Katsoni, Spyridoula

Kulamadayil, Lys

English

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Chatting with Lys KulamadayilSpyridoula Katsoni, Lys Kulamadayil 2023-01-13T08:00:01Welcome to the first interview of 2023 for the Völkerrechtsblog’s symposium‘The Person behind the Academic’! With us we have Dr. Lys Kulamadayil, andthrough the following questions, we will try to get a glimpse of her interests,sources of inspiration and habits.Welcome Dr. Kulamadayil and thank you very much for accepting ourinvitation!May I first ask what it was that brought you to academia?Academia is commonly thought of as a field of knowledge production. I see it as aprofession, which first and foremost requires you to be a perpetual, eager and drivenlearner. How else could one even hope to conduct meaningful research or be aresponsible teacher? This daunting, yet truly rewarding professional requirement iswhat brought me to academia.If you could, which unspoken rule of academia would you instantly erase?Not to be too cryptic, but it might be the existence of unspoken rules to begin with.Every academic culture and every institution has its own rules and pathologies,which are not easily intelligible or necessarily appear sensible for an outsider. Thefurther away from the core you are, the more difficult it becomes to navigate theminefield of unspoken rules, some of which seem to solely serve the purpose ofprotecting the core from the outside. Even if I may not like or agree with every adviceoffered e.g. by the “On my way out…” and ”On my way in…” publication series ofthe editors in chief of the European Journal of International Law, Joseph Weiler andSarah Nouwen, I appreciate their effort of speaking some of these unspoken rules.In a way, this was also what I was hoping to achieve by co-initiating the professionalskills lab for early career international law scholars. These initiatives are efforts toeven the playing field. At the same time, I am aware that they are problematic inthe sense that the message they send is that there is a “right way” of doing things(writing cover and reference letters etc.) and that this right way is determined byscholars from the core.It seems that, however ‘in vogue’ they may be, alternative approaches tointernational law are still criticized among more ‘conservative’ academiccircles. Any idea on why that is the case?I am not so convinced that the categorization of alternative and conservativeapproaches to international law is so fruitful, when it comes to practises of critique.I prefer to think of it rather in terms of open-minded and narrow-minded academics.It is true that in many academic cultures the use of traditional research methodsand of a somewhat antiquated approach of recognizing excellence is still dominant- 1 -and unfortunately, many of its proponents seem to feel threatened, rather thanintellectually stimulated when confronted with approaches that are different. At thesame time, I have found that those committed to genuine and indeed responsibleintellectual work will appreciate excellence, no matter how much it may differfrom one’s own ways of thinking. Narrow, and open-mindedness however are notinherently linked to the ways on which academics conduct their own research.Could you share with us three books/persons that have had a major impact onyour perception of justice?Hhmmm – difficult question, let me stay outside the terrain of legal academia forthis one. The earliest book is without doubt the bible. The second would be ErichKästner, specifically his poems, which I like for their simplicity and subtlety incritiquing the effects of industrialization on workers and the dynamics of fascism. Thethird would be ‘Outside the Door’ (Draußen vor der Tür) by Wolfgang Borchert, whichis an absolute masterpiece in its depiction of the personal experience of guilt andforgiveness.Which other factor would you say has mostly influenced your perception ofjustice?Inhabiting different social and material spaces. Being part of a migrant family, I spentmy childhood in India, Germany and, to a lesser extent, in the United States. Mysocial universe included children from privileged backgrounds, but also children fromdaily wage workers, and children who were still haunted by the experiences of armedconflict and forced displacement. As a result, I had a sense of what injustice did, longbefore I understood ideas such as class, caste, racialization, location or religion.What is your favourite place to read and write? What is always near you whenyou read and write?It has changed over time. It used to be the library. Now, I have become almost tooused to working from home, with occasional excursions to my favourite local Turkishcoffee shop.Which of your publications is your favourite one? And which of them is yourleast favourite?My ‘first-born’ was an ESIL Reflection, titled ‘When International Law Distracts’, backin 2018. Not sure whether or not it is my favourite, but its publication has certainlygiven me a lot of joy and excitement. The topic really bugged me and in fact, justrecently my full article ‘Grand Theft in International Law’ was published, which seeksto answer some of the questions that other scholars have raised in response to thatinitial ESIL Reflection. It is very gratifying to see a piece trigger responses/start aconversation. I do not have least favourite publications, simply because as an earlycareer scholar, I have not been in this business long enough to have developed acritical distance to ‘earlier work’.- 2 -Have you ever drawn influence from any form of art in your work? Is thereanything artistic about writing academic texts on international law?If art is understood to include music and literature then yes, absolutely. I haveexpressed research findings by quoting to lyrics or pro verbs.  I have also madesense about certain trends or movements in scholarship by viewing them throughcollective desires, which inspired and been well captured in art. Is there somethingartistic about writing academic texts? Certainly, there is something creative aboutit. I had a sculptural artist for a flatmate and remember thinking that her descriptionof the slow process of moulding mass into art, reminded me of the process ofmoulding ideas, influences, and just the raw mass of material which undergirds everyacademic text into an article.What is an energy and inspiration booster, at times when you do not haveany?Inspiration comes from outside.  It can be a conversation with a colleague, a friend, afamily member, a really great book or movie, a walk, a piece of art or pop culture.Thank you very much once again for participating in our symposium and forhaving taken the time to respond to our questions!- 3 -

Chatting with Lys Kulamadayil

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Chatting with Lys Kulamadayil

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