event
International Law
Wednesday
14
May
Book cover

Book launch - International Legal Theory and the Cognitive Turn

Anne van Aaken, University of Hamburg, and Moshe Hirsch, Hebrew University Jerusalem
, -

Geneva Graduate Institute, Maison de la paix, Room S12

Cognitive and behavioural studies are making inroads into international law and are increasingly used in policymaking, yet their implications for international legal theory remain under-explored. This book systematically analyses how insights gained from the cognitive sciences can influence different theoretical approaches to international law. 

The launch will be followed by a reception. Please register to attend.

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Join us for an engaging discussion with the editors Anne van Aaken, University of Hamburg, and Moshe Hirsch, Hebrew University Jerusalem, of International Legal Theory and the Cognitive Turn and with discussants Andrea Bianchi, Graduate Institute Geneva, and Anne Saab, Graduate Institute Geneva, Moderator Nico Krisch, Graduate Institute Geneva.

Cognitive and behavioural studies are making inroads into international law, international policy, and literature. Firstly, international practice is drawing increasingly on behavioural studies. The United Nations (UN) and its agencies have turned to behavioural science to confront new challenges faced by the international community, including the Sustainable Development Goals, climate change, and gender equality. Similarly, the World Bank and World Health Organization have created teams of experts to advise on the incorporation of behavioural insights to support their operations. Other international organizations are likewise following suit. Secondly, the cognitive-behavioural turn is generating innovative research work in disciplines neighbouring international law and is gaining similar traction in international legal scholarship.

Yet, despite this, the implications of cognitive-behavioural studies for international legal theory remain under-explored. With few exceptions, international legal theories have long failed to explicitly address the cognitive–behavioural assumptions of their respective theoretical approaches. To fill this gap, this book systematically examines the impact of the cognitive-behavioural turn on the main theoretical schools within international legal scholarship. 

Across thirteen chapters, the contributors uncover the cognitive bases of their respective theories, exploring both the cognitive similarities underlying the assumptions of different theories of international law, as well as the limitations of the use of behavioural science in international law theories. International Legal Theory and the Cognitive Turn makes explicit the relationship between cognitive-behavioral methodologies and other ways of thinking about international law, including TWAIL, feminist, and legal realist approaches, and more.

The book is out now  – open access. Here the link: International Legal Theory and the Cognitive Turn | Oxford Academic

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