Situating vulnerability: politics, law, and institutions

The article fosters a critical exchange among interdisciplinary scholars on how vulnerability is currently theorized, politicized, and juridified across different contexts—from African humanitarian programs for refugees to human rights jurisprudence and feminist activism. My contribution to the CE examines how vulnerability becomes juridified in international and high courts. Rather than functioning as a bureaucratic or purely legalistic tool, it emerges as an unwritten and uncodified fundamental value, invoked by both judges and rights claimants. As a superlegal principle, the protection of vulnerable individuals often takes precedence over formal legislation, illustrating how courts increasingly assume the role of defining the community’s core values and setting boundaries for legislators. The juridification of vulnerability thus underscores the growing importance of the “politics of judicial rights protection” as a complement to traditional representative politics.