Launch of The Unruly Salon Series at the University of British Columbia Green College

These are remarks made by Professor Stephen J. Toope at the launch of The Unruly Salon Series at the University of British Columbia Green College

International Law and the Practice of Legality: Stability and Change

Drawing on the practice-turn in constructivism and in international relations (IR) theory more generally, we argue that a particular approach to managing stability and change is inherent in, and indeed characteristic of, legality and the rule of law in international as in domestic law. Our "interactional law" framework places particular emphasis on what we call the "practice of legality". This concept is central to understanding how law can both enable and constrain state actions, and why international law is a distinctive language of justification and contestation. In turn, the focus on stability and change is helpful because it directly confronts some of the persistent doubts and assumptions about international law, in particular in relation to international politics. Our work is animated by the intuition that the dominant views in IR and international law scholarship underestimate international law's capacity to mediate stability and change, in part because they focus on the surface of law (treaties, statutes and so on) and external factors (interests, enforcement). They neglect the deeper structure of what makes norms "law", and the distinctive practices that account for both its relative stability and its capacity for change

Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU)

Speaking notesPresident's OfficeUnreviewedFacult

Conferral of degrees to Japanese-Canadian students (Class of ‘41/42)

Conferral of degrees speech, 30 May 2012President's OfficeUnreviewedFacult

Educating the eye : engendering issues of social justice at UBC and beyond. Celebrating women’s and gender studies research at UBC

Keynote Speech, 2 November 2007President's OfficeUnreviewedFacult

Xerox event

Breakfast Event Speech, 16 February 2010President's OfficeUnreviewedFacult

UBC congregation address : leading through fear

Congregation address, Spring 2007President's OfficeUnreviewedFacult

Torture : can law prevent it? A lecture at the University of Melbourne

Lecture, 18 May 2011President's OfficeUnreviewedFacult

2011 Spring Convocation Address [UBC Okanagan campus]

UBC Okanagan Spring Address, 9 to 10 June 2011President's OfficeUnreviewedFacult