Search Result

Srl

Item

ID: 144068

Language of law and the laws of language / Bartelson, Jens

Bartelson, Jens	Article
	0 Rating(s) & 0 Review(s)

Summary/Abstract

The Status of Law in World Society by Friedrich Kratochwil is a sophisticated attempt to reassert the importance of international law in a globalised world by grounding it in the actual practices of legal reasoning. Yet this attempt to ground normativity in practice strikes me as problematic. As I shall argue, what law is cannot be determined with reference to legal practices only, but will depend on the fulfillment of certain background requirements which themselves stand in need of further justification. Thus the recourse to linguistic practice is beset by an ambivalence that stems from the fact that language and law always already are intertwined, an ambivalence that cannot therefore be overcome with recourse to either. If it is the case that law has a language of its own, we must also be prepared to admit that language has its own laws. What then is gained by the recourse to linguistic practice is not so much a resolution but rather a temporary displacement of indeterminacy from the realm of law to that of language.

Key Words

Practice ; linguistic turn ; Foundationalism ; International Law

In Basket

Export

ID: 082702

Reframing NGOs: the identity of an international relations non-sarter / Gotz, Norbert

Gotz, Norbert	Journal Article
	0 Rating(s) & 0 Review(s)

Publication

2008.

Summary/Abstract

In this article I aim to provide a better understanding of the concept `non-governmental organization' and its implications for the politics of international relations. As the prevailing confusion about the term stems largely from poor knowledge about the politics behind its introduction and function, the overarching question asks how NGOs have been socially constructed as actors on the margins of the international stage. To this end, a sound insight into the little-known conceptual history and background of the term `NGO' in what might be called a `Westphalian nomenclature' is given. I suggest that the still prevalent NGO terminology is an outcome of political games played by various actors, restricting and containing the signified organizations. The article provides a non-substantial, functional and politics-oriented definition of the term NGO, which differs significantly from previous attempts to attach meaning to it. It also suggests improved choices of terminology for general International Relations theorizing

Key Words

Civil Society ; NGOs ; International Relations Theory ; Associations ; Conceptual History ; linguistic turn ;
United Nations

In Basket

Export