History as deconstruction, history as reconstruction: time and structure in critical international law

Scott, D. M. (2024) History as deconstruction, history as reconstruction: time and structure in critical international law. Hague Yearbook of International Law = Annuaire de La Haye de droit international, 35(2022), pp. 109-139. (doi: 10.1163/9789004691247_005)

Abstract

Critical approaches to international law have moved from a structural analysis of international legal argument in the 1980s to a ‘turn to history’ in the early 2000s. Taking as a starting point the critique of structuralism found in Jacques Derrida’s early writing, this article aims to recharacterise the relationship between these two approaches by focusing in on a specific aspect of deconstruction that has been overlooked by international lawyers – namely, the question of time. Analysing how Derrida used time as his entry point for deconstructing structuralist thought, the article applies the same approach to Martti Koskenniemi’s From Apology to Utopia, in order to foreground overlooked dynamics behind international law’s turn to history.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Scott, Dr David
• Authors: Scott, D. M.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Law
• Journal Name: Hague Yearbook of International Law = Annuaire de La Haye de droit international
• Publisher: Brill
• ISSN: 0167-6660
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2024 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
• First Published: First published in Hague Yearbook of International Law = Annuaire de La Haye de droit international 35(2022):109-139
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy