Books by Paolo Amorosa
History and Theory of International Law Series (OUP), 2019
In the interwar years, international lawyer James Brown Scott wrote a series of works on the hist... more 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 book 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.
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History and Theory of International Law Series (OUP), 2017
This books maps out the territory of international law and religion challenging received traditio... more This books maps out the territory of international law and religion challenging received traditions in fundamental aspects. On the one hand, the connection of international law and religion has been little explored. On the other, most of current research on international legal thought presents international law as the very victory of secularization. By questioning that narrative of secularization this book approaches these traditions from a new perspective.
From the Middle Ages' early conceptualizations of rights and law to contemporary political theory, the chapters bring to life debates concerning the interaction of the meaning of the legal and the sacred. The contributors approach their chapters from an array of different backgrounds and perspectives but with the common objective of investigating the mutually shaping relationship of religion and law. The collaborative endeavour that this volume offers makes available substantial knowledge on the question of international law and religion.
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Articles by Paolo Amorosa
Leiden Journal of International Law, 2022
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History of European Ideas, 2022
This article recounts how Neo-Scholastic international lawyers navigated the complex political la... more This article recounts how Neo-Scholastic international lawyers navigated the complex political landscape of the 1920s and 30s, combining universalism, nationalism and religious belief. Participating in the contemporary re-engagement of Catholics with modern politics, they re-imagined the international legal order in Catholic terms. They argued that a universal morality, overruling the extremes of state sovereignty, was the only solid basis for just and stable global legal relations. While the contribution of Catholics to the establishment of the post-war world order and the rise of human rights is widely acknowledged, the interwar genealogy of these developments is not. Reading these thinkers’ universalist legal tenets in conjunction with their political trajectories provides a relevant frame to understand the moral charge characterizing international law in the early years of the Cold War.
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European Journal of International Law, 2019
Histories of equal rights for women in international law normally begin with post-World War II in... more Histories of equal rights for women in international law normally begin with post-World War II initiatives. Such an approach leaves out two treaties signed at the 1933 Montevideo Pan-American Conference, the Equal Nationality Treaty and the Equal Rights Treaty, which remain forgotten among international lawyers. By reconstructing their inception and intellectual background , this article aims to raise awareness about debates on international law among feminist activists in the interwar years. In turn, the focus on activist work allows for the recovery of the contribution of women to the development of the discipline in that seminal period, a contribution usually obfuscated by men's predominance in diplomatic and academic roles. By outlining the contribution of two key promoters of the Montevideo treaties-Doris Stevens and Alice Paul of the National Woman's Party-the article takes a step towards the re-inclusion of women's rights activists within the shared heritage of international law and its history.
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Transforming the Politics of International Law, 2021
James Brown Scott (1866-1943), often dubbed an ‘unofficial member’ of the
Advisory Committee of ... more James Brown Scott (1866-1943), often dubbed an ‘unofficial member’ of the
Advisory Committee of Jurists, was a key figure in the establishment of international
adjudication in the first half of the twentieth century. The text follows
Scott’s career and legal thought starting from his studies at Harvard in
the 1880s. It describes the professional rise that led him to become Elihu
Root’s main legal advisor at the State Department and the deus ex machina of
the foundation of the American Society of International Law in 1906. From
this position of influence, Scott developed a theory of international adjudication
rooted in an exceptionalist understanding of American law. The model
for a peaceful world lay in the formal equality founding the US legal system
and in the judicial activity of the Supreme Court, which had authoritatively
given legal substance to the relations of previously independent states with its
case law. He came close to turn his views into reality in 1907, as a key player
of the Second Hague Peace Conference, which devised but ultimately failed
to establish an international court of justice. But the momentum of Scott’s
judicialist views of the international order subsided with the outbreak of the
World War I and the rise of the supporters of collective security. Defeated at
home by President Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) and a younger generation
of international lawyers, Scott replied with a series of books on US constitutional
history, published between 1918 and 1920. Therein, he articulated
in detail the progressive narrative through which he linked the birth of the
American nation and its rise to global power with the legalization of international
relations. Armed with this vision, Scott took part in the proceedings of
the Advisory Committee of Jurists. As an advisor to Root and a member of
the drafting committee, he fought for a fully fledged Court with compulsory
jurisdiction and helped to devise the complex mechanism for the election of its
judges. The contribution concludes with short reflections on the ideological
implications these two aspects – jurisdiction and the election of judges – held
in Scott’s vision of international adjudication.
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Poolitikasta, 2019
Italy could be pointed at as the birthplace of the European project: the 1941 Ventotene Manifesto... more Italy could be pointed at as the birthplace of the European project: the 1941 Ventotene Manifesto is hailed as the founding political document of European integration; the European Convention on Human Rights and the treaty establishing the European Economic Community were both signed in Rome. Nevertheless, for too many in Italy today, Europe is something to defend against, not to own.
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Published in Koskenniemi, Garcia-Salmones, Amorosa (eds.), International Law and Religion: Histor... more Published in Koskenniemi, Garcia-Salmones, Amorosa (eds.), International Law and Religion: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives, OUP 2017
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L'Europe Unie, 2012
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Book Reviews by Paolo Amorosa
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Journal of the History of International Law, Volume 15, Issue 2, 2013
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Books by Paolo Amorosa
From the Middle Ages' early conceptualizations of rights and law to contemporary political theory, the chapters bring to life debates concerning the interaction of the meaning of the legal and the sacred. The contributors approach their chapters from an array of different backgrounds and perspectives but with the common objective of investigating the mutually shaping relationship of religion and law. The collaborative endeavour that this volume offers makes available substantial knowledge on the question of international law and religion.
Articles by Paolo Amorosa
Advisory Committee of Jurists, was a key figure in the establishment of international
adjudication in the first half of the twentieth century. The text follows
Scott’s career and legal thought starting from his studies at Harvard in
the 1880s. It describes the professional rise that led him to become Elihu
Root’s main legal advisor at the State Department and the deus ex machina of
the foundation of the American Society of International Law in 1906. From
this position of influence, Scott developed a theory of international adjudication
rooted in an exceptionalist understanding of American law. The model
for a peaceful world lay in the formal equality founding the US legal system
and in the judicial activity of the Supreme Court, which had authoritatively
given legal substance to the relations of previously independent states with its
case law. He came close to turn his views into reality in 1907, as a key player
of the Second Hague Peace Conference, which devised but ultimately failed
to establish an international court of justice. But the momentum of Scott’s
judicialist views of the international order subsided with the outbreak of the
World War I and the rise of the supporters of collective security. Defeated at
home by President Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) and a younger generation
of international lawyers, Scott replied with a series of books on US constitutional
history, published between 1918 and 1920. Therein, he articulated
in detail the progressive narrative through which he linked the birth of the
American nation and its rise to global power with the legalization of international
relations. Armed with this vision, Scott took part in the proceedings of
the Advisory Committee of Jurists. As an advisor to Root and a member of
the drafting committee, he fought for a fully fledged Court with compulsory
jurisdiction and helped to devise the complex mechanism for the election of its
judges. The contribution concludes with short reflections on the ideological
implications these two aspects – jurisdiction and the election of judges – held
in Scott’s vision of international adjudication.
Book Reviews by Paolo Amorosa
From the Middle Ages' early conceptualizations of rights and law to contemporary political theory, the chapters bring to life debates concerning the interaction of the meaning of the legal and the sacred. The contributors approach their chapters from an array of different backgrounds and perspectives but with the common objective of investigating the mutually shaping relationship of religion and law. The collaborative endeavour that this volume offers makes available substantial knowledge on the question of international law and religion.
Advisory Committee of Jurists, was a key figure in the establishment of international
adjudication in the first half of the twentieth century. The text follows
Scott’s career and legal thought starting from his studies at Harvard in
the 1880s. It describes the professional rise that led him to become Elihu
Root’s main legal advisor at the State Department and the deus ex machina of
the foundation of the American Society of International Law in 1906. From
this position of influence, Scott developed a theory of international adjudication
rooted in an exceptionalist understanding of American law. The model
for a peaceful world lay in the formal equality founding the US legal system
and in the judicial activity of the Supreme Court, which had authoritatively
given legal substance to the relations of previously independent states with its
case law. He came close to turn his views into reality in 1907, as a key player
of the Second Hague Peace Conference, which devised but ultimately failed
to establish an international court of justice. But the momentum of Scott’s
judicialist views of the international order subsided with the outbreak of the
World War I and the rise of the supporters of collective security. Defeated at
home by President Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) and a younger generation
of international lawyers, Scott replied with a series of books on US constitutional
history, published between 1918 and 1920. Therein, he articulated
in detail the progressive narrative through which he linked the birth of the
American nation and its rise to global power with the legalization of international
relations. Armed with this vision, Scott took part in the proceedings of
the Advisory Committee of Jurists. As an advisor to Root and a member of
the drafting committee, he fought for a fully fledged Court with compulsory
jurisdiction and helped to devise the complex mechanism for the election of its
judges. The contribution concludes with short reflections on the ideological
implications these two aspects – jurisdiction and the election of judges – held
in Scott’s vision of international adjudication.