EXCEPTIONALISM AS A COLONIAL TOOL IN MODERN INTERNATIONAL LAW
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In this paper I argue that states of emergency are a residue of the colonial idea involved in the making of international law, which is also a product of modern law; the colonial dynamics are not carried on anymore just in a transnational way. That is, they are not only a matter of imposition of European or North American ideas to the rest of the globe. Colonial dynamics are also a way by which domestic policies are carried on. Thus exceptionalism is a way to deal with the ‘other’ either in a transnational or national context. To show this, the article will be divided in to three main parts. The first one attempts to precise how the term modern law will be understood in this paper. The second part will address the problem of international law as a modern project and thus as a colonial one. In the third section a connection between modern international law and the presence of exceptionalism will be sketched, using a concrete example of Colombia’s last declaration of a state of exception. The last part will offer the main conclusions of this text.
colonialism, exceptionalism, international law, states of emergencycolonialismo, derecho internacional, estados de emergencia, excepcionalismo