The Making of the Oxford Handbook on International Law and the Americas (OHILA): Challenges of Confronting the Canon

Editors, and authors of the OHILA will discuss the challenges of confronting the traditional canon of international law in the region. An assumed universality of public law generally disregards the historical contentions, contributions or critiques from the American nations or peoples. Knowledge of the post-colonial Spanish, Portuguese and French language legal systems across the region is scarce, while the United States´ role is understood in isolation from the rest of the Americas. The few texts, journal articles, or book chapters that have a regional approach are quite limited in coverage and a historical background, context, or origin is generally lacking. The current conjuncture in international law scholarship offers an opportunity to revisit the region´s own intellectual traditions, borrow from other disciplinary theories and methodologies, and integrate new approaches to the writing about international law´s practice and history in the region.