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A reflection on the critical approach of postmodernism to international ‎law: transition from sclerosis to fluidity of concepts

Articles in Press

Document Type : Article

Authors

1 Prof,. Departmenetof Law, School of International Relations, Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. ‎Tehran, Iran‎

2 Master of Diplomacy and International Organizations, Tehran, Iran‎

Abstract

During the last three decades of the 20th century, the field of social sciences has witnessed significant changes. Among these developments is the emergence of a critical thought called postmodernism. The critical stream of postmodernism in international law seeks to find the differences and conflicts in the process of international legal discourses, looking at the values of the losers in this valley. From this point of view, international law is in a kind of crisis in terms of the validity of legal and functional rules. Postmodernist criticisms of international law in this research are done in three ways: criticizing the rationalist structure of liberal thought, criticizing the epistemology of modernism, and criticizing legal positivism through the deconstruction of postmodernism. The authors of this research believe that the emergence of fluidity in international law is the result of a social process from the point of view of postmodernist criticism. This concept is discussed through examining the discussed components of postmodernism including pluralism, relativism, uncertainty and anti-foundationalism. As a result, through the lens of postmodernism, the rejection of grand narratives puts an incoherent future in front of international law and its thinkers, which will be characterized by fluidity in the foundations of international law. The main issue of examining these hypotheses is to explain the impact of postmodern themes and the concepts resulting from this impact in international law, which is considered through the discourse method of encountering these concepts.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

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Public Law Studies Quarterly

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 22 December 2025
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  • Receive Date: 05 March 2023
  • Revise Date: 12 May 2023
  • Accept Date: 26 June 2023
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