Introduction to the Forum: The Status of Law in World Society
| Date | 01 January 2016 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0305829815620295 |
| Published date | 01 January 2016 |
| Author | Oliver Kessler |
| Subject Matter | Forum: The Status of Law in World Society |
Millennium: Journal of
International Studies
2016, Vol. 44(2) 236 –241
© The Author(s) 2016
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DOI: 10.1177/0305829815620295
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1. See Friedrich Kratochwil, Rules, Norms and Decisions: On the Conditions of Practical and
Legal Reasoning in International Relations and Domestic Affairs (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1989). Nicholas Onuf, World of Our Making: Rules and Rule in Social
Theory and International Relations (Columbia: University of Southern California Press,
1989). Between 1989 and 2014, Kratochwil has focused more on articles and chapters than
books. See for example the interesting collection in Friedrich Kratochwil, The Puzzles of
Politics (London: Routledge, 2013).
Introduction to the Forum:
The Status of Law in
World Society
Oliver Kessler
University of Erfurt, Germany
Abstract
This introduction positions The Status of Law in World Society in the context of Friedrich V.
Kratochwil’s previous contributions to International Relations. It outlines how Kratochwil has
replaced the rhetorical tradition that featured prominently in Rules, Norms and Decisions by
practice theories and pragmatism in his new book. It then provides an overview of the nine new
Meditations contained in The Status of Law, and introduces each contribution to this Forum.
Keywords
constructivism, pragmatism, practice theories
Introduction
Twenty-five years have passed since Friedrich Kratochwil’s Rules, Norms, and Decisions
has, along with Nicholas Onuf’s World of Our Making, formed what is today known as
‘radical constructivism’ in International Relations.1 Now his new book on The Status of
Corresponding author:
Oliver Kessler, University of Erfurt, Nordhäuser Strasse 63, Erfurt, Germany.
Email: oliver.kessler@uni-erfurt.de
620295MIL0010.1177/0305829815620295MillenniumKessler
research-article2015
Forum: The Status of Law in World Society
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