Capitalism as civilisation : a history of international law /

"This book offers the first comprehensive history of the standard of civilisation in international law. Methodologically and theoretically innovative, this monograph draws from Marxism and deconstruction bringing together the textual and the material in our understanding of law. Approaching �...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Tzouvala, Ntina (Author)
Format: Book
Language:English
Published: Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2020
Series:Cambridge studies in international and comparative law ; 142
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Summary:"This book offers the first comprehensive history of the standard of civilisation in international law. Methodologically and theoretically innovative, this monograph draws from Marxism and deconstruction bringing together the textual and the material in our understanding of law. Approaching 'civilisation' as an argumentative pattern related to the distribution of rights and duties amongst different communities, Tzouvala illustrates both its contradictory nature and its pro-capitalist bias. 'Civilisation' is shown to oscillate between two poles. On the one hand, a pervasive 'logic of improvement' anchors legal equality to demands that non-Western polities undertake extensive domestic reforms and embrace capitalist modernity. On the other, an insistent 'logic of improvement' constantly postpones and engages such a prospect based on ideas of immutable difference. By detailing the tension and synergies between these two logics, Tzouvala argues that international law incorporates and attempts to mediate the contradictions of capitalism as a global system of production and exchange that both homogenises and stratifies societies, populations and space"--
Item Description:Based on author's thesis (doctoral - Durham University, 2016) issued under title: Letters of blood and fire : a socio-economic history of international law
Physical Description:vii, 261 pages ; 24 cm
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references and index
ISBN:9781108497183
1108497187
9781108739559
1108739555