The journal Trade, Law and Development has issued a call for submissions for its upcoming special issue on Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL). Here's the call:Trade, Law, and Development was founded in order to provide an avenue for the free exchange of ideas, critical thinking and constructive debate on issues of relevance to the international legal order and trading system – with the specific aim to throw focus on the unique problems and concerns facing the developing world. It is in the spirit of further embracing this goal that the Board of Editors is pleased to announce the theme for its next Special Issue (vol.3, no.1): Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL).
The collective and broad dialectic of opposition to the traditional Western-centric framework of international law thought is referred to as TWAIL. TWAIL is neither a recent phenomenon nor a limited one; it represents both a proactive and reactive response to the decades-long condition of decolonization in the developing world and encompasses a variety of fields – running the gambit from alternative jurisprudence on international governance to intellectual property, the environment and feminism. TWAIL as a cohesive academic movement, however, has risen to prominence in the last decade with the work of academicians such as Prof. B.S. Chimni, Prof. J. T. Gathii, and Prof. O. Okafor, among others.
As a holistic concept, TWAIL seeks to understand, deconstruct, and provide an alternative to the use of international law in the creation of a hierarchy of international norms and institutions that subordinate non-European values and priorities to European ones. More pertinently for this Call, TWAIL seeks, through academic scholarship and discussion, to raise awareness on issues of policy importance and to work towards eradicating the conditions and consequences of underdevelopment in the Third World.
Suggested topic areas include TWAIL perspectives on, inter alia, international legal theory, international economic and commercial laws (commercial transactions, investment, competition, dispute settlement, et cetera), alternative systems of governance, perpetuation of cultural and developmental norms, international environmental law, international intellectual property regulation, as well as critical analysis of TWAIL approaches. It is in this vein that the Board of Editors invites quality “Articles”, “Notes”, “Comments” and “Book Reviews” from authors in all spheres – including students, practitioners, academicians, jurists and policy makers – for its Special Issue on TWAIL.
Manuscripts received by 15th January, 2011 shall be considered for publication in the TWAIL Special Issue. Prof. B. S. Chimni has consented to be the Consulting Guest Editor for the Issue. Specific information and guidelines for prospective authors are available in the Submissions Section. Manuscripts may be submitted online through our website, via ExpressO, LexOpus, or by e-mail (See Authors Guidelines).
