TY - JOUR

T1 - Western Centrism, Contemporary International Law, and International Courts

AU - Caserta, Salvatore

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - The paper unpacks the notion of western centrism in contemporaryinternational law by developing a framework to capture the its variedpatterns. It argues that western centrism can have three differentmanifestations – Systemic, Evaluative, and Professional – depending onwhether it refers to the rationality, the narratives, or the actors at play inthe international legal field. The paper then discusses three theoreticalapproaches that can help scholars dealing with western centrism ininternational (legal) scholarship. These are: the critical readings of thosescholars that explain international law through the lens of power anddomination; II) the Stanford school of sociological institutionalism,which explains international institutions and norms through the role ofculture and global scripts; and III) the post-Bourdieusian reflexivesociology, which analyses the roles of transnational legal elites in colonialand post-colonial settings. Finally, the paper reconstructs the experienceof the Caribbean Court of Justice in the light of Western Centrism,demonstrating that, different from what foten argued in the literature,the court is not a failed replica of the Court of Justice of the EU, but aninstitution in its own right, with its own approach to international law, its own successes and failures

AB - The paper unpacks the notion of western centrism in contemporaryinternational law by developing a framework to capture the its variedpatterns. It argues that western centrism can have three differentmanifestations – Systemic, Evaluative, and Professional – depending onwhether it refers to the rationality, the narratives, or the actors at play inthe international legal field. The paper then discusses three theoreticalapproaches that can help scholars dealing with western centrism ininternational (legal) scholarship. These are: the critical readings of thosescholars that explain international law through the lens of power anddomination; II) the Stanford school of sociological institutionalism,which explains international institutions and norms through the role ofculture and global scripts; and III) the post-Bourdieusian reflexivesociology, which analyses the roles of transnational legal elites in colonialand post-colonial settings. Finally, the paper reconstructs the experienceof the Caribbean Court of Justice in the light of Western Centrism,demonstrating that, different from what foten argued in the literature,the court is not a failed replica of the Court of Justice of the EU, but aninstitution in its own right, with its own approach to international law, its own successes and failures

U2 - 10.1017/S0922156521000017

DO - 10.1017/S0922156521000017

M3 - Journal article

VL - 34

SP - 321

EP - 342

JO - Leiden Journal of International Law

JF - Leiden Journal of International Law

SN - 0922-1565

IS - 2

ER -