IILJ History and Theory of International Law
The Law of International Society: A Road not Taken
Please join us for a presentation and conversation with Professor Martti Koskenniemi (University of Helsinki, Faculty of Law) about his new paper, titled, “The Law of an International Society: A Road not Taken”.
Professor David Dyzenhaus (University of Toronto, Faculty of Law) will comment on the paper.
Professor Noah Rosenblum (NYU Law) will moderate the session.
The session will take place at the Guarini Institute (22 Washington Square North) on Monday, October 16th 4:00-5:45pm.
Registration for in person participation
THE LAW OF INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY: A ROAD NOT TAKEN
Martti Koskenniemi
As I argued in my Gentle Civilizer of Nations, modern international law arose in the last third of the 19th century. At the time, as well as long into the 20th century, its ideological centre lay in the concept of “civilization”. This was a profoundly hierarchical notion that projected a particular developmental frame for all nations. That concept was embedded in a certain theory about history and statehood that was particularly well developed in German public law. However, by mid-19th century, another view to think about law, politics and statehood was developing in Europe that focused on the concept of “society”. This had its British, French and Italian versions but I want to focus on a German approach that at one point became a rival to old Staatslehre and the historical school. This had also an internationalist variant that was critical of old formalist public law and worked with a notion of “international society” (internationale Gemeinschaft). In this talk I want to examine the ascent of this notion, the brief moment when it seemed to provide a modern alternative to older ways to think about the laws of statehood and the international realm, and its eventual demise at the time of the establishment of the Institut de droit international in 1873.