Subalterns and International Law : A Political Critique (Broché)

What is the role of international law in the different societies of the world ? What are its effects on the various relations of domination and exploitation that permeate and structure these societies ? Should it be seen as being more favourable to dominant groups or to subalterns ? Should the latter use international law as the main weapon in their fight against different forms of subordination, or should it be used only in certain strategic circumstances ? This book proposes hypotheses to answer these and other questions.
Seeking in particular to radicalise the vocabulary used by critical international lawyers, the author of this book aims to theorise the effects of international law on relations between dominant and subaltem groups in different societies around the world. More specifically, he seeks to understand its role in the reproduction, legitimation, contestation, and transfomlation of systems of social relations of subordination such as capitalism, patriarchy, racism, and imperialism, which constitute the matrices of subordination in these societies.
Essentially, this book considers that these effects occur at four distinct moments, namely when law structures international society, for example by organising it territorially into sovereign and formally equal States ; when its rules and institutions are formally used by the various actors who are in a position to do so ; when it is a factor influencing the different ideological formations in the world ; and, finally, when it is used as a language for legitimately defending political claims.