After TWAIL’s Success, What Next? Afterword to the Foreword by Antony Anghie

Abstract

In the span of two decades, Third World approaches to international law (TWAIL) experienced a meteoric rise, becoming not only one of the most interesting but also one of the dominant approaches to international law. This Afterword to the Foreword by Antony Anghie reflects upon the rise of TWAIL and its significance to the discipline of international law. I argue that having become part of the disciplinary mainstream, TWAIL ‘civilizes’ international law, making it more difficult for international lawyers to ignore or dismiss the colonial origins and legacies of their field. As TWAIL leaves a mark on international law, new spaces for international legal action by the peoples of the global South might have been opened. Does greater action weaken TWAIL’s central insights about colonial origins and legacies? Maybe, and if so, a mainstream TWAIL opens also disciplinary space for other critical approaches that shine light on Third World experiences of international law that point not just to oppression but also to North/South engagement and, potentially, Southern resistance.