformist and structurally oriented reappraisals more readily acknowledged within ICL’s imaginary. Situated in this ‘post-critical’ moment, this article examines the extent to which the vocabulary and institutions of ICL may be productively (re-)engaged in the pursuit of emancipatory ends. After providing an overview of the strands of critique that have become increasingly prominent, we reflect on three avenues for engaging with the field of ICL ‘after critique’: first, critical engagement, centred on a commitment to revealing and detailing silenced and marginalized experiences and methods within the field itself; second, tactical and strategic engagement, which points to the ways in which actors choose to engage with imperfect legal frameworks for particular struggles; and finally, decolonial and abolitionist (dis-)engagement which takes as its point of departure the rejection of both colonial and carceral logics per se, especially in light of their historical and persisting patterns of patriarchal and racialized domination. Ultimately, in linking ICL with historical and contemporary anti-colonial and anti-carceral struggles, we seek not only to disrupt ICL progress narratives, but also to show how earlier, often-sidelined ways of imagining forms of harm and their repair may provide potentially more productive ways of engaging with ICL ‘after critique’

Crystalline silicate dust around evolved stars I. The sample stars

This is the first paper in a series of three where we present the first comprehensive inventory of solid state emission bands observed in a sample of 17 oxygen-rich circumstellar dust shells surrounding evolved stars. The data were taken with the Short and Long Wavelength Spectrographs on board of the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) and cover the 2.4 to 195 micron wavelength range. The spectra show the presence of broad 10 and 18 micron bands that can be attributed to amorphous silicates. In addition, at least 49 narrow bands are found whose position and width indicate they can be attributed to crystalline silicates. Almost all of these bands were not known before ISO. We have measured the peak positions, widths and strengths of the individual, continuum subtracted bands. Based on these measurements, we were able to order the spectra in sequence of decreasing crystalline silicate band strength. We found that the strength of the emission bands correlates with the geometry of the circumstellar shell, as derived from direct imaging or inferred from the shape of the spectral energy distribution. This naturally divides the sample into objects that show a disk-like geometry (strong crystalline silicate bands), and objects whose dust shell is characteristic of an outflow (weak crystalline silicate bands). All stars with the 33.6 micron forsterite band stronger than 20 percent over continuum are disk sources. We define spectral regions (called complexes) where a concentration of emission bands is evident, at 10, 18, 23, 28, 33, 40 and 60 micron. We derive average shapes for these complexes and compare these to the individual band shapes of the programme stars.Comment: 41 pages, 20 figures, accepted by A&A. Tables 4 to 20 are only available in electronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A

Molecular Halogens Above the Arctic Snowpack: Emissions, Diurnal Variations, and Recycling Mechanisms

Elevated levels of reactive bromine and chlorine species in the springtime Arctic boundary layer contribute to ozone depletion and mercury oxidation, as well as reactions with volatile organic compounds. Recent laboratory and field studies have revealed that snowpack photochemistry leads to Br2 and Cl2 production, the mechanisms of which remain poorly understood. In this work, we use a photochemical box model, with a simplified snow module, to examine the halogen chemistry occurring during the March 2012 Bromine, Ozone, and Mercury Experiment (BROMEX) near Utqiaġvik (Barrow), Alaska. Elevated daytime Br2 levels (e.g., 6–30 parts per trillion (ppt) at around local noon) reported in previous studies and in this work may be explained by Br + BrNO2/BrONO2 reactions under conditions of depleted O3 (<~10 ppb) and background NO2 (10–100 ppt). Even at low background NOx levels at Utqiaġvik, ClONO2 is predicted to be important in the production of Cl2 via multiphase reaction with Cl−. In the late afternoon, photolysis alone cannot explain the rapid decrease of Cl2 observed in the Arctic boundary layer. Heterogeneous reactions of Cl2 on aerosol particles and surface snowpack are suggested to play a key role in atmospheric Cl2 removal and possible BrCl production. Given the importance of the snowpack in the multiphase chemistry of the Arctic boundary layer, future measurements should focus on vertically resolved measurements of NOx and reactive halogens, as well as simultaneous particulate and snow halide measurements, to further evaluate and isolate the halogen production and vertical propagation mechanisms through one‐dimensional modeling.Key PointsHeterogeneous uptake of Cl2 is an important missing sink of Cl2 and source of BrCl in Arctic modelsThe multiphase reaction of ClONO2 is suggested to play a key role in Arctic snowpack Cl2 productionBr + BrNO2/BrONO2 may lead to elevated daytime Br2 under low O3 conditions, even for “background” NOxPeer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141542/1/jgrd54213.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141542/2/jgrd54213_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141542/3/jgrd54213-sup-0001-Data_S1.pd

Summertime aerosol chemical components in the marine boundary layer of the Arctic Ocean

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/95013/1/jgrd12367.pd

The Prevalence and Influence of the Combination of Humor and Violence in Super Bowl Commercials

The growing concern over violence in the media has led to vast amounts of research examining the effects of violent media on viewers. An important subset of this research looks at how humor affects this relationship. While research has considered this subset in television programming, almost no research has explored this in the context of advertising. This paper builds on the little research that exists by examining the effects of combining humor and violence, as well as the theoretical approaches that underlie these effects. A content analysis is conducted to identify the prevalence of violence, humor, and the combination of these elements in a longitudinal sample of Super Bowl commercials (2005, 2007, and 2009). Further, we investigate the relationship between the joint occurrence of humor and violence in ads and ad popularity. We conclude that violent acts are rampant in these commercials and that many acts are camouflaged by the simultaneous presence of humor, especially in the most popular ads