Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2024

Abstract

International law has long been viewed as the domain of countries and capitals, not fields or factories, but this overly top-down perspective misses a critical and under-studied dimension. Underneath the macro level of international agreements and standardized legal norms, international law is much more nuanced, with multiple sources of influence, production, design, adoption, and decision-making, which scholars have largely neglected but which need to be better understood. Models stemming from legal systems in less powerful states, smaller-scale stakeholder interests, and local solutions are often treated as one-off anecdotes or isolated case studies without broader implications. Capturing these lessons, cataloging them, and building a methodology around them could be transformational at a time when international law is both under siege and in need of a refresh to make it more responsive to a new set of global challenges, ranging from inequality to food insecurity and climate change. This paper presents a new approach for studying, designing, and implementing international law in the form of a conceptual and methodological framework for “micro international law,” a proposed sub-field of international legal studies. A micro dimension would align international law with other disciplines that recognize the importance of studying issues at a more granular level. It would also make a significant contribution to the international legal field by integrating theoretical and empirical approaches that focus on the details of how smaller-scale domestic legal innovations and stakeholder interests inform international law (and the circular relationship between these interventions and international law), ultimately providing a framework for redesigning international law to positively impact the lives of those whom it aims to serve and benefit.

Publication Citation

61 Stanford J. Int'l L. (forthcoming 2025)

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