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The American Project and the Politics of History: James Brown Scott and the Origins of International Law

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The American Project and the Politics of History: James Brown Scott and the Origins of International Law Paolo Amorosa The American Project and the Politics of History: James Brown Scott and the Origins of International Law Doctoral dissertation to be presented for public examination, by due permission of the Faculty of Law at the University of Helsinki, in auditorium XII of the Main Building (Fabianinkatu 33, 3rd floor) on the 14th of April, 2018 at 12 o’clock. © Paolo Amorosa 2018 ISBN 978-951-51-4132-3 (paperback) ISBN 978-951-51-4133-0 (PDF) Printed in Helsinki, Finland, by Unigrafia Oy, March 2018. Abstract In the interwar years, international lawyer James Brown Scott wrote a series of works on the history of his discipline. He made the case that the foundation of modern international law rested not, as most assumed, with the seventeenth-century Dutch thinker Hugo Grotius, but with sixteenth-century Spanish theologian Francisco de Vitoria. Far from being an antiquarian assertion, the Spanish origin narrative placed the inception of international law in the context of the discovery of America, rather than in the European wars of religion. The recognition of equal rights to the American natives by Vitoria was the pedigree on which Scott built a progressive international law, responsive to the rise of the United States as the leading global power and developments in international organization such as the creation of the League of Nations. At the same time, Scott associated the authority of Vitoria with projects he invested with personal meaning but were controversial within the US foreign policy establishment he belonged to. Scott claimed the authority of Vitoria in order to obtain the blessing of international adjudication by the Catholic Church and the recognition of equal rights for women by treaty. The dissertation describes the Spanish origin project in context, relying on Scott’s biography, changes in the self-understanding of the international legal profession, as well as on larger social and political trends in US and global history. Keeping in mind Vitoria’s persisting role as a key figure in the canon of international legal history, the dissertation sheds light on the contingency of shared assumptions about the discipline and their unspoken implications. The legacy of the international law Scott developed for the American century is still with the profession today, in the shape of the normalization and de- politicization of rights language and of key concepts like equality and rule of law. Acknowledgments While this long, difficult and rewarding journey draws to a close, I want to offer my most sincere thanks to all the people who have shared it with me. In the first place, this dissertation could not have come to light without the attentive guidance of my supervisor Martti Koskenniemi. It has been a privilege to discuss and review my work with him, constantly learning from his sharp insights and vast knowledge. The quality of the present text has benefitted immensely from this process but, most importantly, I have personally: it is said that a doctorate represents a rite of initiation into the academic profession and Martti has succeeded in offering me a thorough perspective of what it means to be a scholar. His technical observations always incorporated a careful consideration of the ethical and political stakes involved. He checked certain lapses of condescension I have had towards my subjects, while nurturing my ambitiousness. All those many teachings I will always treasure. There have been other scholars who, during different phases of the work, have engaged closely with my drafts, providing me with invaluable advice. Especially in the initial phase of the research, when its framework was still far from defined, Walter Rech has been a fundamental support. During many long discussions, he has helped me clarify my own ideas and pointed me to ways through which I could best express them. Pamela Slotte has been of tremendous help over the course of the writing process. Beyond reviewing the texts I produced, she patiently listened to every doubt I expressed on the most disparate issues, ranging from the theoretical foundations of the dissertation to the administrative details of its submission. She unfailingly responded with prompt assistance and solutions, making the path towards completion of my doctoral studies considerably smoother. Rotem Giladi has kicked off the final review process by carefully going through the initial parts of the dissertation. The latest reviewers have been, of course, the pre-examiners Karen Knop and David Armitage. I am thankful for their encouraging reports and pointed observations. They have given me a better understanding both of the contributions this dissertation offers and of the avenues for its further improvement. In particular, Karen’s advice has been crucial in making the introduction best reflect and highlight the themes developed in the corpus of the dissertation. David’s extraordinarily close engagement with my text has been invaluable in order to reexamine and correct my linguistic choices and shortcomings. The dissertation was conceived and researched in the context of the project ‘Intellectual History of International Law: Religion and Empire’, funded by the Academy of Finland. Besides Martti, the project leader and initiator, Walter and myself, our research group included Mónica García-Salmones Rovira and Manuel Jiménez Fonseca. With Mónica I shared the coordination of the ‘International Law and Religion Working Group’, which resulted in the collective volume International Law and Religion: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives, published by Oxford University Press in 2017. Mónica’s commitment to the long-term and large-scale endeavors we have worked on together has been exemplary, providing me with the motivation and enthusiasm necessary to overcome the many obstacles we faced. I am proud of the productive cooperation we built and of the achievements it led to. With Manuel I shared an office in the early years of my doctoral work. Together with our office mate Tuomas Tiittala, we spent long hours discussing our interests and views. At the time we considered those conversations as breaks from our solitary duties of reading and writing but I now realize how much they contributed to the development of the basic ideas sustaining this text. Manuel has cared for my emotional health in a time of heavy personal loss, during which I doubted that I would ever be able to see the end of this project. The same goes for Tuomas. Our summer excursions into the nature of Middle Finland have been a source of inner peace and balance. I have similarly fond memories of a road trip from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas with Walter from that same period. The majestic views of the national parks we visited in Southern Utah gave me a new sense of perspective. Since September 2012 up to the completion of the dissertation in late 2017 I have been based at the Erik Castrén Institute of International Law and Human Rights (ECI) at the Law Faculty of the University of Helsinki. I cannot think of another place where I could have pursued my research surrounded by such a diverse and inspiring community of scholars. In the first place I am thankful to the people who, alongside my supervisor, have brought us together: Jarna Petman and Jan Klabbers have been wonderful mentors and colleagues throughout my time at ECI. It is an impossible task to list all who have shared with me a coffee, small talk, one or several conversations on the politics of the day or some obscure scholarly theory on the sixth floor of Porthania or somewhere else in the Law Faculty, but I am going to try anyway: Elina Almila, Arnulf Becker Lorca, Martin Björklund, Luca Bonadiman, Yifeng Chen, Katja Creutz, Mehrnoosh Farzamfar, Joakim Frände, Nora Fabritius, Massimo Fichera, Elisabetta Fiocchi, Lorenzo Gasbarri, Janis Grzybowski, Lauri Hannikainen, Ville Kari, Hiva Khedri, Margareta Klabbers, Tero Kivinen, Magdalena Kmak, Paavo Kotiaho, Vesa Kyyrönen, Tero Lundstedt, Marja Luukkonen, Marta Maroni, Ketino Minashvili, Panu Minkkinen, Ilona Nieminen, Erman Özgür, Silvia Park, Eliska Pírková, Outi Penttilä, Santtu Raitasuo, Alberto Rinaldi, Semir Sali, David Scott, Sahib Singh, Ukri Soirila, Milka Sormunen, Diliana Stoyanova, Anna Suni, Immi Tallgren, Nadia Tapia, Reetta Toivanen, Taina Tuori, Guilherme Vasconcelos Vilaça, Maria Varaki, Claire Vergerio, Kangle Zhang. I want them to know, including those I have missed to mention, that they have all contributed to the brilliant experience that produced this dissertation. Of course, one could not think of the ECI community without mentioning the Institute’s coordinator Sanna Villikka, a constant source of help and support for all of us. During her leave, I have seen Lauri Uusi-Hakala and Mari Taskinen rise, through ability and dedication, to the impressive task of filling her shoes. I owe a special mention to Maria José Belmonte Sanchez, research assistant for our project. Her constant moral support in the most difficult times of my doctoral studies is by itself a major contribution to this work. In addition, she has shared with me the tantalizing work of ordering and classifying the wealth of archival material that forms the backbone of the dissertation. Also the final editing and the bibliography are the result of her skillful efforts. Between September and November 2015 I visited archives in the United States, funded by the ‘Intellectual History of International Law’ project. First, I spent a month at the Butler Library of Columbia University, examining the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Records. I am thankful to the staff of the Rare Book & Manuscript Library for their professionalism and helpfulness and especially to Jennifer Comins, the curator of the collection. My access to the Butler Library was facilitated by the status of visiting scholar at Columbia’s History Department, which I was awarded thanks to Mark Mazower. The following month I was in Washington D.C., studying James Brown Scott’s personal papers at Georgetown University.
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