ESIL Interest Group History of International Law

ESIL Interest Group History of International Law

Wednesday 3 August 2022

BOOK: David SCHNEIDERMAN, Investment Law's Alibis: Colonialism, Imperialism, Debt and Development (Cambridge University Press, 2022)

Source: CUP

Description:

This book aims to connect narratives associated with the past to the international regime that protects property and contract rights of foreign investors. The book scrutinizes justifications offered to sustain practices associated with colonialism, imperialism, civilized justice, debt, and development, revealing that a number of the rationales offered in support of investment law disciplines replicate those arising out of this discredited past. By revealing these linkages, the book raises concerns about investment law's premises. It would appear that the normative foundations for today's regime reproduces discursive practices that are less than compelling. The book argues that citizens deserve something more than historically discredited reasons to justify the exercise of power over them – something more than mere pretext.
  • Connects investment law with historic practices that are difficult to defend, discussing how the field reproduces practices reminiscent of the discredited past
  • Connects investment arbitration to outcomes that are reminiscent of unjust historical practices, providing detailed discussion of contemporary investment arbitral jurisprudence and highlighting how their outcomes reproduce unjust practices
  • Engages with important literature in the fields of colonialism, imperialism, debt and development
Table of Contents:

Introduction
1. Colonialism of investment law
2. Imperialism of investment law
3. The decline and rise of standards of civilized justice
4. The stifling threat of debt
5. The difficulty of decolonizing investment law
6. Divesting for development
Conclusion.
More information with CUP.