The field of international legal history finds itself at a crossroads. After some decades, the tone of the literature on the “turn to history” has turned from celebration to self-critique. Indeed, the last couple of years have witnessed increased calls to pursue new directions, departing from the “well-worn paths” initially explored in the literature. In this vein, some urge for a localized approach to the study of “legal politics,” while others push for a “history of international law in the vernacular,” a “grassroots analysis,” or a “radical historical critique.” Moreover, the “marked absences” of class, gender, and race from the traditional canon of the discipline seem like an increasingly inexcusable exclusion. In sum, the stage is set for a profound reconsideration of the aims, methodologies, and archives of contemporary international legal history.
Part of the “New Directions in the Theory & History of International Law” series, this workshop will be dedicated to the theme of “Beauty and Power: Aesthetics, History, and International Law.” In the context of the workshop, a diverse group of scholars will discuss what the study of aesthetics, broadly understood, can bring to the theory and history of international law. As such, the papers discussed in the workshop seek to strike exciting conversations between the field of international law and recent developments in visual politics, art history, architecture, visual international relations, literature, and visual anthropology.
Alongside three thematic panels and a concluding roundtable, Kate Miles (University of Cambridge) will give an opening keynote lecture entitled “Through Image and Object: Constructing, Erasing, and Living Visual International Law.”
Convened by Daniel R. Quiroga-Villamarín and hosted by the Global Governance Centre, this workshop has been organized with the generous support of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), the Conférence Universitaire de Suisse Occidentale (CUSO), and the Departments of International law and International History & Politics at the Geneva Graduate Institute.
The workshop is opened to online participation: please register here for day 1: panel 1 and here for day 2, panel 2 and 3.