International Legal Positivism in a Post-Modern World: A Proposal for Greater Focus in Scholarship

Abstract

What is the point of talking about positivism in these post-modern times, full as they are of holistic approaches celebrating inter-disciplinarity of the greatest possible largesse? Who still cares?

This is a short mid-term report for the newsletter of the Association of Young German International Lawyers on the international research project "International Legal Positivism in a Post-Modern World", directed by myself and Jean d'Aspremont, showing the aspirations we had in launching it and the lessons we have learnt so far.

Keywords: Herbert Hart, Hans Kelsen, positivism, international law