Recentering the World: China and the Transformation of International Law

Recentering the World provides a detailed history of Western-imposed legal structures in China and how Chinese officials, jurists, and citizens engaged with international law. It demonstrates how international law functioned as a channel for power relations, economic domination, and resistance, and how Chinese jurists made significant contributions to international organizations and the UN system.

Format: Hardback
Length: 250 pages
Publication date: 03 November 2022
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Recentering the World: A History of Western-Imposed Legal Structures in China

Recentering the World offers a comprehensive and detailed account of the historical development of Western-imposed legal structures in China, as well as the engagements of Chinese officials, jurists, and citizens with international law. Spanning from the Late Qing era to the mid-twentieth century, the book explores how international law served as a conduit for power relations, economic domination, and innovative forms of resistance. It challenges traditional Eurocentric narratives of modern international law's origins, highlighting the significant contributions made by Chinese jurists to international organizations, the United Nations system, the international judiciary, the laws of armed conflict, and other areas of international law.

Drawing on extensive archival research, the book provides a valuable guide to China's complex and often conflicting role in international law. It examines China's reception and contestation of concepts such as sovereignty, property, obligation, and autonomy, and traces its gradual transition from the periphery to a shared position at the center of global legal order. The book sheds light on the intricate interplay between Chinese legal traditions and Western legal frameworks, highlighting the challenges and opportunities that China has faced in its engagement with the international legal system.

Overall, Recentering the World is a seminal work that offers a fresh perspective on the history and evolution of Western-imposed legal structures in China. It provides valuable insights into the complex dynamics between China and the international legal system, and is essential reading for scholars, policymakers, and anyone interested in understanding the evolving relationship between China and the world.

Weight: 740g
Dimension: 176 x 251 x 29 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781108498968