Review of Jeremy Levitt, (Ed.) Mapping New Boundaries in African International Law

Abstract:     
Mapping New Boundaries in African International Law, edited by Jeremy, continues and pushes in new directions the contributionist tradition of African international law. Contributionists have long argued that Africa participated in the making of international law, contrary to Eurocentric accounts that designated Africa as backward, stateless and as such having played no role in the making of international law. Like in the contributionist tradition, the premise of Mapping New Boundaries is that Africa has been and continues to be ‘an innovator and generator of human knowledge, institutions and rules.’ It seeks to answer the question: ‘What contributions have African States, institutions and peoples made to the development of international law?’ The thesis of the book in short is that Africa is ‘at centre stage in confirming the status and nature of existing norms of international law and at the cutting edge of norm creation’ and to dispel the notion that ‘Africa is wholly disadvantaged and ineffectual.’

Number of Pages in PDF File: 23

Accepted Paper Series