Abstracts
| DOI | 10.1177/096466399600500308 |
| Published date | 01 September 1996 |
| Date | 01 September 1996 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
ABSTRACTS
EVE
DARIAN-SMITH,
Postcolonialism:
A
Brief Introduction
’Postcolonialism’
is
a
complex
word
of
multiple
interpretations.
In
this
Introduction,
I
argue
that
postcolonialism
represents
a
widespread
intellectual
movement
that
seeks
to
understand
ongoing
mutual
dependencies
between
the
West
and
non-West
and
the
constant
renegotiating
of
that
cleavage.
Postcolonialism
should
not
be
simplistically
interpreted
as
a
chronological
marker
and
method
of
periodization
demarcating
an
historical
shift
from
colonialism
to
self-determination
among
formerly
colonized
peoples.
Colonialism
is
not
dead.
Moreover,
I
suggest
that
by
looking
at
the
creation
of
Occidental
and
Oriental
iden-
tities
in
negation
to
each
other,
this
process
of
othering
is
necessarily
one
of
doubling.
Thus
what
the
West
presents
as
external
difference
to
itself
also
points
to
the
disturbing
limits
of
exclusion
and
inclusion
within
the
modern
nation-state.
How
international
law and
related
state
legal
systems
maintain
the
concept
of
sovereign
authority
against
these
ongoing
chal-
lenges
from
without
and
within
national
borders
underscores
the
central
theme
in
this
col-
lection
of
essays
on
law
and
postcolonialism.
This
tension
in
turn
raises
a
central
question
given
current
history’s
global
characterization,
which
is
how
does
either
the
modern
or
the
postcolonial
state
continue
to
represent
itself
to
itself?
PAUL
A.
PASSAVANT,
A
Moral
Geography
of
Liberty: John
Stuart
Mill
and
American
Free
Speech
Discourse
This
article
examines
a
narrative,
J.S.
Mill’s
free
speech
paradigm,
that
establishes
America
as
a
place
where
a
right
to
free
speech
is
justified.
This
essay
uses
a
genealogical
approach
to
study
how
American
practices
of
speech
rights
have
appropriated
this
discourse.
This
approach
shows
how
a
western
identity
of
free
speech
and
progress
and
a
backward
non-
West
where
speech
is
out
of
place
have
been
produced
by
the
Millian
paradigm.
These
iden-
tities
structure
justified
claims
for
a
right
of
free
speech.
The
Millian
paradigm,
I
argue,
creates
a
moral
geography
that
maps
ethical
standing.
This
determines
where
a
legitimate
speech
right
is
perceived,
while
defining
a
limit
to
such
rights
based
upon
the
identity
for-
mation
performed
by
this
discourse.
With
the
waning
of
Cold
War
geopolitical
identities,
I
suggest
that
a
reterritorialization
of
America’s
place
within
its
global
imaginary
has
renewed
the
importance
of
Mill’s
moral
geography
for
contemporary
understandings
of
speech
rights
and
threats
to
such
rights.
ANTONY
ANGHIE,
Francisco
de
Vitoria
and
the
Colonial
Origins
of International
Law
This
article
examines
the
work
of
Francisco
de
Vitoria,
a
sixteenth-century
jurist
regarded
as
one
of
the
founders
of
international
law.
The
article
focuses
on
the
relationship
between
colonialism
and
international
law
in
Vitoria’s
work,
arguing
that
Vitoria
is
preoccupied
with
the
problem
of
creating
a
legal
order
which
regulates
relations
between
two
radically
differ-
ent
societies,
the
Spanish
and
the
Indian.
In
developing
this
theme,
the
article
argues
that
Vitoria’s
formulation
of
some
of
the
central
doctrines
of
international
law,
including
sover-
eignty
doctrine,
were
generated
by
his
attempts
to
resolve
the
legal
problems
arising
from
the
colonial
encounter.
It
concludes
by
arguing
that
this
reinterpretation
of
Vitoria’s
work
may
suggest
a
new
framework
for
understanding
the
history
of
the
relationship
between
colonialism
and
international
law.
DIANNE
OTTO,
Subalternity
and
International
Law:
The
Problems
of
Global
Community
and
the
Incommensurability
of Difference
This
article
draws
on
the
work
of
the
Indian
Subaltern
Studies
collective
to
explore
the
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