, LCP4801 – Assignment 02, Semester 2, 2025
Due Date: September 2025
Question 1
1.1 What does the acronym TWAIL stand for? (4)
TWAIL stands for Third World Approaches to International Law. It is not a single doctrine
but a broad movement of critical scholarship that challenges the Eurocentric foundations
of international law and emphasises the perspectives of the Global South.1
1.2 What informed the development of the TWAIL movement? (5)
The TWAIL movement was informed by the historical trajectory of colonialism and
imperialism in shaping international law. International law, in its formative stages,
legitimised the conquest and subjugation of non-European peoples by embedding doctrines
such as the “standard of civilisation” and unequal treaties.2During the post-World War II
decolonisation era, newly independent States confronted international legal structures that
continued to reflect Western dominance in political, economic, and institutional spheres,
including the United Nations and the Bretton Woods system.3The continuities of structural
inequality under globalisation, manifested in trade, development, and debt regimes,
further motivated TWAIL scholars to highlight how international law sustains dependency
rather than emancipation.4
1.3 What are the objectives of TWAIL? (6)
TWAIL’s objectives are both critical and constructive. On the one hand, it seeks to
critique the historical complicity of international law in colonial domination, racial
1
Anghie, A. (2005). Imperialism, Sovereignty and the Making of International Law. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
2
Mutua, M. (2000). “What is TWAIL?” American Society of International Law Proceedings, 94: 31–40.
3
Chimni, B.S. (2006). “Third World Approaches to International Law: A Manifesto.” International
Community Law Review, 8(1): 3–27.
4
Gathii, J.T. (2011). “TWAIL: A Brief History of its Origins, its Decentralized Network, and a Tentative
Bibliography.” Trade, Law and Development, 3(1): 26–64.
Due Date: September 2025
Question 1
1.1 What does the acronym TWAIL stand for? (4)
TWAIL stands for Third World Approaches to International Law. It is not a single doctrine
but a broad movement of critical scholarship that challenges the Eurocentric foundations
of international law and emphasises the perspectives of the Global South.1
1.2 What informed the development of the TWAIL movement? (5)
The TWAIL movement was informed by the historical trajectory of colonialism and
imperialism in shaping international law. International law, in its formative stages,
legitimised the conquest and subjugation of non-European peoples by embedding doctrines
such as the “standard of civilisation” and unequal treaties.2During the post-World War II
decolonisation era, newly independent States confronted international legal structures that
continued to reflect Western dominance in political, economic, and institutional spheres,
including the United Nations and the Bretton Woods system.3The continuities of structural
inequality under globalisation, manifested in trade, development, and debt regimes,
further motivated TWAIL scholars to highlight how international law sustains dependency
rather than emancipation.4
1.3 What are the objectives of TWAIL? (6)
TWAIL’s objectives are both critical and constructive. On the one hand, it seeks to
critique the historical complicity of international law in colonial domination, racial
1
Anghie, A. (2005). Imperialism, Sovereignty and the Making of International Law. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
2
Mutua, M. (2000). “What is TWAIL?” American Society of International Law Proceedings, 94: 31–40.
3
Chimni, B.S. (2006). “Third World Approaches to International Law: A Manifesto.” International
Community Law Review, 8(1): 3–27.
4
Gathii, J.T. (2011). “TWAIL: A Brief History of its Origins, its Decentralized Network, and a Tentative
Bibliography.” Trade, Law and Development, 3(1): 26–64.
