Review Essays
Abstract
This review essay addresses the call for a ‘material turn’ in international law announced with the publication of International Law’s Objects. It will engage the book’s methodological forays into a material culture studies approach to international law by analysing the theoretical positions of the introductory essays. It will do so, in part, by reviewing the various goals enunciated, including a revitalization of what the editors see as a dusty, text-centric discipline, as well as their hope to broaden the range of international legal study. It will do so also by engaging material culture studies in source disciplines, such as anthropology and archaeology. The review essay will then analyse four of the case studies of objects, how they work with their chosen objects and what the contributors add to our understanding of international law with their confrontation. The essay will offer the potential goals of using material culture study by proposing that international legal study is advanced by enhancing our apprehension of the lived experience of international law through an engagement with objects and by a linked opening up of all the senses to bring us a fuller apprehension of the workings and impact of international law.
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