Overcoming the “Coloniality of Doing” in International Law: Soft Law as a Decolonial Tool

Abstract Law, as a set of norms designed to regulate social life, is a field of difficult change, being always behind its time. The case of international law is even harder due to the limits of its positivist normative structure, formulated not only by countries that hold military/economic power in...

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Main Author: Tatiana Cardoso Squeff
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Fundação Getúlio Vargas, Escola de Direito 2021-11-01
Series:Revista Direito GV
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Online Access:http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1808-24322021000200205&tlng=en
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author Tatiana Cardoso Squeff
author_facet Tatiana Cardoso Squeff
author_sort Tatiana Cardoso Squeff
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Law, as a set of norms designed to regulate social life, is a field of difficult change, being always behind its time. The case of international law is even harder due to the limits of its positivist normative structure, formulated not only by countries that hold military/economic power in the international arena, but also in a modern/colonial historical moment that has guaranteed their legitimacy for more than five centuries, which makes it extremely difficult to have rules that contemplate the desires of the Third World. Thus, what seems to exist is that, in addition to the colonialities of power, knowledge and being, there is also the “coloniality of doing”, limiting the development of international rules. Hence, this paper addresses this problem, since the existing norms have a high coloniality burden and will hardly be altered by the current formulas. To this end, by following an explanation of decolonialism as an epistemic approach and its relation to the Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL), the role of soft law will be addressed as a decolonial tool capable of solving the existing impasse. Based on the deductive method and a critical-explanatory approach, an applied research will be conducted using the bibliographic procedure for analysis with qualitative selection.
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spelling doaj-art-8f3f6cfd14e04a46a38e23a7a1b7496e2025-02-02T01:26:34ZengFundação Getúlio Vargas, Escola de DireitoRevista Direito GV2317-61722021-11-0117210.1590/2317-6172202127Overcoming the “Coloniality of Doing” in International Law: Soft Law as a Decolonial ToolTatiana Cardoso Squeffhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-9912-9047Abstract Law, as a set of norms designed to regulate social life, is a field of difficult change, being always behind its time. The case of international law is even harder due to the limits of its positivist normative structure, formulated not only by countries that hold military/economic power in the international arena, but also in a modern/colonial historical moment that has guaranteed their legitimacy for more than five centuries, which makes it extremely difficult to have rules that contemplate the desires of the Third World. Thus, what seems to exist is that, in addition to the colonialities of power, knowledge and being, there is also the “coloniality of doing”, limiting the development of international rules. Hence, this paper addresses this problem, since the existing norms have a high coloniality burden and will hardly be altered by the current formulas. To this end, by following an explanation of decolonialism as an epistemic approach and its relation to the Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL), the role of soft law will be addressed as a decolonial tool capable of solving the existing impasse. Based on the deductive method and a critical-explanatory approach, an applied research will be conducted using the bibliographic procedure for analysis with qualitative selection.http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1808-24322021000200205&tlng=enDecolonialismcoloniality of doinginternational lawTWAILsoft law
spellingShingle Tatiana Cardoso Squeff
Overcoming the “Coloniality of Doing” in International Law: Soft Law as a Decolonial Tool
Revista Direito GV
Decolonialism
coloniality of doing
international law
TWAIL
soft law
title Overcoming the “Coloniality of Doing” in International Law: Soft Law as a Decolonial Tool
title_full Overcoming the “Coloniality of Doing” in International Law: Soft Law as a Decolonial Tool
title_fullStr Overcoming the “Coloniality of Doing” in International Law: Soft Law as a Decolonial Tool
title_full_unstemmed Overcoming the “Coloniality of Doing” in International Law: Soft Law as a Decolonial Tool
title_short Overcoming the “Coloniality of Doing” in International Law: Soft Law as a Decolonial Tool
title_sort overcoming the coloniality of doing in international law soft law as a decolonial tool
topic Decolonialism
coloniality of doing
international law
TWAIL
soft law
url http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1808-24322021000200205&tlng=en
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