Author
Assoc Prof hanyichou
Organisation/Institution
East China University of Political Science and Law
Country
CHINA
Panel
International Law
Title
International Law’s Progressive Narrative and Asia’s Rise: Colonial Legacies, Institutional Challenges, and the Pursuit of Sustainable Justice
Abstract
This article critically re-examines the so-called “progress narrative” underpinning international law and its continued influence on the field’s doctrinal development and normative constructions. Tracing the roots of this narrative to the sixteenth-century European project of universalizing its own trajectory of “progress” and “civilization,” the article demonstrates how these ideas were gradually consolidated as the bedrock of international legal standards. This process reached its apogee in the nineteenth century, as the “standard of civilization” was institutionalized through treaties, customary practices, and the juridical architecture of colonial governance, engendering a legal and normative hierarchy among states. In the aftermath of decolonization, and especially following the Cold War, this teleological narrative has survived in transmuted forms—most notably, through the discourse of human rights, the market economy, and liberal democracy—thus perpetuating regulatory modalities that privilege Eurocentric values and interests. While international law has indisputably contributed to the maintenance of international peace, the safeguard of fundamental rights, and the advancement of environmental protection, it remains marked by persistent colonial legacies and neoliberal paradigms. These dynamics continue to circumscribe the institutional representation and normative agency of non-Western actors, including Asian states. Against the backdrop of Asia’s rising global profile, this article interrogates the extent to which existing international legal norms and institutional arrangements sustain structural inequalities and hinder the realization of a more just and inclusive legal order. The article advocates for a paradigmatic shift toward pluralistic epistemologies and equitable participation in global norm-making, emphasizing the need to recalibrate international law so as to foster sustainable justice that genuinely reflects the diversity of the international community and empowers Asia as an active contributor to the evolution of contemporary international legal order.
Biography
Associate Professor at the School of International Law, East China University of Political Science and Law; Master's Supervisor; Deputy Director of the International Exchange Office; and Deputy Dean of the International Education College. Graduated with a Ph.D. from East China University of Political Science and Law. Postdoctoral researcher at the Law School of Tsinghua University. Former Deputy Dean of the Graduate School. Focuses on teaching and research in international trade law and international public law. Serves as a council member of the Shanghai International Relations Society, a council member of the Legal Translation Research Committee of the Shanghai Law Society, a member of the International Security Law Research Committee of the Shanghai Law Society, and a member of the WTO Law Research Committee of the Shanghai Law Society. Recipient of multiple Young Excellent Paper Awards from the Chinese Society of International Economic Law. Recognized as a "High-Output Author in Chinese Jurisprudence" in 2015. Visiting scholar at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2017. Included in the "Shanghai Youth Legal Talent Pool" in 2021.
