International Relations and International Law: Theories and Histories - Dr Giovanni Mantilla
This module focuses on the study of international law by scholars of International Relations. It debates the dominant ways of IR thinking about international legal rules (and in some cases, related institutions) through the combined reading prominent IR work on the origins, development, and effects of various bodies of international law alongside the recent (often revisionist) histories of those same bodies of rules. We will explore questions such as: To what extent has IR grappled with the political history of various strands of international law? How do the findings emerging from new histories complicate or confirm IR’s assumptions or findings? What are the different ways in which history and historical methods can be applied to produce IR research on international law? In terms of specific areas of law, potential foci might include: the law on the use of force, the law of human rights, international humanitarian law, international criminal law, international investment or trade law, the law of international organizations, or the law of statehood, self-determination, and state recognition.
