Skip to main content

Making paradoxes invisible: international law as an autopoietic system.

Kang, K., 2018. Making paradoxes invisible: international law as an autopoietic system. International Journal of Law in Context, 14 (3), 315-334.

Full text available as:

[img]
Preview
PDF
Kenneth Kang, Making Paradoxes Invisible, International Law as an Autopoietic System, 2018.pdf - Accepted Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial.

532kB

DOI: 10.1017/S174455231700026X

Abstract

When a state claims its practices are lawful but at the same time another claims this unlawful, a paradox emerges. Legal indeterminacy becomes the ordinary rule, while the resolution of disputes is designated the exception. To illustrate how international law deals with paradoxes, this paper will employ the dichotomy of upstream–downstream trans-boundary interstate relations. Here the paradox arises, since upstream states traditionally advocate for the free utilisation of water within their territory, while downstream states instead advocate for the waters full continued flow. Although, from a logical perspective, such a paradox would typically be viewed as something negative, from a social perspective, paradoxes also draw attention to the frames of common sense. Indeed, by employing a Luhmannian-inspired theoretical framework, this paper proposes that, through a sociological understanding of paradoxes, one can more adequately rediscover and reconceptualise the manner in which international law institutionalises conflicting expectations into a more harmless, bounded and permitted contradiction.

Item Type:Article
ISSN:1744-5523
Group:Faculty of Media & Communication
ID Code:33121
Deposited By: Symplectic RT2
Deposited On:09 Dec 2019 09:15
Last Modified:14 Mar 2022 14:18

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

More statistics for this item...
Repository Staff Only -