A Critical Examination of the Concept of Imperialism in ...

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The London School of Economics and Political Science

A Critical Examination of the Concept of Imperialism in Marxist and Third World Approaches to International Law

Robert Knox

A thesis submitted to the Department of Law of the London School of Economics for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, London, April 2014

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DECLARATION

I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the MPhil/PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the extent of any work carried out jointly by me and any other person is clearly identified in it).

The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without my prior written consent.

I warrant that this authorisation does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party.

I declare that my thesis consists of 99,817 words.

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ABSTRACT

During the 2000s the terms `imperialism' and `empire' made a reappearance. This reappearance followed `unilateral' military interventions by the United States and its allies. Because these military interventions were all justified using international legal argument that the international legal discipline also became increasingly concerned with these terms.

Given this, it is unsurprising that there also arose two critical schools of thinking about international law, who foregrounded its relationship to imperialism. These were those working in the Marxist tradition and the Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) movement. Both of these intellectual movements are contemporary examples of older traditions.

Despite this popularity, there has been little sustained attention to the specific concepts of imperialism that underlie these debates. This thesis attempts to move beyond this, through mapping the way in which Marxist and TWAIL scholars have understood imperialism and its relationship to international law.

The thesis begins by reconstructing the conceptual history of the terms `colonialism', `empire' and `imperialism', drawing out how they are enmeshed in broader theoretical and historical moments. In particular it pays close attention to the historical and political consequences of adopting particular understandings of these concepts.

It then examines how these understandings have played out concretely. It reconstructs earlier Third Worldist thinking about imperialism and international law, before showing how contemporary TWAIL scholars have understood this relationship. It then looks at how the Marxist tradition has understood imperialism, before turning specifically to Marxist international legal theory

Finally, it turns to the interrelationship between Marxist and Third Worldist theory, arguing that each tradition can contribute to remedying the limitations in the other. In so doing it also attempts to flag up the complex historical inter-relation between these two traditions of thinking about imperialism and international law.

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Dedicated to my family, without whose love and support I would have gotten nowhere. To Dad, who I love and miss every day and to Mum and Andrew.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

It is a truth universally acknowledged that intellectual production, particularly of the scholarly variety, is always a collective process. This is true on the purely intellectual level, with every `writer' being situated within a dense network of other people, exchanging and clarifying ideas and occasionally breaking into heated, frantic argument. More importantly, given the fundamentally self-centred, lonely nature of actually writing stuff, without social support the most likely outcome of a PhD would surely be some kind of psychotic break.

As such, there are a number of friends and comrades to whom I owe a great debt of thanks. Upon reading what follows they may not be so happy to be associated with it, but ? as ever ? all errors of style and substance in this thesis remain my own.

First and foremost I have to give my thanks to Susan Marks. She has been vital in shepherding me through the tortuous process of producing this thesis, despite my occasional incompetence and organisational incapacity. She has been an exceptional mentor and has exerted a decisive influence on my intellectual and scholarly development. I cannot thank her enough for all the help and support she has given me throughout this entire process.

Thanks also to Florian Hoffman, who served as my second supervisor during my first year. Our weekly lunch sessions, complete also with gossip and politics (often the same thing) were a great help whilst I was settling in.

Next, huge thanks have to go to the close-knit group of intellectual collaborators/drinking buddies/karaoke partners and all-round comrades known as the Hive: Paavo Kotiaho, Tor Krever and Owen Taylor. Without our various despairing chats about the state of academia, politics and life in general ? as well as participation in the aforementioned activities ? there is no way I would have been able to finish. In particular: I have to thank Paavo for his infinite patience and positivity, and for introducing me to the noble art of bouldering; Tor for the rum, the Port, the Madeira and the cinema trips during which we consumed them, delicious belly pork burritos, and of course the glory of eating baby piglet and steak on a stone; and Owen ? who started at the same time as me, and finished ten days after ? for his continual and resolute cynicism throughout the years of the process. They were all also very important in helping me through some difficult times.

Tieneke Dykstra and Jeffrey Webber have been essential in making the whole of this process bearable. In particular, our regular visits to Tayyabs and Brewdog have been a godsend. They have been true friends to me throughout the last few years providing (in order of importance) alcohol, laughter, food, advice and somewhere to sleep. They have also been resolute in dampening my normal tendencies towards self-indulgent whininess.

Mary Robertson is one of the few people in the world who has actually ever managed to convince me that I might be wrong on an issue, and even made me admit it once. And of course my London experiences would have been considerably less fun (and considerably less weird) if we had never discovered the Casino together. Her willingness to participate in wildly inappropriate jokes has been vital.

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