scholarly journals A Conceptual History of Recognition in British International Legal Thought

2017 ◽  
Vol 87 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Clark
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Interwar Period ◽  
Basic Concept ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Conceptual History ◽  
Colonial Era ◽  
Legal Thought ◽  
History Of ◽  
The 1950S ◽  
Legal Concepts

Abstract This article examines the development of the concept of recognition in the writings of British jurists. It first outlines methodologies of conceptual history as applied to international legal concepts, before examining four strands of development of the concept of recognition from the mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries. It shows how the concept of recognition moved from examining intra-European diplomatic disagreements, to a focus on Christianity, civilisation and progress that barred non-European communities, to a late colonial-era emphasis on technicalities of government and territory, and eventually a state-centric account that normalised inferiority into difference, before emerging in the interwar period as a ‘basic concept’ of international law: intensely debated and closely tied to a range of political projects. The article concludes with reflections on why British thinking turns away from recognition in the 1950s, as the decolonising world turns to a new international law and self-determination.

International Legal Thought

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Kleinlein
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Critical Potential ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Legal Thought ◽  
History Of ◽  
Nineteenth And Twentieth Centuries

This contribution reflects on the role of tradition-building in international law, the implications of the recent ‘turn to history’ and the ‘presentisms’ discernible in the history of international legal thought. It first analyses how international legal thought created its own tradition in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. These projects of establishing a tradition implied a considerable amount of what historians would reject as ‘presentism’. Remarkably, critical scholars of our day and age who unsettled celebratory histories of international law and unveiled ‘colonial origins’ of international law were also criticized for committing the ‘sin of anachronism’. This contribution therefore examines the basis of this critique and defends ‘presentism’ in international legal thought. However, the ‘paradox of instrumentalism’ remains: The ‘better’ historical analysis becomes, the more it loses its critical potential for current international law. At best, the turn to history activates a potential of disciplinary self-reflection.

scholarly journals Ambivalence, anxieties / Adaptations, advances: Conceptual History and International Law

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 747-771
Author(s):  
MARTIN CLARK
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Conceptual History ◽  
Negative State ◽  
New Directions ◽  
Intractable Problems ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of International Law ◽  
Or History ◽  
Historical Theory

AbstractScholars of the history of international law have recently begun to wonder whether their work is predominantly about law or history. The questions we ask – about materials, contexts and movements – all raise intractable problems of historiography. Yet, few scholars have turned to historical theory to think through how we might go about addressing them.This article works towards remedying that gap by exploring why and how we might engage with historiography more deeply.Section 2 shows how the last three decades of the ‘turn to history’ can be usefully read as a move from ambivalence to anxiety. The major works of the 2000s thoroughly removed the pre-1990s ambivalence to history, offering brief considerations about method. Recent efforts building on those works have led to the present era of anxiety about both history and method, raising questions around materials, contexts and movements. But far from a negative state, this moment of anxiety is both appropriate and potentially creative: it prompts us to rethink our mode of engaging with historiography.Section 3 explores how this engagement might proceed. It reconstructs the principles and debates within conceptual history around the anxieties of materials, contexts and movements. It then explores how these might be adapted to histories of international law, both generally and within one concrete project: a conceptual history of recognition in the writings of British jurists.Section 4 concludes by considering the advances achieved by this kind of engagement, and reflects on new directions for international law and its histories.

Part I Histories, Ch.5 The Critique of Classical Thought during the Interwar Period: Vattel and Van Vollenhoven

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tourme-Jouannet Emmanuelle
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
International Law ◽  
Interwar Period ◽  
Classical Model ◽  
Legal Thought ◽  
Classical Conception ◽  
Small Work ◽  
International Thought

This chapter connects the larger theme of the link between contemporary law and classical international thought to the ideas posited by two jurists—Cornelis Van Vollenhoven and Emer de Vattel. In 1919, Van Vollenhoven published a small work in which he issued a fierce critique of classical (legal) thought, which, according to him, was embodied by the eighteenth-century jurist, Emer de Vattel. The classical conception of international law was never expounded more clearly than in Vattel’s 1758 work, Le droit des gens, ou principes de la loi naturelle, appliqués à la conduit et aux affaires des Nations et des Souverains. Hence, by studying Vattel’s and Van Vollenhoven’s doctrines, of which the latter offers a distorted reflection of the former, it is possible to contribute to elucidating the concerns, weaknesses, and current incarnations of that classical model.

scholarly journals Shaping Indigenous Self-Determination: Promising or Unsatisfactory Solutions?

2011 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 413-436 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mauro Barelli
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Straightforward Manner ◽  
History Of ◽  
United Nations Declaration ◽  
The Right ◽  
Right Of Self Determination ◽  
Do So

AbstractThe right of peoples to self-determination represents one of the most controversial norms of international law. In particular, two questions connected with the meaning and scope of this right have been traditionally contentious: first, who constitutes a ‘people’ for the purposes of self-determination, and, secondly, what does the right of self-determination actually imply for its legitimate holders. Against this unsettled background, the 2007 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) affirmed, in a straightforward manner, that indigenous peoples have the right to self-determination. In light of the uncertainties that were mentioned above, it becomes necessary to clarify the actual implications of this important recognition. This article will seek to do so by discussing the drafting history of the provision on self-determination contained in the UNDRIP and positioning it within the broader normative framework of the instrument.

scholarly journals History of self-determination of the people of Donbass. experience of the Soviet Republic of Donetsk and Krivoy Rog

2019 ◽  
pp. 148-152
Author(s):  
Vladislav V. Gruzdev ◽  
Dmitriy A. Babichev ◽  
Natal'ya A. Babicheva
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Cultural Development ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Political Status ◽  
The People ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Right ◽  
Historical Past

The article is devoted to the burning problem that arose in 2014 in the Ukraine, in the regions of Lugansk and Donetsk, and that concerns the right of the people of Donbass to self-determination. This problem is not only of a local territorial nature, but it is also one of the most complex debatable problems of international law. Since the right to self-determination contradicts the principle of territorial integrity of the state, the consideration and solution of this issue is the most burning for the whole population living on the territory of the self-proclaimed people's republics of Lugansk and Donetsk. In the article, the authors analyse the concept of "self-determination of the people" and give a generalised characteristic of it, approving that it is the right of every nation to solve the issues of state structure, political status, economic, social and cultural development independently and at its own discretion. The author also examines the historical past of the people of Donbass, where, in terms of the Republic of Donetsk and Krivoy Rog and various documentary historical and legal materials, we come to the conclusion that the population of Donbass has the right to social, economic, cultural, spiritual and other development just as all the recognised countries of the world.

scholarly journals PRINCIPLES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW AND THEIR ROLE IN CONFLICT RESOLUTION IN KOSOVO AND CRIMEA. Part 2

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Community ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
Territorial Integrity ◽  
Legal Norms ◽  
Conflict Situations ◽  
History Of ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Right

The second part of the article considers the issue of the contradiction of the realization of the right to self-determination and the principle of territorial integrity of Serbia and Ukraine on the example of Kosovo and Crimea. It presents an analysis of the legitimacy of the will expression of Kosovars and Crimeans and its compliance with the norms of international law. The preconditions and factors of the ethnopolitical conflict are examined and the main problematic issues that caused controversies between the central and local authorities in Kosovo and Crimea are identified. The article emphasizes that the result of the plebiscites in Kosovo (1998) and Crimea (2014) was the declaration of independence, denied by central authorities of Serbia and Ukraine and met with mixed reactions by the international community. The self-proclaimed republics have only external features of statehood and are subject to external administration of other countries. A latent opposition of geopolitical opponents in the international arena is noted, which is to some extent traced through the position on the recognition / non-recognition of Kosovo and Crimea. The article draws attention to the fact that inconsistent interpretations of certain principles of international law promote secession movements in countries where conflicts periodically arise between central and local authorities. The emphasis is placed on the necessity of a clearer definition of the aforementioned international legal norms and obligations undertaken by subjects of international law. The article holds that in order to avoid such situations as in Kosovo or Crimea, to eliminate conflicts related to the possibility of an ambiguous interpretation and application of the principles of international law, an internationally recognized system of more stringent and comprehensive measures should be introduced to cease and prevent threats to the territorial integrity of countries. A strong position of the international community on the abovementioned principles with the history of the liberation movements of these peoples taken into account should become the measure precluding the aggravation of conflict situations related to the aspiration of peoples for self-determination.

Independence or Autonomy: The Right to Self-Determination in the Enclave of Cabinda

1970 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Ian Denhez
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Independent State ◽  
Economic Changes ◽  
Foreign Companies ◽  
Full Independence ◽  
Legal Arguments ◽  
Oil Wealth ◽  
Legal Concepts ◽  
The Right

For decades, armed groups in the Angolan enclave of Cabinda have been attempting to overthrow the Angolan government and establish an independent state. However, since their military struggle has not succeeded, what, if any, basis for secession can Cabinda claim under international law? This article argues that while Cabindan nationalists can draw upon a number of effective legal arguments justifying independence, the enclave ultimately has a better claim not to full independence, but rather to autonomy within Angola. This is demonstrated by considering and refuting three major legal arguments used by proponents of Cabindan independence. After a brief review of the relevant legal concepts and Cabindan history, the first argument to be examined is that Cabinda’s distinct historical status voids Angola’s uti possidetis claim to Cabinda. Following this will be a review of the claim that political abuses and the denial to the Cabindan people of a plebiscite on independence grant Cabinda the right to ‘external’ self-determination. The final argument to be examined is that the scale of the misappropriation of Cabinda’s oil wealth by Angola and foreign companies justifies independence, given the enclave’s present lack of economic self-determination. The article ultimately concludes that although Cabinda had a stronger case for secession during the Angolan civil war, recent political and economic changes have weakened Cabinda’s claims under international law.

Origins

2020 ◽  
pp. 23-61
Author(s):  
Durba Mitra
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual History ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Female Sexuality ◽  
Indian Society ◽  
Sanskrit Text ◽  
Conceptual History ◽  
History Of ◽  
The 1950S

This chapter offers a conceptual history of the modern study of ancient Indian sex. It traces the intellectual history of how the philology of Sanskrit erotics, particularly through concepts of deviant female sexuality, shaped the modern study of social life. In doing so, the chapter reveals a history of how modern philological inquiry produced deviant female sexuality, as found in premodern Sanskrit text, as an originary object for the study of modern Indian society. What was lost in these new fixed structures of knowledge was the multiplicity of interpretations of different texts on premodern social life. Thus, this chapter examines the transregional rise of the field of Indological erotics in the period between the 1880s and the 1950s and beyond.

4 A History of International Investment Treaties

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salacuse Jeswald W
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Investment ◽  
International Treaties ◽  
Host Countries ◽  
Colonial Era ◽  
Foreign Investors ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
International Investment Law ◽  
History Of ◽  
Investment Treaties

This chapter traces the history and considers the purposes and consequences of the movement by states to negotiate investment treaties. In the post-colonial era of nationalizations and contract renegotiations, the economic facts of life in host countries struggled against the form of various legal commitments made to foreign investors. To change the dynamics of this struggle so as to protect the interests of their companies and investors, capital-exporting countries began a process of negotiating international investment treaties that, to the extent possible, would be: (1) complete; (2) clear and specific; (3) uncontestable; and (4) enforceable. These treaty efforts took place at both the bilateral and multilateral levels, which, though separate, tended to inform and reinforce each other. As a result of this process, a widespread treatification of international investment law took place in a relatively short time. By the end of the second decade of the twenty-first century, foreign investors in many parts of the world were protected primarily by international treaties rather than as previously by customary international law alone. For all practical purposes, treaties have become the fundamental source of international law in the area of foreign investment.

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