Project description
Studying the relationship between law, war and violence
Between 1937 and 1945, conflict between China and Japan raged on the battlefield and in the courtroom. With judge-advocates following Japanese soldiers, the system of courts-martial and military courts throughout East and Southeast Asia regulated violence to serve Japan’s war goals. It also forced civilians to follow Japan’s New Order in East Asia, and it convinced domestic and international audiences that Japan's war was legitimate and ‘legal.’ As regards verdicts, these routinely ended in imprisonment or execution. In this context, the EU-funded LawWithoutMercy project will explore mass violence during the Asia–Pacific War. It will use military justice as a focal point and as a highly precise lens for studying the various figurations of violence during the war.
Objective
Japan fought the war over East and Southeast Asia between 1937 and 1945 not only in the theatres of war, but with equal harshness in the courtrooms of military justice. Wherever Japanese soldiers went, judge-advocates followed, meeting out stern justice to soldiers, civilians and enemy soldiers alike. The system of courts-martial and military courts throughout East and Southeast Asia served three purposes: regulate violence and channel it efficiently to serve Japan's war goals; deter the civilian population and coerce it into following Japan's 'New Order' in East Asia; and finally, convince domestic and international audiences that Japan's war was not only legitimate, but also 'legal'. Yet, despite formal pretences, verdicts routinely ended in execution or harsh imprisonment. As such, the violence of the justice system mirrored the brutality of the war in general.
Despite the highly contentious nature of the war even today, a systematic study of mass violence during the Asia-Pacific War has been sorely lacking. 'Law without Mercy' undertakes this daunting task by using military justice as focal point and as a highly precise lens for studying the various figurations of violence during the war. It is pioneering in analysing legal practice as an integral part of this violence and facilitator for its routinisation and escalation on the battlefield and in the occupied territories. And finally, it opens up a wholly new and large body of sources through original archival work that helps to overcome the notorious direness of documentation on Japan's conduct during the war.
Situated at the intersection of several historical fields, 'Law without Mercy' capitalises on the double expertise of the PI in modern Japanese history and international law. With the complex and precarious relation between law, war and violence still at the heart of humanitarian issues, the historical insights of this project have very practical implications for our conflict-laden world today.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- humanities history and archaeology history
- humanities arts performing arts dramaturgy
- social sciences law
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
ERC-COG - Consolidator Grant
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2018-COG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
14195 BERLIN
Germany
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.