Critical international law: postrealism, postcolonialism, and transnationalism

Singh, P. and Mayer, B. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0669-7457, eds. (2014) Critical international law: postrealism, postcolonialism, and transnationalism. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199450633 doi: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199450633.001.0001

Abstract/Summary

Scholars have always thought of international law critically for some time now. This book reflects three broad movements within critical international law scholarship. Postrealism, to begin with, addresses the changing ways of conceiving the tensions between international laws and international politics. Postcolonialism then records and analysis doubts about international law’s Eurocentricsm and its subsequent universalization. Finally, transnationalism sees international law not as interstate law, or only as states as the primary subject of law, but appreciates the tremendous power of private actors, NGOs, and non-state actors that reshape the doctrine and function of international law. This book reintroduces critical international law to a broader audience. It wrestles with the summary rejection of ‘the crits’. To the subject of international law, internalizing criticism, the book argues, is vital.