International Law on the Left
Re-examining Marxist Legacies

This volume of essays explores the contemporary relevance of Marxism to international law.

Susan Marks (Edited by)

9780521187626, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 18 August 2011

330 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.9 cm, 0.49 kg

Review of the hardback: '… this book is certainly a must-read for anyone with an interest in 'what international lawyers can learn from Karl Marx'.' German Yearbook 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 Miéville
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 economy critique of transnational economic law A. Claire Cutler
7. Marxian insights for the Human Rights Project Brad Roth
8. Marxian embraces (and de-couplings) in Upendra Baxi's Human Rights scholarship: a case study Obiora Okafor
9. Exploitation as an international legal concept Susan Marks.

Subject Areas: International law [LB], Jurisprudence & general issues [LA], Social & political philosophy [HPS]