Reading requirement:
Buchanan and Moore, The International Law Tradition (Chapters 14 & 15)
Buchanan and Moore, Chapter 16
Diener and Hagen, Point Roberts, Washington: Boundary Problems of an American Enclave (Chapter 11)
David Thelan, “Rethinking History and the Nation-State: Mexico and the United States,” Journal of American History (1999), Vol. 86, No. 2, pp. 439-452.
Fazila Bhimji, “Contesting/Negotiating Power and Domination on the US-Mexico Border,” Cultural Dynamics (June 2009), Vol. 29, Issue 2, pp. 107-132.
Pablo Vila, “Constructing Social Identities in Transnational Contexts: The Case of the US-Mexico Border,” International Social Science Journal (March 1999), Vol. 51, Issue 159, pp. 75-87.
question:
What are the three images of international law that Andrew Hurrell outlines? What are the primary features of each image?
Discuss Hurrell’s assertion that in the solidarist-statist image, national self-determination both reinforces and challenges statism.
What is your view of the circumstances of the current international legal order? Can you find examples in the world that would conform to the three images that Hurrell identifies?
How does Kingsbury’s “internationalized public law approach” demonstrate the value of viewing the development of international law from the perspective of legal practice?
What commonalities and contrasts do you find in Thelen, Vila, and Bhimji’s analysis of the US-Mexico border. What do you find interesting?
How do you see your own self-identity? How important is your national identity in your self-definition?
What did you find useful in Vila’s characterization of the different systems of identity classifications in Mexico and the United States?
Sample Solution
