Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-m42fx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-16T16:00:37.250Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

4 - International law as sociology: French “solidarism” 1871–1950

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 July 2009

Martti Koskenniemi
Affiliation:
University of Helsinki
Get access

Summary

“Here is a tranquil and charming village in a small peaceful State: its canals slumber in the calm of justice, interrupted only by a horizon of mountains whose snowy peaks inspire properly elevated thoughts. This is the chosen seat for elected international public power.” In this setting (which is not difficult to recognize as Rousseau's imaginary Geneva) we see the Parliament of Nations, “this immense and luxurious building, with spacious galleries, rich bibliographies, numerous bureaux of commissions,” together with a “smaller, though still imposing palace of the International Governmental Commission, or, more properly, of the Administrative Commission.” On both sides of a large boulevard there arise the offices of the ministries: an International Administration of Finances, a Customs Commission, a Monetary and Finances Commission, the headquarters of international postal administration, railways, straits, the great international rivers … There is also the building of the Ministry of Colonies “for care over races under trusteeship has been confided to the Society of Nations itself.” Still other facades appear: “at the end of the avenue, perpendicular to other buildings, very visible and in a much more sombre style lies that of the Directorate of International Armed Forces.” “But the veritable engine of the international society is the administration of justice. Here it finds the preponderant place which it has lost in so many States … The International Court of Justice, chosen initially from lists of candidates proposed by States, has become thereafter completely independent.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Gentle Civilizer of Nations
The Rise and Fall of International Law 1870–1960
, pp. 266 - 352
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2001

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×