International law theories : an inquiry into different ways of thinking / Andrea Bianchi.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bianchi, Andrea, 1963 July 4- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

International law.

Physical Description:

xiv, 320 pages ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2016.

Summary:

Two fish are swimming in a pond. 'Do you know what?' the fish asks his friend. 'No, tell me.' 'I was talking to a frog the other day. And he told me that we are surrounded by water!' His friend looks at him with great scepticism: 'Water? What's that? Show me some water! International lawyers often find themselves focused on the practice of the law rather than the underlying theories. This book is an attempt to stir up 'the water' that international lawyers swim in. It analyses a range of theoretical approaches to international law and invites readers to engage with different ways of legal thinking in order to familiarize themselves with the water all around us, of which we hardly have any perception. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Different Ways of Thinking about International Law 1

1.1 Aim 1

1.2 Reflexivity 3

1.3 Doing Law versus Thinking about Law 5

1.4 Theory and Practice 7

1.5 The Scientific Field 9

1.6 Interdisciplinarity and Its Implications: International Law ... 11

1.7 Book Structure and Choices 13

1.8 Theory as Worldmaking 16

1.9 Takeaways 19

Suggested Readings 20

2 Traditional Approaches 21

2.1 The Mirror of Tradition 21

2.2 A Jurisprudence of Boundaries 24

2.3 Demiurge in the Name of Reason 30

2.4 Twin Sister of the Official Discourse? 33

2.5 Style and Attitudes 36

2.6 Like a Phoenix 39

Suggested Readings 43

3 Constitutionalism and Global Governance 44

3.1 A 'German Discipline' 44

3.2 Domestic Law Paradigms and Beyond 46

3.3 The End of Politics 51

3.4 Modes and Techniques 54

3.5 Global Administrative Law 61

3.6 Visions of Global Governance 66

Suggested Readings 71

4 Marxism 72

4.1 Marx as Political Philosopher and Popular Culture Icon 72

4.2 Soviet Theories Distinguished 73

4.3 Revived Interest: 'Between Equal Rights' 76

4.4 Marxist Analysis: A Tool Kit 80

4.5 Form versus Content: A Marxist Agenda 85

4.6 International Law: Doom or Salvation? 87

Suggested Readings 90

5 The New Haven School 91

5.1 A Man with a Vision 91

5.2 The Policy-Oriented Approach 94

5.3 The Dialectics between Authority and Power 96

5.4 Values and the Goal of International Law 97

5.5 The Observational Standpoint 99

5.6 Harvard's Legal Process School Distinguished 101

5.7 The New 'New Haven or Transnational Legal Process 102

5.8 Legacy and Critique 105

Suggested Readings 109

6 International Relations and Social Science Methodologies 110

6.1 Contested Kinship 110

6.2 Dual or Double Agenda? 113

6.3 Resistance 116

6.4 Interaction(al) 119

6.5 Dialogue Reviewed 121

6.6 The Turn to Empirical Studies 126

6.7 Generic Inroads 131

Suggested Readings 134

7 Critical Legal Studies and the New Stream 135

7.1 Law is Politics 135

7.2 Against the Reproduction of Hierarchies 140

7.3 Critical Theory in International Law Scholarship: the 'New Stream' 142

7.4 The Indeterminacy Thesis Applied: 'From Apology to Utopia' 147

7.5 'New Stream' Scholarship Legacy 150

7.6 Style and Critique 156

7.7 The Profession as Subject 161

Suggested Readings 162

8 The Helsinki School 163

8.1 The Origin Myth of a Man with Projects 163

8.2 Critical Introspection and Structural Bias 165

8.3 (Other) People with Projects: The Turn to History 168

8.4 Against Managerialism (and Other Styles) 172

8.5 The Morality of the Agnostic 174

8.6 Retreat into History 179

Suggested Readings 181

9 Feminism 183

9.1 Genealogy 183

9.2 Against Objectivity: Unearthing the Structures of Gender Bias 186

9.3 Feminist Perspectives and Sensibilities 189

9.4 Recurrent Dichotomies and Traditional Themes 193

9.5 The Feminist Paradox: Re-instantiating Difference 197

9.6 Movement, Critique, and the Quest for Efficacy 201

Suggested Readings 204

10 Third World Approaches 205

10.1 Unveiling the Hierarchical Nature of International Law 205

10.2 Sovereignty as Empowerment 210

10.3 The Emergence of TWAIL II 215

10.4 History Contested: International Law as Empire 217

10.5 The New Colonial Order 221

10.6 Constituting the International: Repoliticizing and Engaging with International Law 223

Suggested Readings 226

11 Legal Pluralism 227

11.1 Fragments 227

11.2 Antidote to Fragmentation Anxieties 231

11.3 Perspectives on Global Law 234

11.4 Plurality of Social Rationalities 238

11.5 Pluralism as Professional Opportunity 242

Suggested Readings 244

12 Social Idealism 246

12.1 Tradition and Discontinuity 246

12.2 Revolution in the Mind 248

12.3 Law's Psychic Existence and Its Function 252

12.4 Evil 253

12.5 Path to Redemption 255

12.6 Apodictic Style 257

12.7 Thinking the 'Unthought': Object and Purpose 259

Suggested Readings 262

13 Law and Economics 263

13.1 Law is Efficient 263

13.2 Concepts, Techniques, and Analogies 268

13.3 Rational Choice Examined 271

13.4 Sources and Modelling: Customs and Treaties Explained 273

13.5 World Visions: L&E 'Lite' 277

13.6 Rationality Challenged: Behavioural L&E 280

13.7 Beyond the Can Opener: Problems and Prospects 284

Suggested Readings 286

14 Law and Literature 287

14.1 The Commonality of Language and the Generality of Text 287

14.2 Law in Literature 289

14.3 Storytelling and Narratives 291

14.4 Audience and Speaker 296

14.5 Persuasion, Style, and the Ars Inveniendi 298

14.6 Rhetoric 302

14.7 Interpretive Communities 304

14.8 Navigating through the Human Condition 306

Suggested Readings 310.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780198725121

0198725124

9780198725114

0198725116

OCLC:

918931505