Alternative and Critical: The Contribution of Research and Scholarship on Developing Countries to International Legal Theory
13 Pages Posted: 15 Jun 2010
Date Written: 2000
Abstract
The first set of articles provides an explanation of international law from the viewpoint that international law is culturally constitutive and historically contingent. Obiora Okafor’s article demonstrates that the frailty of the nation state in Africa is partly connected to the impositions of Eurocentric notions of the nation-state on culturally heterogenousheterogeneous African nations, which led to a view of illegitimacy in the eyes of sub-state groups. Balakrishnan Rajagopal uses an ahistorical reading of international legal history to show how Third World resistance as a factor in expansion, consolidation, and renewal of international institutions has been underestimated. The second set of articles argues that international law can play a mediating role in addressing some legal gaps in market reform. Amy Chua explains the fundamental conflict between free markets and democracy. Eleanor Fox demonstrates that market failures in competition policy can result from the removal of market restraints. Kenneth Vandevelde examines bilateral investment treaties and raises concerns about their narrow focus. The last set of articles argues that notions of international law, development policy, and local custom do not have predetermined outcomes. Amr Shalakany discusses how bias is not the discernible and determinate outcome of doctrines and institutions in his examination of international commercial arbitration. Celestine Nyamu examines gender hierarchy and demonstrates that custom has both positive and negative impacts on women, which runs counter to the assumptions in human rights and development policy.
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