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Immunity on Trial: Ethiopian Courts, Chinese Corporations, and Contestations over Sovereignty
Set against the backdrop of an extraordinary wave of litigation against Chinese corporations in Ethiopia, Immunity on Trial probes the question of immunity in everyday encounters steeped in power asymmetries. Political and legal immunity are justified by the principle that certain social aims outweigh the value of imposing liability. To be exempt from the rules, however, is a privilege granted to or demanded by the powerful, one that is shaped by global inequalities. Drawing on observations from the courthouse, interviews with litigants and judges, and the analysis of case files, Miriam Driessen demonstrates how immunity is debated and delegitimized, or affirmed, by those who fight, exact, grant, or weigh immunity. From the construction site to the registrar’s office and into the courtroom, Driessen documents tussles over immunity, unravelling the politics of dignity on which they are founded.
Miriam Driessen is a Departmental Lecturer at the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography, University of Oxford, and the author of Tales of Hope, Tastes of Bitterness: Chinese Road Builders in Ethiopia.
Date:
29 January 2026, 17:00
Venue:
Dickson Poon Building, Canterbury Road OX2 6LU
Venue Details:
Kin-ku Cheng Lecture Theatre (lower ground floor)
Speaker:
Dr Miriam Driessen (University of Oxford)
Organising department:
Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
Organisers:
Dr Mark Czeller (University of Oxford),
Dr Cheuk Yee Wai (University of Oxford),
Professor Tian Yuan Tan (University of Oxford),
Dr Bo-jiun Jing (University of Oxford),
Dr Zhe Wang (University of Oxford),
Dr Evelyn Chan (University of Oxford),
Professor Denise van der Kamp (University of Oxford)
Organiser contact email address:
information@chinese.ox.ac.uk
Host:
Professor Denise van der Kamp (University of Oxford)
Part of:
China Studies Seminar series
Booking required?:
Not required
Cost:
Free
Audience:
Public
Editor:
Clare Orchard
