Kulamadayil, Lys

Lischewski, Isabel

Spitra, Sebastian M.

English

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Introducing the Symposium onFeminist Theory and International Law:Posthuman Perspectives by EmilyJonesSebastian M. Spitra, Lys Kulamadayil,Isabel Lischewski2023-05-17T08:00:17Emily Jones is known in the international law research community as a co-host ofthe Essex Public International Law lecture series. She, herself a critical internationallaw scholar, initiated this series together with doctrinal legal scholar Meagan Wongto showcase the universe of international law scholarship in all of its diversity. Theseries emphasizes the need to respect and engage with research even if it differsfrom one’s own methodological, theoretical, and ideological sensitivities. This isa message that we here at Völkerrechtsblog fully support, which is why it is allthe more a pleasure to be hosting this symposium on Dr. Jones’ first monographFeminist Theory and International Law: Posthuman Perspectives (Routledge 2023).For the duration of this symposium, the publisher has generously agreed to make theintroduction and Chapter 3 of the book available for open access.To show how feminist approaches can be used to analyze all areas of internationallaw beyond those conventionally thought of as ‘women’s issues’, the bookapplies posthuman feminist theory to examine military technologies, internationalenvironmental law, and modes of legal personality in international law. As aninterdisciplinary study, her work draws on, inter alia, queer and feminist theories,postcolonial and critical race theory, computer science, critical disability studies,marine biology, and Indigenous onto-epistemologies. Above all, it further exploresthe field of posthumanism for international law in an endeavor to bridge the theoryand practice divide.We asked the contributors to this symposium to critically engage with the variouschapters of this book. Starting with Chapter 1 (International Law and the Nonhuman),Pedro Martínez Esponda questions whether Jones is right in ethically equatingexclusionary humanism with anthropocentrism, arguing that exclusionary humanismpresents a form of systemic corruption, whereas anthropocentrism seems to hima philosophical and political choice whose merits are at least plausible. CoveringChapter 2 (Human and Machine), Fleur Johns cautions that the instrumentalizationof posthuman feminism to challenge prevailing legal debates around autonomousweapons risks reinstating the human/nonhuman hierarchy. Maria Elander engageswith Chapter 3 (Regulating Military Technologies) and Jones’ discussion ofthe (false) binary of resistance and compliance that feminist engagement withestablished international legal regimes faces, and her invitation to “stay withthe trouble” as suggested by Donna Haraway instead of leaning into unhelpfuldichotomies. Sanskriti Sanghi finds herself “tantalized” by the use of theory in Jones’- 1 -Chapter 4 on International Environmental Law (IEL). While she wonders about therealism of the future of IEL envisioned by Jones, she agrees with Jones’ approachtowards interrogating and carefully selecting the bodies of theory to be used in thisreimagining. Engaging with Chapter 5 (The Subjectivity of Matter), Usha Natarajanreflects on how a posthumanist feminist approach relates to epistemologies fromthe Global South, which seek to disrupt international law’s placing of the humanabove nature, rather than within it. To conclude, Anastasia Hammerschmied andAmelie Herzog situate Jones’ posthuman feminist approach in the history of feministapproaches to international law. Our symposium will conclude with Jones’ reflectionson the stakes of a posthuman feminist approach in the broader context of the urgentchallenges that international law faces.We are grateful to all contributors for their thoughtful contributions, to Jones foraccepting our invitation to discuss her book on our blog, and to Routledge forsupporting our open-access efforts and permitting all of our readers to access partsof this book free of cost until 31 July 2023.https://routledge.pub/FeministTheoryandInternationalLaw?r=qr- 2 -

Introducing the Symposium on Feminist Theory and International Law: Posthuman Perspectives by Emily Jones

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Introducing the Symposium on Feminist Theory and International Law: Posthuman Perspectives by Emily Jones

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