International Law's Objects

Edited by Jessie Hohmann and Daniel Joyce

Ground-breaking analysis of international law through a selection of different objects, which each shine light on its practice and meaning throughout time and in the modern world
Includes framing and analytical chapters illuminating the relevance and importance of objects to the development of international law
Represents a snapshot of international law through the eyes of leading and emerging scholars and practitioners of the discipline
Features full-colour images of each object

International Law's Objects

Edited by Jessie Hohmann and Daniel Joyce

Description

International law's rich existence in the world can be illuminated by its objects. International law is often developed, conveyed, and authorized through its objects and/or their representation. From the symbolic (the regalia of the head of state and the symbols of sovereignty), to the mundane (a can of dolphin-safe tuna certified as complying with international trade standards), international legal authority can be found in the objects around us. Similarly, the practice of international law often relies on material objects or their image, both as evidence (satellite images, bones of the victims of mass atrocities) and to found authority (for instance, maps and charts).

This volume considers these questions: firstly what might the study of international law through objects reveal? What might objects, rather than texts, tell us about sources, recognition of states, construction of territory, law of the sea, or international human rights law? Secondly, what might this scholarly undertaking reveal about the objects-as aims or projects-of international law? How do objects reveal, or perhaps mask, these aims, and what does this tell us about the reasons some (physical or material) objects are foregrounded, and others hidden or ignored. Thirdly what objects, icons, and symbols preoccupy the profession and academy? The personal selection of these objects by leading and emerging scholars worldwide will illuminate the contemporary and historical fascinations of international lawyers.

By considering international law in the context of its material culture the authors offer a new and exciting theoretical perspective on the subject. With an image of each object reproduced in full colour, the book will make an engaging and interesting read for scholars, practitioners, and students alike.

International Law's Objects

Edited by Jessie Hohmann and Daniel Joyce

Introduction, Jessie Hohmann and Daniel Joyce
Thinking International Law Through Objects
1. International Law's Cabinet of Curiosities, Dan Joyce
2. The Lives of Objects, Jessie Hohmann
3. Things We Can Make and Do with International Law, Fleur Johns
4. Saying and Showing, Wouter Werner
5. The Making of International Lawyers: Winnicott's Transitional Objects, Isobel Roele
Objects of International Law
1. African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights, Nicole De Silva
2. AIDS Virus, Therese Murphy
3. Armed Drone, Ioannis Kalpouzos
4. Axum Stele, Lucas Lixinski
5. Barcelona Traction Share, Filippo Fontanelli and Giuseppe Bianco
6. Boots (on the Ground), Kimberley Trapp
7. Border Check Point, the Moldovan Republic of Transnistria, Francois Finck
8. Breton Road Signs, Jacqueline Mowbray
9. Chicotte, Anne-Charlotte Martineau
10. Data: the Given, Stephen Humphreys
11. Dechiqueteuse (Papershredder), Immi Tallgren
12. Gavel, James Parker
13. 'Good Urban Citizen', Helmut Aust
14. Glyphosate, Allesandra Arcuri
15. Insulae Moluccae: A Dutch East India Company Map, Kate Miles
16. Jolly Roger, Ziv Bohrer
17. Manganese Nodules, Surabhi Ranganathan
18. Mosul Four and Iran Six, Alex Mills
19. NM 68226 84912; TQ 30052 80597, Gerry Simpson
20. One Tonne of Carbon Dioxide Equivalent (1tCO2e), Julia Dehm
21. Opium, Jessie Hohmann
22. Paintings of International Law's Textbooks, Jean D'Aspremont and Eric De Brabandere
23. Passport, Sarah Dehm
24. Peace Sign, La Comunidad de Paz de San José de Apartadó, Thomas MacManus
25. Postcard from the ICTY, Sophie Rigney
26. Purse Seine Net, Andrew Lang
27. Railway Clocks, Geoff Gordon
28. Refugee Chains, Alison Kesby
29. Russian Flag at the North Pole, Rosemary Rayfuse
30. Screen, Christine Schwobel-Patel and Wouter Werner
31. Ships' Ballast, Lolita Buckner-Inniss
32. Somali Pirate Skiff, Doug Guilfoyle
33. Sovereign Mark of the Roi Né-Do'ucoula, King of Boma, Tanja Aalberts
34. Stained Glass Windows, Peace Palace, the Hague, Daniel Litwin
35. Sugar, Michael Fakhri
36. Treaty Canoe, Ruth Buchanan and Jeff Hewitt
37. Trees, Leslie-Anne Duvic-Paoli
38. USAID Rice - Haiti, Charlie Peevers
39. Western Sahara Boundary, Jeffrey Smith
40. Whale, Malgosia Fitzmaurice

International Law's Objects

Edited by Jessie Hohmann and Daniel Joyce

Author Information

Jessie Hohmann, Lecturer in Law, QMUL, ,Daniel Joyce, Lecturer in Law, UNSW Australia,

Dr. Hohmann is a lecturer in law at Queen Mary, University of London. She researches in the areas of human rights and international law, with particular interests in how human rights push at the normative limits of international law. She has written a book on The Right to Housing: Law, Concepts, Possibilities (Hart, 2013, paperback 2014) which was shortlisted for the SLS prize. She also researches on indigenous rights. Her publications have considered the role of icons in human rights struggles, and how visions of social transformation connect with legal regulations and rights.

Dr. Joyce is a lecturer in law at UNSW Australia. He researches in the areas of international law and media law. His publications have considered the role of representation and of the media in shaping international law, as well as focusing on the evidentiary and historical aspects of international legal processes and institutions. At UNSW Law he lectures in the compulsory subject Law in a Global Context and offers elective subjects in media law and media and human rights. He is currently acting convenor for the international law stream within the Faculty of Law and co-ordinator for the postgraduate workshop of the Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law.

Contributors:

Dan Joyce
Jessie Hohmann
Fleur Johns
Wouter Werner
Tanja Aalberts
Nicole De Silva
Gerry Simpson
Lucas Lixinski
Kate Miles
Lolita Buckner-Inniss
Julia Dehm
Michael Fakhri
Jessie Hohmann
Andrew Lang
Giuseppe Bianco and Filippo Fontanelli
Surabhi Ranganathan
Immi Tallgren
James Parker
Allesandra Arcuri
Geoffrey Gordon
Anne-Charlotte Martineau
Ruth Buchanan and Jeffery Hewitt
Ioannis Kalpouzos
Alex Mills
Kimberley Trapp
Sarah Dehm
François Finck
Douglas Guilfoyle
Alison Kesby
Therese Murphy
Christine Schwoebel-Patel and Wouter Werner
Jean D'Aspremont and Eric De Brabandere
Daniel Litwin
Sophie Rigney
Daniel Joyce
Ziv Bohrer
Jacqueline Mowbray
Thomas MacManus
Jeffrey J Smith
Rosemary Rayfuse
Leslie-Anne Duvic-Paoli
Helmut Aust
Malgosia Fitzmaurice
Charlie Peevers

International Law's Objects

Edited by Jessie Hohmann and Daniel Joyce

Reviews and Awards

"By drawing from a wide array of sources, both methodologically and substantively, this edited volume invites the reader to engage with materiality in, through and as international law. It offers a groundbreaking collection of artefacts, which (in their own ways) interrogate the complex relationship between the normative and the material, the discursive and the tangible. By weaving their analysis of the objects with vivid images and pictures, the contributors provide snapshots of diverging 'ways of seeing' international law in theory and in practice. This 'visualisation of international law' quickly turns readers into spectators and calls for an inquiry into the politics of the gaze. Hence, the book is nothing less than an invitation to self-reflexivity in the exercise of seeing — or of avoiding seeing — the performances of international law." -- Daniel R Quiroga-Villamarín, Melbourne Journal of International Law

"A volume not to be missed." -- Jus Gentium

"This is certainly the most interesting and innovative international law book to have come out in recent years - and might just as well prove to be the most important one. ... because of its novel method of presentation and the accessible language used, this volume is capable of expanding the readership of international law beyond its relatively narrow academic confines." -- Ignas Kalpokas, LSE Review of Books