Postgraduate Course: History and Theory of International Law (LAWS11241)
Course Outline
| School | School of Law |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | The course will survey the following principal topics: Nature of ius gentium in Roman law; medieval just-war theory; debates over conquest of the New World; innovations by Grotius in the Seventeenth Century; Nature of positivist thought in international law; contributions of the historical school and of heterodox schools of thought in the Nineteenth Century; Vienna School in inter-War period; challenges of socialist, Third-World, feminist, ecological thought. |
| Course description |
The conceptual roots of international law will be pondered, chiefly through a contrast between organicist and rationalist approaches. There will be a study of the roots of natural-law thought in ancient Greece and Rome, including the relationship between the ius gentium and natural law. For the Middle Ages, there will be a study of the content and nature of just-war doctrine, along with the development of the rationalist variant of natural law. Application of natural-law principles to real-world challenges will be explored in the context of the Crusades and the conquest and occupation of the New World in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. There will be a study of the emergence of the dualistic picture of international law in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries in the writings of Suárez, Grotius, Wolff and Vattel. There will be a study of the emergence of positivist thought in the Nineteenth Century, and specifically of the three different variants of it which emerged in its application to international law. The heterodoxical challenges to positivism will be identified and explored ¿ the natural-law, liberal, nationalist and solidarist schools of thought. For the inter-war period, there will be a study of the formalist approach of the Vienna School, along with the solidarism of Politis and Scelle, and socialist and fascist approaches. For the post-1945 period, there will be analyses of the principal new or updated approaches to international law, principally the New Haven School, constitutionalism, feminism and critical theory.
|
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate expertise and critical thought in relation to the following topics: Nature of ius gentium in Roman law; medieval just-war theory; debates over conquest of the New World; innovations by Grotius in the Seventeenth Century; Nature of positivist thought in international law; contributions of the historical school and of heterodox schools of thought in the Nineteenth Century; Vienna School in inter-War period; challenges of socialist, constitutionalist, Third-World, feminist thought.
- Evidence knowledge and understanding when dealing with problems which are not specifically covered in the course assignments.
- Utilise generic cognitive skills when required, in the form of reading expositions of basic legal arguments, and then critically assessing their merits.
- Apply communication skills in the form of participation in seminar discussions. The course is not to be a mere setting out of knowledge by the teacher, but rather an interactive process involving the students.
|
Reading List
Stephen. C. Neff, Justice Among Nations: A History of International Law (2014)
Wilhelm G. Grewe, The Epochs of International Law (2000)
Adda B. Bozeman, Politics and Culture in Internatiional History (1960)
Arnulf Becker Lorca, Mestizo International Law: A Global Intellectual History 1842-1933 2014)
Mark Mazower, Governing the World: The History of an Idea (2012)
Martti Koskenniemi, The Gentle Civilizer of Nations: The Rise and Fall of International Law 1870-1960 (2001) |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
(1) The students are to gain experience in the application of generic cognitive skills, in the form of reading expositions of basic theoretical arguments concerning the nature and history of international law, and the critical assessment of their merits. (2) Participation in the seminar discussions is intended to hone the student's communication skills. (3) The essay component of the course is intended to give the students significant experience in the conducting of independent research and writing. |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
Total contact hours: 200. This will comprise ten classes, of two hours each. These will be conducted in basically seminar format, in which students are expected to discuss and assess readings assigned for each session. In addition, the course organiser has office hours on Tuesdays from 4:00 to 5:00 for questions or assistance. |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Stephen Neff
Tel: (0131 6)50 2067
Email: Stephen.Neff@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Chloe Culross
Tel: (0131 6)50 9588
Email: Chloe.Culross@ed.ac.uk |
|
|
University Homepage