LJIL Lecture 2019
Visions of International Law: An Interdisciplinary Retrospective
Karen J. Alter, Northwestern University and iCourts
Leiden Journal of International Law Lecture
23 May 2019
17.00 - 19.00
Wijnhaven Building, Room 3.46
Taking the opportunity of this special lecture, Professor Alter will reflect on how her understandings of international law have changed over time. The retrospective will consider the following visions of international law: The naïve political scientist’s expectations about international law; the Euro-centric scholar’s notion that one can draw general lessons based on the European Union experience; the legal formalist and structural theorist who believes that formal rules, institutions, and processes should generate similar outcomes in different parts of the world; the liberal who believes that multilateral processes generate consent based agreements and outcomes; and the law-out-of-context scholar who forgets that superstructures of capitalism and power have always underpinned substantive international law; and the legal sociologist who believes that practices constitute the world of law. Professor Alter will reflect on these different visions, on what makes a scholar stay fixed or journey across visions of international law, and on what each vision captures and misses about international law.
The event is free but pre-registration is strongly encouraged. Email ljil@law.leidenuniv.nl to register.