Armstrong, D., “Evolving conceptions of justice in international law”, Review of International Studies 37.5 (Dec. 2011), 2121-2136.
This article considers so-called ‘cosmopolitan’ ideas of justice, which argue that principles of justice should be applied not just in individual states but in the larger global community. It looks specifically at the assertion that cosmopolitan conceptions of justice do not simply represent a set of principles about what their advocates believe should be the case but that they are, in effect, reflecting something that is actually happening. It looks at one aspect of that assertion, namely the argument that various developments in international law may be interpreted as reflecting this fundamental shift, one involving a move away from an exclusive concern with states as subjects of international law and with conceptions of justice located firmly within the society of states towards a view that emphasises the equal legal rights of individuals and notions of interpersonal rather than interstate justice. While taking a relatively sceptical view of such claims, it argues that the full picture is more complex than Realist and Legal Positivist theories allow.
Review of International Studies is available in the University Library. An abstract of the article is available on the Review’s website.
David Armstrong, PhD (ANU), is Professor of Global Politics at Buckingham. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and founder / editor of Diplomacy and Statecraft. He has many publications, initially on aspects of East Asian international relations and in the last twenty years on international organisation and international law.
