The intersection of racial profiling research and the law

There has been a significant increase in the litigation of selective enforcement cases based on racial profiling claims. This trend has resulted in two legal issues that are problematic for racial profiling research. First, selective enforcement claims that rely on statistical evidence must successfully measure “similarly situated persons” who were eligible for police stops to provide a comparison against those actually stopped by police. Second, the research must demonstrate “how much” statistical evidence of racial/ethnic disparities exists. Although these legal components are necessary for successful selective enforcement claims, the methodologies and statistical analyses currently used in racial profiling research cannot adequately address these issues. It is argued that the over-reliance on social science research, in general, and statistical techniques, specifically, to provide evidence of discrimination in selective enforcement cases places policing research and legal decision making at a crossroads.     

Books Received

Criminal Law Forum -     

Premature repayment of fixed interest mortgage loans without compensation,a case of misguided consumer protection in the EU

European Journal of Law and Economics - Consumer protection shifts risks from consumers to businesses. This raises marginal costs and equilibrium prices. It is justified when markets are not strong...     

MI5 and the Cold War in South-East Asia: examining the performance of Security Intelligence Far East (SIFE), 1946–1963

From 1946–1963, MI5 operated a South-East Asian regional headquarters in Singapore: Security Intelligence Far East (SIFE). This article responds to growing interest in theatre-level intelligence organisation and the importance of intelligence to Britain’s Cold War and decolonisation by examining the performance of SIFE. On the organisational level, SIFE was strongest when it remained wedded to its charter functions and closely adhered to the priorities of its principal consumer: the Commissioner-General for South-East Asia. Its assessments were influential in shaping decision-makers’ understandings of key regional developments, although this did not always translate into public policy. Lastly, SIFE enjoyed success in developing lasting liaison relationships to cement British influence, but failed to utilise these to improve its intake of raw intelligence.     

Solidarity or hierarchy?: India’s identification with Africa and the postcolonial politics of race

The idea of solidarity between India and Africa has long drawn heavily from historical sources, including the anti-colonial legacies of Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi, and ongoing frustration with a hierarchical world order that subordinates them from international decision-making. In this article, I consider the historical ambivalence embedded within the ways in which India now identifies with and talks about “Africa.” I argue that elements of the Modi government’s political project is changing the meaning of India’s identification with “Africa.” After a brief theoretical discussion and a consideration of the historical context, I look at two recent examples in which India’s relationship with Africa was narrated: the 2015 India–Africa Forum Summit and the recent furor over attacks on African students in India. This has already caused upset between India and specific African states. Although still premised on shared resistance to hierarchy, there are signs that the idea of “India-Africa relations” itself can become a hierarchical discourse.