Boundaries of discourse in the International Court of Justice : : mapping arguments in Arab territorial disputes / / by Michelle L. Burgis.

• Author: Burgis, Michelle L.
• Year of Publication: 2009
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Nijhoff eBook titles 2009
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (340 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

How can Third World experiences of colonialism and statehood be expressed within the confines of the International Court of Justice? How has the discourse of international law developed to reflect postcolonial realities of ‘universal’ statehood? In a close and critical reading of four territorial disputes spanning the Arab World, Burgis explores the extent to which international law can be used to speak for and speak to non-European experiences of authority over territory. The book draws on recent, critical international legal scholarship to question the ability of contemporary, international adjudication to address Third World grievances from the past. A comparative analysis of the cases suggests that international law remains a discourse only capable of capturing a limited range of non-European experiences during and after colonialism.

Table of Contents

Listening for silences in and beyond the courtroom : methodological tools for understanding ICJ territorial disputes -- Between faith and place : Arab-Islamic approaches to authority and territory in theory and practice -- Sanctioning colonial legacies in the Sahara : the construction of postcolonial selfhood in the Libya/Chad territorial dispute -- (De)limiting the past for future gain : the relationship between statehood, colonialism, and oil in the Qatar v Bahrain territorial dispute -- Determining the limits of law in the Western Sahara case -- Discourses of division : law, politics, and the ICJ advisory opinion on the legal consequences of the construction of a wall in the occupied Palestinian territory.