Jessica Larsen

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This PhD project examines the role of law in global governance. It takes as its empirical point of departure the practices of counter-piracy (CP) law enforcement off Somalia. CP involves piracy policing by warships on the high seas, and prosecution and incarceration in regional states. In this context, international and domestic law intersect and requires diverse state and non-state CP actors to collaborate and coordinate actions. This has led to a proliferation of international and regional networks dealing with CP. The project investigates how the political and normative processes hereof relate to actual CP law enforcement to shed contextual light on the role of law in global governance.

The project seeks to clarify how law informs practice, and how the interpretation of law relates to certain political and normative positions. Viewing law as a social process, the aim is to produce new perspectives on law in practice that are of both scientific and policy relevance.

The project combines law, political theory and anthropology. Fieldwork is conducted primarily in two locations central to CP law enforcement, namely on board a naval vessel in the Indian Ocean and in the judiciary and penitentiary of the Seychelles.