week 6 - reading 2 part 1 (colonialism + international law)

Question 1

complex relationship between sovereign equality and colonialism

Answer 1

all sovereign states are equal, colonies lack sovereignty
transformation colonial territories -> sovereign independent states -> equal status as members Family of Nations

within a Eurocentric framework it is only when colonial states achieved independence and emerged as sovereign states that they acquired a significance that is capable of analysis

Question 2

League of Nations mandate system

Answer 2

international regime for : governing the territories annexed/colonized by Germany and the Ottoman Empire (were defeated in WW1)

NO: distribution of territories among the victors
YES: new approach to ‘colonial problems’

• placement under system of international tutelage
• seeking to protect the territories
• promote self-gov.
• in some cases integrate people into the international system as sovereign, independent nation-states

Question 3

arguments of Antony Anghie

Answer 3

• colonialism profoundly shaped the character of international institutions at their formative stage + by examining the history of how this occurred, we might illuminate the operations and character of contemporary international institutions
• colonial confrontation was central to the formation of international law
  *he argues that colonialism is usually neglected, concerned as pragmatic issue rather than having theoretical significance
• cultural subordination and eco. exploitation of colonialism are not remedied by decolonization and self-determination: they continue to play a role + generate important analytical categories for understanding international law
• international law must be viewed in terms of the problem of cultural difference
• sovereignty acquired a different form and character as it was transferred from the European to the non-European world
• history of non-European sovereignty can’t be separated from the larger history of sovereignty itself
• all states are not equally sovereign and this is because of international law and institutions rather than despite it

Question 4

‘the dynamic of difference’

Answer 4

difference that international jurists understood to separate civilized European states from uncivilized, non-European states

1. difference between European and non-European world
2. international law generates doctrines, techn., institutions that support to bridge this gap + achieve uniformity
3. failure on the part of the natives, uncivilized and backward, to comply with the universalizing doctrines and technologies often leads to sanctions

!dynamic of difference has diff. forms in different phases of the law discipline: at first to exclude non-European societies, later to facilitate their absorption into the system as colonies

Question 5

the creation of sovereignty in non-European states

Answer 5

NOT: sovereign doctrine perfected in the West, transferred to the non-European world (= traditional view) -> no difference non-European and European sovereignty

YES: international law and institutions created sovereignty for non-European states

• sovereignty acquired a different form and character as it was transferred to the non-European world
• non-European sovereignty is unique, but can’t be separated from the larger history of sovereignty itself

Question 6

aim Anghie

Answer 6

identify the characteristics of the European and non-European model of sovereignty + how they are distinctive + came to being + what consequences might follow from this difference for non-Eu states and peoples

argue that:
all states are not equally sovereign and this is because of international law and institutions rather than despite it