Abstract
Transnational legal process theory suffers from an internalization problem: it does not adequately explain why international legal norms are internalized. This article addresses the gap by analyzing the Habré case in Senegal as an example of transnational legal process. Utilizing speech act and securitization theories, I argue that internalization can be partly explained by three factors of agency: (1) the validity of the claim, (2) linguistic competence, and (3) discursive strategies. Positing that the claim in the Habré case is sufficiently valid per se, I find multiple actors commanding linguistic competence and employing a variety of discursive strategies. I conclude that the agents of internalization have been stymied by the linguistic competence and discursive strategies of counter-agents of internalization, especially Senegalese religious leaders.
Recommended Citation
Caleb J. Stevens, Hunting a Dictator as a Transnational Legal Process: The Internalization Problem and the Hissène Habré Case, 24 Pace Int'l L. Rev. 190 (2012)DOI: https://doi.org/10.58948/2331-3536.1323
Available at: https://digitalcommons.pace.edu/pilr/vol24/iss1/6
