International law and transitional governance : critical perspectives

This volume examines the role of international law in shaping and regulating transitional contexts, including the institutions, policies, and procedures that have been developed to steer constitutional regime changes in countries affected by catalytic events. The book offers a new perspective on the phenomenon of conflict-related transitions, whereby societies are re-constitutionalized through a set of interim governance arrangements subject to variable degrees of internationalization. Specifically, this volume interrogates the relevance, contribution, and perils of international law for this increasingly widespread phenomenon of inserting an auxiliary phase between two ages of constitutional government. It develops a nuanced understanding of the various international legal discourses surrounding conflict- and political crisis-related transitional governance by studying the contextual factors that influence the transitional arrangements themselves, with a specific focus on international aspects, including norms, actors, and related forms of expertise. In doing so, the book builds a bridge between comparative constitutional law and international legal scholarship in the practical and highly dynamic terrain of transitional governance. This book will be of much interest to practitioners and students of international law, diplomacy, mediation, security studies, and international relations.-- 1. Introduction -- 2. The Features of Transitional Governance -- 3. Contextualizing Conflict-Related Transitional Governance Since 1989 -- 4. Constituting Transitions: Predicting Unpredictability -- 5. No Strings Attached? Constraints on External Advice in Internationalized Constitution-Making -- 6. The gap between international legitimacy and legality of transitional regimes -- 7. Legitimizing transitional authorities through the international law of self-determination -- 8. The End(s) of Transition -- 9. The Ambitions and Traumas of Transitional Governance: Expelling Colonialism, Replicating Colonialism -- 10. The Future(s) of Transitional Governance and International La