Boundaries of the International: Law and Empire

International law originated in the unequal relations between European states and non-European states and empires, with European powers dictating their own terms based on their own norms and interests. Dissident voices, such as Edmund Burke, insisted that European states had extensive legal obligations abroad that ought not to be ignored, providing valuable resources for scrutiny of the political, economic, and legal inequalities that continue to afflict global affairs.

Format: Hardback
Length: 304 pages
Publication date: 12 March 2018
Publisher: Harvard University Press

It is widely held that international law emerged from the interactions between European states that esteemed each other as sovereign and equal entities. However, as Jennifer Pitts demonstrates, international law was not solely shaped by the cooperative relations between European powers but also by their assertive interactions with non-European states and empires, leaving a lasting imprint on the unequal hierarchies of the contemporary international system.

Pitts delves into the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, a period marked by immense imperial expansion, during which European intellectuals and administrators sought to establish and defend legal frameworks to govern the emerging relationships with non-Europeans. Anchored in their military and economic dominance, European powers imposed their own terms based on their own norms and interests. Despite assertions that the law of nations represented a universal system grounded in principles of equality and reciprocity, the laws that governed the world were narrow-minded and intricately intertwined with imperialism. Legal scholars such as Emer de Vattel, John Westlake, and Henry Wheaton played pivotal roles in these developments. However, ordinary diplomats, colonial administrators, and journalists also contributed to these processes, as did some of the most influential political thinkers of the time, including Montesquieu and John Stuart Mill.

In contrast to this prevailing narrative, dissenting voices, exemplified by the esteemed Edmund Burke, contended that European states held extensive legal responsibilities abroad that should not be disregarded. Pitts argues that these critics offer valuable insights into the political, economic, and legal disparities that persist in shaping global affairs. By examining the perspectives of these dissidents, Pitts sheds light on the complex web of factors that contribute to the perpetuation of inequality and injustice on a global scale.

Weight: 590g
Dimension: 242 x 159 x 25 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780674980815