Third World Approaches to Internatinoal Law(TWAIL) - Why it is an empty shell?
A two day workshop on Third World Approaches to Internatinoal Law held in University of Colombo concluded today. Further to my initial reading of TWAIL literature, the workshop provided space to see how its main proponents approached to the different opinions expressed.
Confirming my presumptinos on TWAIL project before the workshop, the workshop only solidified my initial thoughts about it. While what I note here is partly some first thoughts, they lack only detailed annotation here and in summary the conclusiooins I have arrived at are valid to the core.
Firstly, TWAIL is limited fundamentally by nationalism and regionalism and, as its two proponents, Prof.Anghie and Prof.Vasuki, admitted at the workshop, TWAIL has multiple approaches and therefore it has no basis of a meta-nararative and no grand theory to be laid as the foundation of its discourse. Thus it is almost possible that anybody representing so called third world interests to speak about Third World within TWAIL, ironically without having studied any literature in TWAIL: one would be a TWAIL-er even without knowing what TWAIL is, because there is nothing theoretical in it. This goes in line with postmodern rejection of meta-narratives and highlighting of multiple identities and theories.
Secondly, while TWAIL claims to represent the interests of the people of the third world against the Third World state, it also protects it and stands by it for its sovereignty. This is a fundamental contradiction. If it represents the interests of the peoples, then independance from all affiliations from the ruling classes has to be established. You cannot have it and not have it at the same time, and to meet the end of upholding rights of the oppressed masses, a different approach would have to be found.
Thirdly, while its natinoalist limitation is inherent and it theoretically poor in its content TWAIL fails to answer the question of the global inequality, austerity and consequences of financial crisis in the first world, in spite of the TWAIL's claims to have imancipatory goals. It fails to answer the issue of global drive for war by the major imperialist powers.
To argue that first world is also becoming another third world due to financial crises is an absurd argument, which is fundamentally contradictory to the basic premises of TWAIL itself. If that argument is accepted, a series of fundamental questions have to be raised: then what is the dominant faction/oppressor that vield power on the newly formed third world? Is it so called Transnational Capitalist Class(TCC) that dominates over the Transnational Oppressed Class (TOC), to use prf.Chimni's terminoloby? Then what is the validity of the concept of imperialism or neo-colonialism in respect of those newly formed third world in the developed world? What is meant by global justice then, justice to whom and against whom? Why are there all of a sudden these concepts of TCC and TOC which were not used to explain the Third World in the Third World at the first instance? Then what would be the result if these purported new concept tools applied to the Third World? Then how does our first understanding of the causes and consequences of the injustice caused to the Third World changes or is there no change at all?
This phenomenon cannot be explained by any other means but employing the theory of surplus value and the collapse of rate of profit in the global capitalist system. It is only Marxist School of law that is capable of explaining this phenomenon. Globalization of production, rise of financial capital, collapse of rate of profit, financial crises, bail outs, austerity, inter imperialist tensions and drive for global hegemony and global war, the Capitalist system rooted in the nation-state system, and resistance by the international working class are the issues to be discussed in order to understand this whole phenomenon. Laws are made to legitimize polarisation of wealth(62 richest persons have more wealth than what half of the poorest of the world population has in total), financial paracitism and grave environmental damage(Federal Court ruled that mitigated and nominal damages, just $9.5 billion, be paid by British Petrolium in respect of the worst ever environmental disaster in US history and worst ecological disaster in the world in Deepwater Horizen Oil spill in Mexico Bay in 2010)drive for global hegemony, mass spending for nueclear war heads (US to spend 1 Trillion dollars in the next thirty years), to legalise austerity and cracked down upon civil and political rights of those who resist, to intensify surveilance, the wars abroad and police state apparatus at home. Therefore laws are at the service of the market and the capitalist classes around the world. While domestic, municipal laws are so framed, Internatinal law is also necessarily to be employed to meet this end.
Only the Marxist School of law can adequately answer these issues and explain the injustice caused to the Third World by colonialism and imperialism.