European Society of International Law Interest Group on International Legal Theory

Workshop, held on the occasion of the ESIL Tenth Anniversary Conference

‘International Law and …’, Vienna, 3 September 2014

Call for Papers

Extra-Legal Dynamics of International Legal Theory

A long-standing challenge within international legal theory is to explain the central dynamics and logic that shape the discipline. There is a trend to adopt two different modes of analysis. On the one hand, scholars focus on the discourse itself to map out and explain its argumentative techniques and rationales. On the other hand, scholars have looked to explanations found in extra-legal phenomena (e.g. politics, social movements). In either mode, scholars have increasingly turned to methodological and theoretical insights from a wide range of other disciplines (e.g. economics, history, linguistics, sociology, theology) and intellectual movements (e.g. structuralism, post-Marxism). As the literature’s analytical toolkit has expanded, so to have its sources: states, non-governmental organisations, social movements, and so forth, are all ripe for inquiry and tend to suggest an ever more complex and potentially indeterminate infrastructure of global regulation.
Submissions are encouraged that focus on either the historic development and disputes between particular methodological explanations of international law or potential methodological insights that might be considered from legal or inter-disciplinary sources.
Each submission should include:
–         an abstract of no more than 400 words,
–         the intended language of presentation,
–         a short curriculum vitae containing the author’s name, institutional affiliation, contact information and e-mail address.
Applications should be submitted to esil.igilt@gmail.com by 17 April 2014. All applicants will be notified of the outcome of the selection process by 1 May 2014.
Selection will be based on scholarly merit and with regard to producing an engaging workshop, without prejudice to gender, seniority, language or geographical location. Please note that the ESIL Interest Group on International Legal Theory is unable to provide funds to cover the conference registration fee or related transport and accommodation costs.
The Co-ordinating Committee: Aeyal Gross, John D. Haskell, Jörg Kammerhofer, Robert J. Knox, Paavo Kotiaho, Umut Özsu, Akbar Rasulov and Mortimer Sellers
ESIL IGILT cfp for Vienna 2014.pdf