Beyond Complicity - by Francine Banner (Paperback)

About the Book

"Beyond Complicity is a fascinating cultural diagnosis that identifies our obsession with complicity as a symptom of a deeply divided society. The questions surrounding what it means to be legally complicit are the same ones we may ask ourselves as we evaluate our own and others' responsibility for inherited and ongoing harms, such as racism, sexism, and climate change: What does it mean that someone "knew" they were contributing to wrongdoing? How much involvement must a person have in order to be complicit? At what point are we obligated to intervene? Francine Banner ties together pop culture, politics, law, and social movements to provide a framework for thinking about what we know intuitively: that our society is defined by crisis, risk, and the quest to root out hazards at all costs. Engaging with legal cases, historical examples, and contemporary case studies, Beyond Complicity unfolds the complex role that complicity plays in US law and society today, offering suggestions for how to shift focus away from blame and toward positive, lasting systemic change"--

Book Synopsis

An ambitious study of our obsession with complicity that shows how we can all become "good accomplices."

Beyond Complicity is a fascinating cultural diagnosis that identifies our obsession with complicity as a symptom of a deeply divided society. The questions surrounding what it means to be legally complicit are the same ones we may ask ourselves as we evaluate our own and others' responsibility for inherited and ongoing harms, such as racism, sexism, and climate change: What does it mean that someone "knew" they were contributing to wrongdoing? How much involvement must a person have in order to be complicit? At what point are we obligated to intervene?

Francine Banner ties together pop culture, politics, law, and social movements to provide a framework for thinking about what we know intuitively: that our society is defined by crisis, risk, and the quest to root out hazards at all costs. Engaging with legal cases, historical examples, and contemporary case studies, Beyond Complicity unfolds the complex role that complicity plays in US law and society today, offering suggestions for how to shift focus away from blame and toward positive, lasting systemic change.

From the Back Cover

"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 of Armies 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

Review Quotes

"An insightful contribution to an urgent national conversation that shows few signs of abating."-- "Kirkus Reviews"

About the Author

Francine Banner is Professor of Sociology at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. An attorney, she is the author of numerous publications on gender, law, and society, including Crowdsourcing the Law: Trying Sexual Assault on Social Media.