International Law on the Left Re-examining Marxist Legacies [Paperback]

This volume of essays explores the contemporary relevance of Marxism to international law.Despite - or perhaps because of - the collapse of state socialism, recent years have seen a resurgence of interest in Marxist thought and its reassessment by a new generation of theorists. This volume of essays explores the contemporary relevance of Marxism for the study of international law.Despite - or perhaps because of - the collapse of state socialism, recent years have seen a resurgence of interest in Marxist thought and its reassessment by a new generation of theorists. This volume of essays explores the contemporary relevance of Marxism for the study of international law.Against expectations that the turn away from state socialism would likewise initiate a turn away from Marxist thought, recent years have seen a resurgence of interest in Marxism and its reassessment by a new generation of theorists. This book pursues that interest with specific reference to international law. It presents a sustained and fascinating exploration of the pertinence of Marxist ideas, concepts and analytical practices for international legal enquiry from a range of angles. Essays consider the relationship between Marxism and critical approaches to international law, the legacy of Soviet international legal theory, the bearing of Marxism for the analysis of international trade law and human rights, and the significance for international legal enquiry of such Marxist concepts as the commodity, praxis and exploitation.Introduction; 1. What should international lawyers learn from Karl Marx? Martti Koskenniemi; 2. An outline of a Marxist course on public international law B. S. Chimni; 3. The commodity-form theory of international law: an introduction China Mi?ville; 4. Positivism versus self-determination: the contradictions of Soviet international law Bill Bowring; 5. Marxism and international law: perspectives for the American (twenty-first) century? Tony Carty; 6. Toward a radical political eclCÖ