Editorial: International law and de-globalization

Abstract

History does not have a predetermined end in the Hegelian sense, but this idea has inspired various theories, such as Marxist and economic development theories. Something similar has happened with economic globalization, which from around 1990 to 2010 was usually presented as an inevitable progress towards deeper forms of international (legal, economic, social, cultural, etc.) integration and towards the growing irrelevance of states. Since around the time of the 2008 financial crisis, competences have often been reallocated in favor of states and to the detriment of international law to achieve certain ends: regulating the economy, promoting environmental sustainability, strengthening democracy and human rights, promoting peace, protecting health (e.g. in the face of the COVID-19 epidemic), and so on. In this, left-wing and right-wing nationalism and populism coincide out of a critique of so-called "globalism", they call to revitalize state sovereignty in order to face the most diverse challenges and problems. In short, globalization is neither inevitable nor unidirectional. The articles in this special issue explore legal phenomena that, without questioning the paradigm of globalization in toto, seek to reduce or rethink the power of international law and cooperation. All these phenomena, sometimes contradictory, are called "de-globalization" and point towards a rethinking of multilateralism and international cooperation. This is the subject we have explored in this special issue, based on case studies from different areas of law and from the contributors' different points of view.