Call for Papers: Ruptures in International Law

The Interest Group on Legal Theory of the European Society of International Law has issued a call for papers for a workshop, to be held in coordination with the Society's Fourth Biennial Conference, September 1-2, 2010, in Cambridge. The topic is "Ruptures in International Law." Here's the call:

Ruptures in International Law

A Workshop of the European Society of International Law Interest Group on Legal Theory

1 and 2 September 2010 - Cambridge

Call For Papers – Deadline Monday 15 February 2010

The Interest Group on International Law Theory would like to invite abstracts for papers and expressions of interest for a reading roundtable.

Workshop Topic

Ruptures in/of International Law

Rupture (n): 1. a. Breach of a covenant, intercourse, or the peace. b. A breach of harmony or friendly relations between two persons or parties. c. Breach of continuity; interruption. d. The act of breaking out into arms. … 3. a. A break in a surface or substance, such as the skin, flesh, etc. b. A break in the surface of the earth, etc.; a ravine, chasm, gorge, rift. 4. The act of breaking or bursting; the fact of being broken or burst. Rupture (v): 1. a. To break, burst … b. To cause a breach of; to sever….. 2. intr. To suffer a break or rupture. [From the Oxford English Dictionary]

Has international legal theory experienced rupture during the period 1989-2010? If so, how have these ruptures been expressed, understood and/or taken account of theoretically? How (if at all) have significant ruptures documented in intellectual, institutional and political history affected theoretical discourses in and about international law? In particular, what, if any, ruptures were effected in international legal theory by or in connection with events of 1989? When and how (if at all), and with what implications, has theoretical inquiry or critique ruptured established trajectories of international legal thought during the past two decades? What are the implications of approaching and/or appraising international legal scholarship by reference to supposed watersheds or instances of rupture?

Abstracts should be around 500 words in length. Papers will be selected by the organising committee of the IGILT by a blind process based on the abstracts.

Please provide a one page CV with your abstract listing affiliation/position/enrolled course, (selected) publications or conference presentations. (Please include the title of your abstract in your CV document for identification).

Presenters may be asked to provide papers in advance of the workshop to allow for the chair to provide a substantive commentary on the papers.

Reading Roundtable

Expressions of interest are sought for participants for a ‘reading roundtable’ to be held at the IGILT workshop. Roundtable participants should come having read the nominated book, and ready to discuss it, relating it to international law, to their own work and/or to the wider themes of the workshop. The chair will lead a discussion initially involving the participants, and then the wider audience.

Attendance at the roundtable will be open to everyone at the workshop. All those attending the workshop, and who would like to come to the roundtable are encouraged to read the book in advance.

Expressions of interest for the reading roundtable should include a short statement of research interests (around 500 words), current position/course and a list of publications. The committee particularly encourages EOI’s from graduate students and newer scholars.

The selected book is:

Claude Lefort, Complications: Communism and the Dilemmas of Democracy (Columbia University Press, 2007)

Abstracts and EOI’s should be sent to legaltheory@esil-sedi.eu by Monday 15 February 2010.

You don’t need to be a member of the IGILT to participate in the workshop.

However you are welcome to join by emailing legaltheory@esil-sedi.eu. To join the IGILT, you need to be a member of ESIL-SEDI.

IGILT Organising Committee:

Aeyal Gross, Jörg Kammerhofer, Fleur Johns, Ignacio de la Rasilla, Sundhya Pahuja, Akbar Rasulov, Tim Sellers, Umut Özsu