Author
Asst Prof Swati Singh Parmar
Organisation/Institution
Dharmashastra National Law University, India
Country
INDIA
Panel
International Law
Title
Asian Cities and International Law
Abstract
International law is underpinned to State-centricism. Cities remain obscured in international law and its teaching and research. In this milieu of focusing on the State, cities are embodied, bracketed and subsumed by the States. There has been a shifting focus of international law to cities. Cities are emerging as global actors and as soft power. Global cities are sites of decentralised globalisation. Cities are emerging as lawmakers and law-shapers. Euro-american cities have become command centres for the global economy. Different Asian cities have interacted with international law to different degrees, but their accounts remain largely absent. Ceylon, Dhaka, Delhi, Jakarta, Madras, Manila, Peking, Hyderabad, and Lucknow were sites of significant treaties. Bandung’s significance in generating critical politico-legal discourse is immense. Some of the Asian cities nurtured institutions and figures (practitioners, teachers and others) who were pivotal in shaping international law teaching and research in Asia. Various cities played a significant role during different dynasties and reigns and produced or affected the rules of international law. Some cities were annexed on the legal justification of a (unequal) treaty. Certain cities were centres of trade, some cities had celebratory academic status, some cities were locations of historic political negotiations, and some were sites of peace treaties. Some cities cultivated institutions and figures that had a subtle and subdued presence in international law. My aim through this paper is to foreground Asian cities' relevance in international law production, by focusing on their legal historical relevance.
Biography
Swati Singh Parmar has been teaching international law for the past 10 years. Her primary interests include International legal theory and critical International Law. She has authored a book, ‘An Introduction to International Law’ (Thomson Reuters, 2021), which was cited as one of the 'most interesting works in 2021' by the International Law Reporter. She has published book chapters, including invited chapters for books published by Oxford, Cambridge, and Edward Elgar. She has authored articles for journals including the International Journal for the Semiotics of Law, Indonesian Journal of International Law, Indian Journal of International Law, NUJS Law Review and others. Her blog posts find a place in Opinio Juris, Voelkerrechtsblog, and AsianSIL Voices, among others. She has presented her works at platforms, including the Asian Legal History Conference, the Biennial Conference of the Asian Society of International Law, ESIL IG and ANZSIL IG Workshops.
