PhD course: The legitimacy of international law in a time of backlash against international institutions

With the end of the Cold War, the world experienced a period of optimism for the role of international law, the protection of human rights, and the promotion of the rule of law at the national and international levels. International law and international institutions have played an increasingly large role both in inter-state relations and in the domestic affairs of most countries. As one example of their reach beyond the inter-state level, the European Convention on Human Rights and the Treaties of the European Union grew in importance and relevance, with their binding rules supervised by strong international tribunals. These treaties and many others sometimes require states to protect individuals or alter domestic regulation in ways that the governments oppose and may call on states to respect and promote international rather than simply national values and interests. This expansion of the functions and the influence of international law and international institutions has raised many questions about their legitimacy and how perceptions of their legitimacy promote national compliance or results in opposition and backlash.

In the last decade or two, the post-war optimism concerning human rights and transnational governance has been waning, as opposition to international institutions and the values they represent has emerged.  For example, many governments see human rights as an interference in their pursuit of national interests; and the “Washington Consensus” that drove international economic law and institutions has sharply eroded. As a result, international institutions are met with opposition from domestic institutions and actors. In many interactions, globalism is replaced by nationalism and cooperation is seen in purely transactional terms. The term “backlash” is often used to describe this trend, which covers a wide range of resistance against these institutions, including the wilful disobedience of international courts and other bodies, efforts to restrict their independence and powers, and attempts to eliminate them. It is not confined to one political ideology.

A cross-disciplinary approach to the study of legitimacy and backlash

This course will study the role of considerations of legitimacy both in the study of international law and international institutions in general and more particularly in examining the backlash against international institutions. Until relatively recently, the study of legitimacy mainly focused on the state and its right to rule over its citizens. But accounts of state legitimacy are not necessarily pertinent for international institutions. Recent years have seen a significant turn towards the study of the legitimacy and justice of international institutions and international law. The course provides an advanced introduction to the topics and theories raised within this field of research.

The course will provide an overview of the main concepts and theories of the legitimacy of international law and international institutions, and of how they relate to each other. It will also address some of the theoretical and methodological challenges involved in assessing the legitimacy and justice of international law and international institutions. Focusing on the relationship between legitimacy and backlash; some of the issues that will be addressed include:

• - How can the concept of backlash be described and understood, and is it an appropriate concept for studying contemporary challenges to legitimacy?
• - Does the phenomenon of backlash force us to reconsider our traditional views of legitimacy?
• - How can backlash be explained and what are its effects relative to the legitimacy of international institutions?
• - Can certain manifestations of backlash be normatively justified?

As legitimacy is discussed across a number of different disciplines, this course adopts a multidisciplinary approach, focusing primarily on law, philosophy, and political science. These different disciplines might operate with different concepts of legitimacy and hence study different, though related and sometimes overlapping issues. Thus, philosophy mainly addresses normative legitimacy, which often relates to substantive notions of justice; political science focuses on sociological legitimacy, what factors affect publics’ and elites’ perceptions of international institutions, and the consequences of these perceptions, and legal scholarship focuses on the structure of, as well as the law governing and produced by, institutions, including whether they comport with notions of the rule of law. Furthermore, within each discipline, there will be competing concepts (and conceptions) of legitimacy.

The course will be based on active participation and dialogue between the teachers and the course participants.

Course Program

Note that the above program is only tentative and that changes may occur.

On a general level, the course will run for four full days (from Tuesday May 30 in the morning until Friday June 2 in the afternoon) with four daily sessions. Approximately the first half of the course will address general theories of legitimacy, while the second half will address the specific issues relating to backlash.

The course is coordinated by Kjetil Mujezinović Larsen (professor of law) and Jakob Elster (associate professor in political philosophy) from the University of Oslo.

The lecturerers will include:

• Alain Zysset (University of Glasgow)
• Andreas Føllesdal (University of Oslo)

• Jakob Elster (University of Oslo)

• Kjetil Mujezinović Larsen (University of Oslo)

• Matthew W. Saul (University of Oslo)
• Steven Ratner (University of Michigan)

• Theresa Squatrito (London School of Economics and Political Science)

• Øyvind Stiansen (University of Oslo)

• Practical Information

• Attendance at the course is tuition-free, but students will need to cover their own travel and accommodation. Basic lunches and refreshments will be provided for.

• We will also organize one social evening for the students and teachers to get to know each other in an informal context.

      Application deadline 15 February 2023. 

The course will be attended by PhD-students in law, philosophy, political science, and other related disciplines.   

In the application form, the applicants had to submit a CV and a short letter of motivation. This letter would include why the applicant wants to take the course, the topic of the applicant’s thesis, how far advanced the applicant is in the work on the thesis, as well as the name of the applicant’s supervisor(s).

   The process and Important Dates

• 15 February 2023: Application deadline
• 1 March 2023: Applicants received notice on the outcome
• 30 May – 2 June 2023: The Course is held physically is Oslo
• 1 July 2023: Deadline for the first draft of the obligatory course essay
• 1 October 2023: Deadline for the second and final draft

• Obligatory Activities and Credits

• Students are expected to actively participate in discussion during the course and to have read the assigned literature in advance.
• Students are also expected to give a presentation during the course on a topic that will be specified for the participants in advance.
• To complete the course, students must submit a final essay of between 7,000-9,000 words that is anchored in the course literature. The participants will first submit a first draft to receive comments, and then submit a revised final version. 

If the above mentioned requirements are fulfilled, we recommend that the course gives 5 ECTS credits. However, this must be approved by each candidate's phd-programme.

• Learning Outcome

• The students will acquire:

• Knowledge of the differences between the various concepts of legitimacy used in different disciplines, and of the relationships between these concepts.
• Knowledge of different theories of legitimacy within law, philosophy, and political science, and of their application to international law and institutions.
• Knowledge of how these theories can contribute to a response to the current backlash against international institutions.
• An understanding of the challenges and possibilities arising from the multidisciplinary study of legitimacy.
• An ability to critically assess and discuss the legitimacy of different international institutions in their relationship with domestic actors.
• An ability to critically assess and discuss different theories of international legitimacy.

Hotels and Useful Links

The course will be hosted in the building Domus Juridica, which is part of the University of Oslo’s campus in the centre of Oslo. The address is Kristian Augusts gate 17.  There are many hotels within a walking distance, such as for instance Smart hotel Oslo (low cost option), Scandic St. Olavs plas and Thon hotel Europa. On a general note, Oslo is a compact city where you can get far within a half hour walk.

       Contact Information

If you have any questions about the course, please contact Karen Johanne Østli: karenjos@uio.no. 

         About PluriCourts

The course is organized by PluriCourts - Centre for the Study of the Legitimate Roles of the Judiciary in the Global Order. PluriCourts is a Centre of Excellence at the Department of Public and International Law, The Faculty of Law, the University of Oslo.