Sisyphus was an international lawyer. On Martti Koskenniemi's "from Apology to Utopia" and the place of law in international politics

German Law Journal

Volumn 7, Issue 12, 2006, Pages 1015-1035

  Von Bernstorff, Jochen ^a,b  

^a Max Planck Institut fur Europaische Rechtsgeschichte   (Germany)

^b EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE   (Italy)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 84902995829     PISSN: None     EISSN: 20718322     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S2071832200005277     Document Type: Article

References (96)

1. HANS KELSEN, DAS PROBLEM DER SOUVERÄNITÄT UND DIE THEORIE DES VÖLKERRECHTS (2ND ED. 1928)
2. MICHAEL STOLLEIS, GESCHICHTE DES ÖFFENTLICHEN RECHTS IN DEUTSCHLAND, vol. 3: STAATS- UND VERWALTUNGSRECHTSWISSENSCHAFT IN REPUBLIK UND DIKTATUR, 1914-1945 163-171 (1999).
3. MARTTI KOSKENNIEMI, FROM APOLOGY TO UTOPIA, THE STRUCTURE OF INTERNATIONAL LEGAL ARGUMENT, REISSUE WITH A NEW EPILOGUE (2005).
4. See Jellinek's attempt to integrate these conflicting elements in his theory of international law: Jochen von Bernstorff, Georg Jellinek, .Völkerrecht als modernes öffentliches Recht im fin de siècle, in GEORG JELLINEK. BEITRÄGE ZU LEBEN UND WERK 183 ( Stanley L. Paulson & Martin Schulte eds., 2000).
5. HANS KELSEN, supra note 1, 182, 224-241
6. JOCHEN VON BERNSTORFF, DER GLAUBE AN DAS UNIVERSALE RECHT, ZUR VÖLKERRECHTSTHEORIE HANS KELSENS UND SEINER SCHÜLER [Believing in Universal Law, The Public International Law Theory of Hans Kelsen and his Disciples] 54-61 (2001).
7. KOSKENNIEMI, supra note 2, 575.
8. On Kelsen and Neokantianism: HORST DREIER, RECHTSLEHRE, STAATSSOZIOLOGIE, UND DEMOKRATIETHEORIE BEI HANS KELSEN 56 (1986);
9. on the development of the concept of methodological dualism: Stanley Paulson, Kelsen's Earliest Legal Theory: Critical Constructivism, in NORMATIVITY AND NORMS. CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON KELSENIAN THEMES 23, 29-30 (Stanley L. Paulson & Bonnie Litschewski Paulson eds., 1998).
10. On Koskenniemi's intentions in retrospect: KOSKENNIEMI, supra note 2, 564.
11. For an early critique of FROM APOLOGY TO UTOPIA: Ian Scobbie, Towards the Elimination of International Law: Some Radical Scepticism about Sceptical Radicalism, 61 BRITISH YEARBOOK OF INTERNATIONAL LAW 339 (1990);
12. VON BERNSTORFF, supra note 4, 64-68 and 95-104.
13. KOSKENNIEMI, supra note 2, 4.
14. KOSKENNIEMI, supra note 2, 617.
15. KOSKENNIEMI, supra note 2, 1.
16. On Austrian fin de siècle - liberalism represented predominantly by emancipated and highly assimilated Austrian Jews: CARL E. SCHORSKE, WIEN, GEIST UND GESELLSCHAFT IM FIN DE SIECLE (1982) 111-114;
17. STEVEN BELLER, VIENNA AND THE JEWS 122-137 (1989);
18. on Jewish emanzipation and German public law in the nineteenth century: MICHAEL STOLLEIS, "Junges Deutschland", jüdische Emanzipation und liberale Staatsrechtslehre in Deutschland, SITZUNGSBERICHTE DER WISSENSCHAFTLICHEN GESELLSCHAFT AN DER JOHANN WOLFGANG GOETHE-UNIVERSITÄT (1994).
19. On the role of the international lawyer: HANS KELSEN, THE LAW OF THE UNITED NATIONS. A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF ITS FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEMS XIII (Second Impression, 1951).
20. Bardo Fassbender, Hans Kelsen und die Vereinten Nationen, in: VÖLKERRECHT ALS WERTORDNUNG/ COMMON VALUES IN INTERNATIONAL LAW. FESTSCHRIFT FÜR/ ESSAYS IN HONOUR OF CHRISTIAN TOMUSCHAT 763 (Dupuy/Fassbender/ Shaw/Sommermann eds., 2006).
21. MARTTI KOSKENNIEMI, THE GENTLE CIVILIZER, THE RISE AND FALL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW, 1870-1960, (2001) 249;
22. on the GENTLE CIVILIZER, see e.g. Hauke Brunkhorst, Verfallsgeschichten, 2 DEUTSCHE ZEITSCHRIFT FÜR PHILOSOPHIE 295 (2002);
23. Armin von Bogdandy, Pragmatismus, Imperialismus und internationales Recht, Martti Koskenniemis Konzeption der Geschichte, Krise und Zukunft der Wissenschaft vom Völkerrecht, 63 ZEITSCHRIFT FÜR AUSLÄNDISCHES ÖFFENTLICHES RECHT UND VÖLKERRECHT 205-211 (2003).
24. On the quest for objectivity: KOSKENNIEMI, supra note 2, 16.
25. KOSKENNIEMI, supra note 2
26. David Kennedy, Theses about International Law Discourse, 23 GERMAN YEARBOOK OF INTERNATIONAL LAW 353 (1980).
27. KELSEN, supra note 1, 320;
28. on this aspect of the pure theory: von Bernstorff, supra note 4, 91-94.
29. KELSEN, REINE RECHTSLEHRE, 142 (1934).
30. KELSEN, supra note 1, 155, 317.
31. KOSKENNIEMI, supra note 2, 503.
32. KOSKENNIEMI, supra note 2, 596.
33. KOSKENNIEMI, supra note 2, 24.
34. On this point: Ian Scobbie, supra note 9, 348-350.
35. KOSKENNIEMI, supra note 2, 26;
36. see with an overview of different theoretical approaches to the function of international law: ULRICH FASTENRATH, LÜCKEN IM VÖLKERRECHT, ZU RECHTSCHARAKTER, QUELLEN, SYSTEMZUSAMMENHANG, METHODENLEHRE UND FUNKTIONEN DES VÖLKERRECHTS 252-268 (1991).
37. See below on Niklas Luhmann and Jacques Derrida 27 KELSEN, supra note 19, 97.
38. NIKLAS LUHMANN, DAS RECHT DER GESELLSCHAFT 317 (1993);
39. JACQUES DERRIDA, GESETZESKRAFT 49 (1991).
40. DUNCAN KENNEDY, A CRITIQUE OF ADJUDICATION (1997);
41. on the role of the judge between commitment to rules and "cynicism": Martti Koskenniemi, Between Commitment and Cynicism: Outline for a Theory of International Law as Practice, in COLLECTION OF ESSAYS BY LEGAL ADVISERS OF STATES, LEGAL ADVISERS OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS AND PRACTITIONERS IN THE FIELD OF INTERNATIONAL LAW 495, 512 (1999).
42. LUHMANN, supra note 28, 317;
43. DERRIDA, supra note 28, 49.
44. See On Lauterpacht: Martti Koskenniemi, Lauterpacht, The Victorian Tradition in International Law, 2 European Journal of International Law 215 (1997);
45. on Kelsen's campaign for a system of compulsory jurisdiction: VON BERNSTORFF, supra note 4, 169.
46. KOSKENNIEMI, supra note 2, 601.
47. KOSKENNIEMI, supra note 2, 555.
48. KOSKENNIEMI, supra note 2, 548.
49. Joseph L. Kunz, The Swing of the Pendulum, From Overestimation to Underestimation of International Law, in: THE CHANGING LAW OF NATIONS. ESSAYS ON INT. LAW 125, 126-127 (Id. ed., 1968) [article first published in 1950].
50. On the problem of "objectification" and law as ideology, see KOSKENNIEMI, supra note 2, 537-542;
51. VON BERNSTORFF, supra note 4, 5.
52. On the move to political discourse of critical int. lawyers: Nigel Purvis, Critical Legal Studies in Public Int. Law, 32 HARVARD INTERNATIONAL LAW JOURNAL 81, 116-117 (1991).
53. I borrow this term from ALBERT CAMUS, LE MYTHE DE SISYPHE (1942), chapt. 1.
54. On a theory of "situationality" of legal practice: Outi Korhonen, New International Law: Silence, Defence or Deliverance?, 7 EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW 1 (1996).
55. NIKLAS LUHMANN, supra note 28, 258.
56. See for a differentiated reading of this change of tone: Outi Korhonen, supra note 41, 21.
57. KELSEN, supra note 19, 19.
58. Martti Koskenniemi, The Place of Law in Collective Security, 17 MICHIGAN JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW 455, 468 (1996).
59. KOSKENNIEMI, supra note 15, 480;
60. see on "governance-networks" and international law: Jochen von Bernstorff, Democratic Global Internet Regulation? Governance Networks, International Law and the Shadow of Hegemony, 9 EUROPEAN LAW JOURNAL 511 (2003).
61. 48KOSKENNIEMI, supra note 15, 413;
62. on the current debate on the divergence between US and EUperceptions of international law: Martti Koskenniemi, Perceptions of Justice: Walls and Bridges between Europe and the United States, 64 ZEITSCHRIFT FÜR AUSLÄNDISCHES ÖFFENTLICHES RECHT UND VÖLKERRECHT 305 (2004);
63. with an overview of the main issues addressed in this debate: Rüdiger Wolfrum, American- European Dialogue: Different Perceptions of International Law - Introduction, 64 ZEITSCHRIFT FÜR AUSLÄNDISCHES ÖFFENTLICHES RECHT UND VÖLKERRECHT 255 (2004);
64. UNITED STATES HEGEMONY AND THE FOUNDATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW (Michael Byers & Georg Nolte eds., 2003).
65. Martti Koskenniemi, Legal Universalism - Between Morality and Power in a World of States, in LAW, JUSTICE AND POWER - BETWEEN REASON AND WILL 46, 54, 60 (Sinkwan Cheng ed., 2004).
66. CARL SCHMITT, DER BEGRIFF DES POLITISCHEN 55 (1932, reissue 1979).
67. KOSKENNIEMI, supra note 50, 46.
68. 52KOSKENNIEMI, supra note 15, 500.
69. Hans Kelsen, The Principle of Sovereign Equality of States as a Basis for International Organisation, 53 YALE LAW JOURNAL 207 (1944).
70. KOSKENNIEMI, supra note 2, 616.
71. KOSKENNIEMI, supra note 46, 455.
72. KOSKENNIEMI, supra note 15, 502.
73. KOSKENNIEMI, supra note 2, 614;
74. Louis Henkin sees the reason for the survival of international law in its open structure: HOW NATIONS BEHAVE - LAW AND FOREIGN POLICY 109 (1979);
75. ULRICH FASTENRATH, LÜCKEN IM VÖLKERRECHT, ZU RECHTSCHARAKTER, QUELLEN, SYSTEMZUSAMMENHANG, METHODENLEHRE UND FUNKTIONEN DES VÖLKERRECHTS 270 (1991).
76. KOSKENNIEMI, supra note 50, 60.
77. KOSKENNIEMI, supra note 2, 545.
78. As Nigel Purvis has emphasized, the postulation of a "move to open political discourse" contains a normative principle on public discourse and decision-making, Nigel Purvis, supra note 39, 116-117;
79. on the utopian character of Koskenniemi's emancipatory concept of law: Ulrich Fastenrath, Book Review - From Apology to Utopia, 31 ARCHIV DES VÖLKERRECHTS 182, 184 (1993).
80. Martti Koskenniemi, Book Review - GIOVANNA BORRADORI (ED.), PHILOSOPHY IN A TIME OF TERROR. DIALOGUES WITH JÜRGEN HABERMAS AND JACQUES DERRIDA (CHICAGO AND LONDON, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS 2003), 4 GERMAN LAW JOURNAL 1084 (2003), available at http://www.germanlaw journal.com/article.php?id=319.
81. JÜRGEN HABERMAS, DER GESPALTENE WESTEN 153-178 (2004).
82. For Koskenniemi, human rights can have a negative effect on political culture. Institutionalised rights can loose their progressive character and marginalize those community-values or interests that resist translation into rights language, Martti Koskenniemi, The Effect of Rights on a Political Culture, in THE EU AND HUMAN RIGHTS, 99 (Philip Alston ed., 1999)
83. Martti Koskenniemi, What Should International Lawyers Learn from Karl Marx?, 17 LEIDEN JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW 229, 244 (2004);
84. Martti Koskenniemi, The Effect of Rights on a Political Culture, in THE EU AND HUMAN RIGHTS 99 (Philip Alston ed., 1999);
85. Klaus Günther, The Legacies of Injustice and Fear: A European Approach to Human Rights and their Effects on Political Culture, in THE EU AND HUMAN RIGHTS, 177 (Philip Alston ed., 1999);
86. on Koskenniemi's "negative" universalism and human rights: Hauke Brunkhorst, Verfallsgeschichten, 2 DEUTSCHE ZEITSCHRIFT FÜR PHILOSOPHIE 295, 311 (2002).
87. Martti Koskenniemi, Book Review - GIOVANNA BORRADORI (ED.), PHILOSOPHY IN A TIME OF TERROR. DIALOGUES WITH JÜRGEN HABERMAS AND JACQUES DERRIDA (CHICAGO AND LONDON, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS 2003), 4 GERMAN LAW JOURNAL 1084 (2003).
88. KOSKENNIEMI, supra note 2, 600-615.
89. For international human rights law: David Kennedy, The International Human Rights Movement: Part of the Problem?, 15 HARVARD HUMAN RIGHTS JOURNAL 101 (2002).
90. Martti Koskenniemi, supra note 65, 229, 241;
91. on the ideological dimension of the separation of science and practice from the perspective of the "Frankfurt School": MAX HORKHEIMER, CRITICAL THEORY. SELECTED ESSAYS, 188-243 (Matthew O' Connell et. al., transl., 1972).
92. KOSKENNIEMI, supra note 15, 247.
93. Formalism is being used by Kelsen as a counter-hegemonic (political) strategy. I have made this argument in my: DER GLAUBE AN DAS UNIVERSALE RECHT. ZUR VÖLKERRECHTSTHEORIE HANS KELSENS UND SEINER SCHÜLER (2001). On formalism as a political strategy, see the new epilogue, in KOSKENNIEMI, supra note 2, 602, 616.
94. For David Kennedy, Koskenniemi might have produced "the last modern treatment of the field": David Kennedy, From Apology to Utopia, 31 HARVARD JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW 385, 388 (1990);
95. Nigel Purvis, supra note 39, 118.
96. David Kennedy, The last treatise: project and person. (Reflections on Martti Koskenniemi's From Apology to Utopia), 7 GERMAN LAW JOURNAL 981 (2006).