Customary international law: A third world perspective

Abstract

The article offers an alternative account of the evolution, formation, and function of customary international law (CIL) from a third world perspective. It argues that there is an intimate link between the rise, consolidation, and expansion of capitalism in Europe since the nineteenth century and the development of CIL that is concealed by the supposed distinction between formal and material sources of CIL. In fact, both traditional and modern CIL sustain the short-term and systemic interests of global capitalism. It proposes a postmodern conception of CIL that would contribute to the global common good.