From Apology to Utopia: The Structure of International Legal Argument

by Martti Koskenniemi

Drawing from a range of materials, Martti Koskenniemi demonstrates how international law becomes vulnerable to the contrasting criticisms of being either an irrelevant moralist Utopia or a manipulable façade for State interests. He examines the conflicts inherent in international law--sources, sovereignty, 'custom' and 'world order--and shows how legal discourse about such subjects can be described in terms of a small number of argumentative rules. Originally published in English in Finland in 1989, this reissue includes a newly written Epilogue by the author.

Genres: Law, Politics

704 pages, Paperback

First published December 28, 1989

About the author

Martti Koskenniemi was the Academy Professor and Director of the Erik Castrén Institute of International Law and Human Rights at the University of Helsinki, a Professorial Fellow at Melbourne Law School, and Centennial Professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He held visiting professorships at New York University, the University of Cambridge, the University of Utrecht, Columbia University, the University of São Paulo, the University of Toronto, and the universities of Paris I, II, X and XVI. He was a member of the Finnish diplomatic service from 1978 to 1994 and of the International Law Commission (UN) from 2002 to 2006. His main publications include From Apology to Utopia: The Structure of International Legal Argument (1989), The Gentle Civilizer of Nations: The Rise and Fall of International Law 1870-1960 (2001), The Politics of International Law (2011), The Cambridge Companion to International Law (2012, co-edited with Professor James Crawford), and To the Uttermost Parts of the Earth: Legal Imagination and International Power 1300–1870 (2021). He is a graduate of the universities of Turku and Oxford, and holds the degree of doctorate of laws honoris causa from the universities of Uppsala and Frankfurt.

Reviews

[Joris van de Riet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dit was een lange rit en forse intellectuele inspanning om te lezen, maar Koskenniemi's "deconstructie" van internationaal recht is buitengewoon origineel en verhelderend. Stap 2: kijken of ik dit apologetisch/utopische kader nu onbewust op al het internationaal recht dat ik voorbij zie komen ga toepassen.

[a.tlc_h.ix · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you ever felt powerless or at a loss for purpose as a contributor to international law/politics, this book will rekindle the rebellious spirit and desire for change that got you there in the first place. It’s an intellectual puzzle that motivates and educates, providing new perspectives on graspable concepts. Also a beneficial and arguably necessary read if you are a student of International Law/Politics/Governance or passionate about the subjects.

Koskenniemi elegantly dances around the nuances faced in the multifaceted arena of international law, all while weaving in a novel perspective on the formulation and interpretation of legalese. They navigate and dissect the influence of human nature in a balanced and surgical manner. It will make you scrutinise the layers of movement within the international arena. This accentuates and nails the point that what we categorise as good and bad is a conscious choice and that we have a choice on how we act. Hence we must proceed with integrity (in the Socratic sense), or better yet, act with compassion for our people and planet. We can do better if we believe in better.

[Sara Piovasco di rondò · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read From Apology to Utopia for one of my classes and it was worth alone the entire MSc.
Let alone the expertise, the research, the cross-field knowledge, the prose, I was profoundly impressed by the humanity I found within this essay.
By discussing law, Koskenniemi writes about human nature with clarity, and in doing so miraculously does not fall into neither sugarcoating or cynicism.
Indeed, he firmly explain that the crucial human quality is not the good or the evil, but the choice upon them, the choice of defining what constitutes each of them and the choice of what course of action to pick between them.
This is a great read, highly recommended. It has made me a more aware human and a better citizen.

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting structural analysis