In this presentation Anne Saab will introduce a new research project that she is embarking on, aiming to explore the role of emotions in international law. While the study of emotions has a rich history in many disciplines including psychology, neuroscience, sociology, philosophy, and more recently international relations, international lawyers and legal scholars have not dealt with emotions in any sustained manner. Law, including international law, is strongly based on rationalist assumptions. The prevailing idea is that law is based on reasoned judgments and that emotions should be as much as possible excluded from the making, interpretation, and application of law. In this research project Anne Saab argues that emotions do influence international law and that this influence is, moreover, desirable for the discipline. She will draw on an emerging field of scholarship on law and emotions in domestic law, as well as emotions research in international relations, to propose ways in which emotions might be studied in international law. Acknowledging and exploring the influence of emotions will enable international law to better adapt to the complex global and societal issues it purports to address, including but not limited to: terrorism, migration, climate change, food safety, popular, (cyber) warfare.

Speaker:

• Anne Saab, Assistant Professor in International Law at the Graduate Institute

Discussant:

• Deval Desai, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Graduate Institute

A light sandwich lunch will be served from 12.15.

This event is part of the Global Governance Colloquium series.