Landefeld, Sarina --- "The evolution of norms and concepts in international law: a social constructivist approach" [2019] ELECD 2961; in Deplano, Rossana (ed), "Pluralising International Legal Scholarship" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019) 45

Book Title: Pluralising International Legal Scholarship

Editor(s): Deplano, Rossana

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Section: Chapter 2

Section Title: The evolution of norms and concepts in international law: a social constructivist approach

Author(s): Landefeld, Sarina

Number of pages: 19

Abstract/Description:

Academics tend to be socialized into the discourses and techniques of their respective discipline. As a consequence, their research is necessarily informed by certain underlying assumptions and understandings which may be implicit and unconsciously based on traditional conceptualizations of their discipline. International lawyers, compared to social scientists, sometimes fail to acknowledge the beliefs that they hold about international law generally and about their topic of investigation more specifically. This may be an indication of a methodological bias towards the dominant doctrinal position which is reified by this silence. It is notable that international legal scholars who express and discuss conceptual understandings are usually those who deviate from the dominant view and adopt a more critical or even oppositional standpoint, examples of which include the traditions of Critical Legal Studies, feminism and Third World Approaches to International Law. In the discipline of International Relations, on the other hand, academics commonly explicitly situate their research within a theory or paradigm. These paradigms are often described as ‘lenses’ or ways of viewing international affairs. Since interdisciplinary research draws on two or more disciplines it may be confronted with varying, and potentially inconsistent, perceptions of international law, whether acknowledged or unspoken. Nonetheless, interdisciplinary research may ‘bridge the analytic and methodological shortcomings of both fields while also drawing on their respective strengths’. It denaturalizes the doctrinal understandings of what is perceived as international law, how the international legal system is studied, which ideas are considered legitimate in academic enquiry as well as which sources and methods should be employed. A common mistake, however, is the dominance of one discipline over the other. Indeed, early ‘interdisciplinary’ studies often consisted of the imposition of a theoretical perspective on, and explanation of, international law by International Relations scholars or their appropriation of international law as proof for a theory’s claims.