Transnational law is a field that encompasses a large and ever-growing variety of legal actors, situations, and issues that span national borders. This course will introduce the students to the history and concept of the transnational as a form of law beyond the state through a series of illustrative examples and critical case studies. It is designed to deepen students’ understanding of the nature, operation and impact of international law and international organizations alongside transnational law and transnational actors as a dynamic set of interactions rooted in history, competing normative perspectives, and unequal power relations. A further goal is to foster the development of perspectives from which to critically assess and think constructively about such law and institutions’ impact on society, both globally and locally.
Learning objectives will include an introduction to regimes that are identified as “transnational,” “global,” “supranational” and that claim respect or enforcement in the name of law, as well as a critical consideration of emerging trends and practices in these regimes. Students should be able to identify, map and critically engage with a variety of legal regimes beyond the state. In addition, students will be invited to consider the mechanisms by which state/national “domestic” legal systems are subject to international and transnational influences and to what ends. Students will improve their reasoning and argumentation skills through presenting and defending fundamental ideas about law when considered through more legal-pluralist and beyond-the-state lenses than is the norm in much of the general law school curriculum.
Method of Evaluation: 70% final examination, 10% participation, 20% two short reaction papers (500-600 words each).