Near, far, wherever you are: reflections on studying and teaching international law

Abstract

ABSTRACT Under the thematic umbrella of A World of Struggle, this article reflects on the struggles we, the Chinese international law researchers, experience and live with. The professional struggles, of mine and of those that I have observed, might offer an easy entry point for discussing Chinese international lawyers and the China topic in a world of struggle. The article further invites my fellow international law teachers in China to imagine a mode of teaching (and engaging with) international law that breaks away from the purely instrumental understanding of law. The article suggests that, it would benefit our approach to international law by paying particular attention to at least concrete episodes of violence in the world around us and in our own assumptions and understandings of the world and ourselves, the material surrounds we inherited, as well as our ways of living and being.