Document Type
Review
Publication Date
2020
Abstract
The Battle for International Law addresses the South-North contest over the content and structure of international law during the period of decolonization in the global South (1955-1975). Edited volumes are inherently risky because the quality and perspectives of the various chapters can vary widely, resulting in thematic incoherency. However, J. von Bernstorff and P. Dann have successfully assembled many excellent chapters on varied topics by a diverse range of authors. Each chapter contributes significantly to the editors’ overall goal “to provide an intellectual history of the transformation of international law in the 1950s to 1970s and to offer a better understanding of the contestations to the then- dominant perceptions of order” (p. 3). The result is a must-read book for international law scholars. As a scholar and teacher of Africa in the Global Legal System, I gained much from the book. So did my students.
Recommended Citation
Beny, Laura Nyantung. "Decolonization as Dialectic Process in Law and Literature." Review of The Battle for International Law, by Jochen von Bernstorff and Philipp Dann, editors. International Law and International Legal Thought (2020).