ESIL Interest Group History of International Law

ESIL Interest Group History of International Law

Friday 30 October 2015

JOB: Lecturer in History and Law (Queen Mary School of Law, University of London); DEADLINE 29 NOV 2015




(image source: The Student Room)


The School of Law at Queen Mary (University of London) is hiring a lecturer in "history and law".

Job description:
Queen Mary University of London enjoys an outstanding international reputation for the excellence of its research and teaching in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Its School of History and School of Law are innovative leaders renowned for their dynamic and supportive research environments, their international collaborations, their excellent teaching practices, and their members’ engagement with publics outside academia.

The School of History and the School of Law are now seeking to extend their joint teaching and research interests by appointing an excellent historian of law and legal thought. They invite applications from candidates, who may have completed research towards a doctorate in Law or in History, and whose research may include:
·         The history of legal thought
·         Constitutional history
·         Law in colonial and imperial contexts
·         The history of human rights
·         Religious traditions of law
·         International and transnational history of law
·         Comparative legal history

The School of History and the School of Law would expect the successful candidate to lead in the development of their new degree of Law with History, which will be offered to undergraduates from September 2016, including designing and offering a new module for this programme.  This will be a unique opportunity for the display of intellectual leadership and a flair for work within an interdisciplinary environment.

The post is full time and permanent. Starting salary will be in the range of £39,351 - £41,553 per annum, inclusive of London Allowance. Benefits include 30 days annual leave, defined benefit pension scheme and interest-free season ticket loan.

Candidates must be able to demonstrate their eligibility to work in the UK in accordance with the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006. Where required this may include entry clearance or continued leave to remain under the Points Based Immigration Scheme.
More information:
Informal enquiries may be made in confidence to: Professor Miri Rubin (Head of the School of History) or Professor Valsamis Mitsilegas (Head of the School of Law) by e-mail: m.e.rubin@qmul.ac.uk;v.mitsiegas@qmul.ac.uk

A full job profile can be read here.

Wednesday 28 October 2015

BOOK: Andreas Harald AURE, The Right to Wage War (jus ad bellum) The German reception of Grotius 50 years after De iure belli ac pacis [Berliner Juristische Universitätsschriften; Grundlagen des Rechts, 52] (Berlin: Berliner Wissenschafts-Verlag GmbH), 2015, 220 p. ISBN 978-3-8305-3237-8, € 34

                                               (image source : bwv.verlag)

The Legal History Blog signals the recent publication of a book by Dr. Andreas Harald Aure entitled "The Right to Wage War (jus ad bellum) The German reception of Grotius 50 years after De iure belli ac pacis".

Summary:


With De iure belli ac pacis libri tres (1625), the Dutch humanist and natural law philosopher Hugo Grotius (1583–1645) quickly became the greatest authority on international law (jus gentium) and on just war (bellum justum) in Europe for the next hundred years or so. By examining the theories of three largely unknown German scholars, Konrad Friedlieb, Valentin Alberti and Johann Wolfgang Textor, Andreas Harald Aure discusses dominant visions of international law and the right to go to war (jus ad bellum) in the Protestant parts of the Holy Roman Empire, two generations after Grotius wrote his magnum opus.
The authors struggled with questions such as:
– What may serve as right justification (cause) for war?
– Can an offensive war be just?
– Can a war be just on both sides?
– Has a belligerent the right to pass through third-party territory?
– Is there a right to wage war on behalf of people in foreign countries?
Two chapters discuss the conceptual development of jus gentium (the law of nations). As an adherent of Thomas Hobbes’ systematic approach to law, Samuel Pufendorf (1632–1694) realigned jus gentium as natural law (jus naturale). The main topic of this book is a detailed account of the just conditions for war (jus ad bellum) among leading German scholars in the 17th Century, based on in-depth research of primary sources.

On the author:

Dr. Andreas Harald Aure, born 1970, holds law degrees from the University of Oslo, Cand.jur. 2000, and the Humboldt University in Berlin, LL.M. 2001. He was an associate professor of legal science at the University of Agder (Kristiansand, Norway), 2011-2014. He currently works as a teacher and translator in Oslo.

More information on the bwv-verlag website

Tuesday 20 October 2015

CALL FOR PAPERS: Workshop 'A Century after Russian Revolution: Its Legacy in International Law' (Heidelberg, 19 May 2016); DEADLINE 10 April 2016

(image source: Mpil)

In the context of the upcoming centennial anniversary of the Russian Revolution in 2017, the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg will host a workshop with experts in the field to reflect on the Russian Revolution and its aftermath. The workshop convenes lawyers, historians and political scientists to present a paper which will be published in a focus session of the Journal of the History of International Law (JHIL). The central theme is ‘A Century after Russian Revolution: Its Legacy in International Law’. Issues to be addressed are the international right to self-determination of peoples, the role of revolution for statehood, state succession, recognition and Russian international law in the sense of its historiography and doctrine.

Speakers presenting their papers during the day are Prof. Sabine Dullin (Sciences Po Paris), Prof. John B. Quigley (Ohio State University), Prof. Lauri Mälksoo (University of Tartu), Prof. Veronika Bilkova (Charles University Prague), Dr. Janis Grzybowski (Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies Geneva) and Prof. Vittorio Hösle (University of Notre Dame).

The workshop will take place on Thursday 19 May 2016 in Heidelberg, beginning in the morning and ending on in the afternoon around 17.00.

Scholars and practitioners interested in participating in the workshop as engaged listeners, that is, as audience (and participants in the discussions following the presentations), are invited to respond to this call.
The presentations of invited speakers will relate to the following topics:
  • -  Self-determination
  • -  Statehood and recognition
  • -  Property and sovereignty
  • -  The Russian Revolution from a philosophical and historical perspective
  • -  Secret treaties

    The final programme will be publicized soon.
    If you are interested in participating in the audience (not as a speaker), send an application with a statement of motivation explaining you interest and expertise or current research interest (maximum 1⁄2 to 1 page), and your cv including list of publications (maximum one page) to Dr. Mieke van der Linden (linden@mpil.de).
Participation is at your own expense; the Max Planck Institute cannot contribute to your travel and accommodation costs. Admitted participants must secure their own accommodation, and we advise to do this early. 

Space is limited, and participants will be admitted on a first come-first serve basis, taking into account their demonstrated expertise on the topic. No applications will be admitted after 10 April 2016.

For all inquiries, please contact Dr. Mieke van der Linden (linden@mpil.de). 

CALL FOR PAPERS: ESIL Interest Group History of International Law Workshop "Writing Crisis in the History of International Law" (ESIL Conference, Riga, 8-10 September 2016); DEADLINE 15 Feb 2016

(image: M.C. Escher, "Writing Hands"; source: MC Escher)

On the occasion of the ESIL 12th Annual Conference (Riga, 8-10 September 2016, titled “How International Law Works in Times of Crisis”) the ESIL Interest Group on the History of International Law (http://esilhil.blogspot.com/) hereby invites submissions, in English or in French, for its annual Workshop.

Call for Papers
The idea of crisis is a permanent feature of international law debates, increasing in popularity over the past few decades. There are many possible explanations for this phenomenon. One is that the discipline of international law is constantly experiencing a state of crisis, crisis being an analytical tool measuring stable content. Another explanation is that crisis is no more than an epithet, deployed to single out an event or situation as exceptional or dramatic, thus paving the road for transformation and renewal. Other examples also exist. The intersection between crisis and international law, however, inevitably infers questions of time and history. It raises questions about the normal and the exceptional; about continuity and rupture; about the direction of history, and its periodization. It prompts questions about whether the history of international law can be written as a history of crises and questions about what is at stake each time ‘crisis’ is used to characterize a situation as exceptional.

In this context, the IGHIL invites submissions by scholars working within the fields of international law, history, and politics on the following inter-related themes:
a)    To (re)tell the stories of events (situations, phenomenal, linkages) that have captured the imagination of international legal historiography as paradigmatic instances of crisis;
b)    To examine questions of method and epistemology involved in the history writing of crises (e.g. questions of teleology, narrative, tropology) in international law;
c)    To reflect on the relationship between crisis, exceptionalism, and projects of legal reform, and what is to be learned by studying past crises for the present and future of international law.

Each submission should include:
a)    An abstract of no more than 400 words;
b)    The intended language of presentation;
c)    A short curriculum vitae containing the author’s name, institutional affiliation, contact information and e-mail address.

Abstracts must be submitted no later than 15 February 2016 to both Thomas Skouteris (thomas.skouteris@icloud.com) and Inge Van Hulle (Inge.VanHulle@law.kuleuven.be) on behalf of the Steering Committee of the Interest Group, which shall collectively supervise the peer-review process of the abstracts. Applicants will be notified on the outcome of the selection process by 15 March 2016.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 the History of International Law is unable to provide funds to cover the conference registration fee or related transport and accommodation costs.

The IG currently investigates publication possibilities for selected abstracts.

Monday 19 October 2015

BOOK: Louis SICKING, Birth of a Thalassocracy. The Low Countries and the Sea on the Verge of the Golden Age (Paris: Presses de l'Université Paris-Sorbonne), 2015, 350 p. ISBN 9782840509981, € 26

 
 (image source : PUPS)

The Presses de l'Université Paris-Sorbonne recently published a book by Prof. Louis Sicking (VU Amsterdam/Leiden) entitled "La Naissance d'une thalassocratie. Les Pays-Bas et la mer à l'aube du Siècle d'Or".

Summary:
L’essor maritime sans précédent de la République des Provinces­‐Unies au XVIIe siècle a impressionné les contemporains et continue de fasciner aujourd’hui.
La Révolte des Pays-­Bas menée par Guillaume d’Orange et la naissance, pendant ce long conflit (1568‐1648), d’une république indépendante est un thème classique de l’histoire européenne et domine toujours le cadre de l’histoire nationale des Pays­‐Bas actuels. A contrario, la période qui a précédé ce point­‐pivot de l’histoire des Pays­‐Bas n’est que rarement évoquée, alors qu’elle a pourtant fortement influencé la constitution de la République des Provinces‐Unies et son succès sur les mers du monde.
Ce livre vise à montrer l’importance de l’histoire maritime des anciens Pays‐Bas pour la Révolte et l’expansion maritime des Provinces‐Unies. Commençant avec l’intégration des provinces néerlandaises aux XVe et XVIe siècles par les Bourguignons et les Habsbourg, La Naissance d’une thalassocratie analyse les changements et les ruptures, mais aussi les continuités de l’histoire des Pays-­Bas et son rapport à la mer à l’aube du Siècle d’or, afin de proposer au lecteur une nouvelle perspective qui renouvelle les cadres traditionnels des historiographies néerlandaises et belges.
Table of contents:
Avant-­‐propos
Introduction

Chapitre I. La formation des Pays-­‐Bas

Partie I Espaces : Ports, communications, façade maritime

Chapitre II. Le paradoxe de l’accès maritime : le rôle des avant-­‐ports
Chapitre III. L’île de Walcheren ou la clé des Pays-­‐Bas
Chapitre IV. La frontière maritime des Pays-­‐Bas et la défense côtière

Partie II Intérêts : Profit, protection, intervention

Chapitre V. Les Pays-­‐Bas et le commerce atlantique
Chapitre VI. La Hollande et la Hanse dans la mer Baltique
Chapitre VII. La notion de risque dans le transport maritime
Chapitre VIII. Le lobby pêcheur flamand
Chapitre IX. Les coûts de protection et la rentabilité de la pêche au hareng

Partie III : Pouvoirs : Rapports de force, représentations, révolte

Chapitre X. Les transports militaires par mer
Chapitre XI. La coopération navale entre Charles Quint et Henri VIII
Chapitre XII. Montrer la gloire maritime des souverains et amiraux des Pays-­‐Bas
Chapitre XIII. La Révolte des Pays-­‐Bas sur mer
Chapitre XIV. Les amirautés des Pays-­‐Bas
Chapitre XV. La naissance d’une thalassocratie

Annexes
On the author:
Louis Sicking est maître de conférences en histoire médiévale et moderne à l’université de Leyde et professeur d’histoire du droit international public à l’université libre d’Amsterdam.
Il a publié entre autres : Neptune and the Netherlands. State, Economy and War at Sea in the Renaissance (2004) ; Frontières d’Outre-­‐Mer. La France et les Pays-­Bas dans le monde atlantique au XIXe siècle (2006) et dirigé, avec Darlene Abreu-­‐Ferreira, la publication de Beyond the Catch. Fisheries of the North Atlantic, the North Sea and the Baltic, 900-­‐1850 (2009).
 More information on the PUPS website.

Thursday 8 October 2015

BOOK: Stefano ANDRETTA, Stéphane PÉQUIGNOT and Jean-Claude WAQUET (eds.), De l'ambassadeur: les écrits relatifs à l'ambassadeur et à l'art de négocier du Moyen Âge au début du XIXe siècle [Collection de l'École française de Rome, 504] (Rome: École française de Rome, 2015) 650 p. ISBN 978-2-7283-1093-7, € 48.



The École française de Rome published a collective work on diplomatic writing.

Abstract:
Consacré aux écrits relatifs à l’ambassadeur et à l’art de négocier, ce livre suit au fil d’une vingtaine d’études le long et multiforme travail d’élaboration auquel la figure de l’ambassadeur et l’art de la négociation ont donné lieu, de la genèse de nouvelles formes d’organisation politique à la fin du Moyen Âge jusqu’à l’émergence de la profession diplomatique à la fin du XVIIIe siècle et au XIXe siècle. Certains des textes examinés, comme les traités de legatis ou le Guide de Martens, présentent une dimension théorique ou pédagogique. D’autres sont des écrits littéraires, des instruments juridiques ou des actes de la pratique où se lit, de façon plus ou moins incidente, une réflexion sur les envoyés diplomatiques et l’art qu’ils mettaient en œuvre. Qu’ils aient été composés pour accréditer une fonction, défendre des privilèges, forger des modèles de comportement ou transmettre à de futurs praticiens les leçons de l’expérience, ces textes montrent comment, des docteurs médiévaux aux professeurs du XIXe siècle, en passant par les humanistes et les négociateurs du Grand Siècle, la figure de l’ambassadeur et les règles de son art ont été sans cesse construites et reconstruites. Aussi, à travers l’étude de ce vaste corpus, ce livre invite à un parcours dans les savoirs de la diplomatie, de l’ambaxiator médiéval aux lendemains du Congrès de Vienne.
On the editors:

- Stefano Andretta, ancien chercheur au CNR et à l’Université Rome I « La Sapienza », est actuellement professeur titulaire d’histoire moderne et d’histoire des États italiens pré-unitaires à l’Université Rome III (Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici).

- Stéphane Péquignot, agrégé d’histoire, ancien élève de l’École Normale Supérieure et ancien membre de la Casa de Velázquez, est docteur en histoire et maître de conférences à l’École Pratique des Hautes Études (Paris).

- Jean-Claude Waquet, ancien élève de l’École des Chartes et ancien membre de l’École Française de Rome, a été professeur aux Universités de Strasbourg et Paris 12. Il est directeur d’études à l’École Pratique des Hautes Études (Paris).

Table of contents here.

Introduction available here.

(source: École française de Rome)

Monday 5 October 2015

PAPER: Janne NIJMAN, "Grotius' Imago Dei Anthropology: Grounding Ius Naturae et Gentium" in Martti KOSKENNIEMI, Monica GARCIA-SALMONES and Paolo AMOROSO (Eds.), International Law and Religion (Forthcoming)


The International Law Reporter signals a paper by Janne Nijman (University of Amsterdam), forthcoming in International Law and Religion, Martti Koskenniemi, Monica García-Salmones, & Paolo Amoroso (eds.)

Abstract:

The standard account has it that Hugo Grotius secularised international law by grounding it on human nature. This chapter argues we should not stop at the standard account, but rather should dig deeper and examine the theological anthropology grounding Grotius’ ideas on the law of nature and nations. With some attention for the influence of both (neo-)scepticism and (neo)stoicism in analyses of Grotius’ understanding of human nature and natural law, this chapter examines Grotius’ ideas through the lens of the Christian theological notion of imago Dei – the idea that human beings are different from other animals in that they are created in ‘the image and likeness of God’.
The chapter relates the concept of the imago Dei briefly to the early seventeenth-century theological and political debates in the Dutch Republic and discusses the Arminian interpretation of the imago Dei along the lines of three dimensions generally set apart: ontological, teleological (the telos being to reach God, also through others in society), and functional (linked to the function of dominium). This chapter argues that the Arminian imago Dei anthropology is foundational to Grotius’ theory of the law of nature and nations in (at least) three ways along the lines of these three dimensions. The chapter concludes with a few remarks on how a post-skeptical reading of Grotius, through the lens of his imago Dei anthropology, is relevant for the future of international law thinking.

Paper on SSRN

BOOK: Renger DE BRUIN, Cornelis VAN DER HAVEN, Lotte JENSEN en David ONNEKINK (eds.), Performances of Peace: Utrecht 1713 (Leiden/Boston: Martinus Nijhoff/Brill, 2015), XV + 288 p. ISBN 9789004304789, € 115

(image source: Brill)

Brill published a collective work on the Peace of Utrecht (1713), edited by Renger De Bruin (City Museum), Cornelis Van der Haven (UGent), Lotte Jensen (Nijmegen) and David Onnekink (Utrecht).

Abstract:
Performances of Peace: Utrecht 1713 aims to rethink the significance of the Peace of Utrecht (1713) by exploring the nexus between culture and politics
 Table of Contents:
Preliminary Material
pp i –xv Introduction
pp 1 –21 1 The Olive and the Horse: The Eighteenth-Century Culture of Diplomacy (M. & L. Frey)
pp 23 –39 2 Behind the Stage: The Global Dimension of the Negotiations (L. Bély)
pp 40 –52 3 ‘Enemies of their patrie’? Savoyard Identity and the Dilemmas of War, 1690–1713 (Ph. McCluskey)
pp 53 –68 4 Pride and Prejudice: Universal Monarchy Discourse and the Peace Negotiations of 1709–1710 (D. Onnekink)
pp 69 –91 5 Madame Du Noyer Presenting and Re-presenting the Peace of Utrecht (H. Goldwyn & S. van Dijk)
pp 93 –113 6 ‘Dieu veuille que cette Paix soit de longue durée . . .’ The History of the Congress and the Peace of Utrecht by Casimir Freschot  (H. Duchhardt)
pp 114 –122 7 The Treaty of Utrecht and Addison’s Cato: Britain’s War of the Spanish Succession, Peace and the Imperial Road Map (S. Al-Shayban)
pp 123 –141 8 Jonathan Swift’s Peace of Utrecht  (C. Jackson)
pp 142 –158 9 Visions of Europe: Contrasts and Combinations of National and European Identities in Literary Representations of the Peace of Utrecht (1713) (L. Jensen)
pp 159 –178 10 Theatres of War and Diplomacy on the Early-Eighteenth-Century Amsterdam Stage (C. van der Haven)
179 –196 11 Performance and Propaganda in Spanish America during the War of the Spanish Succession (A. A. Olivas)
pp 197 –206 12 Promoting the Peace: Queen Anne and the Public Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral (J. Farguson)
pp 207 –222 13 Fiery Metaphors in the Public Space: Celebratory Culture and Political Consciousness around the Peace of Utrecht (W. Frijhoff)
pp 223 –248 14 Memory Theatre: Remembering the Peace after Three Hundred Years  (J. O. Newman)
pp 249 –265 15 Peace Was Made Here: The Tercentennial of the Treaty of Utrecht, 2013–2015 (R. De Bruin)
pp 266 –281 Index
pp 283 –288 
 Source: Booksandjournalsonline (Brill).