Globalization and Traditional Concepts of International Law

Nico Krisch, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies; Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals-IBEI, is publishing Pluralism in International Law and Beyond in Fundamental Concepts for International Law: The Construction of a Discipline (Jean d’Aspremont & Sahib Singh, eds., Forthcoming).

Processes of globalization are putting pressure on traditional conceptualizations of international law, and especially of its relation with domestic law and transnational norms of an informal kind. As the proximity of these different orders grows and they spur increasingly overlapping claims to authority, pluralism has become a prominent paradigm for understanding the global legal order and for guiding its development. This short overview paper traces the rise of the pluralist paradigm, its different variants and normative concerns about them, as well as some broader implications it holds for the study and practice of law.

Download the essay from SSRN at the link.