Abstract

For decades socialist law and justice were both routinely dismissed as nothing but an ideological fig leaf obscuring brute communist power. Such a polemic view has changed dramatically in recent years, as historians and legal scholars have revisited the legacy of socialist law from fresh perspectives, with surprising results. This pioneering volume revisits the synergies between international law and socialism, and it reveals how socialist legal experts advanced profound critiques and contributions to the development of international legal norms, practices, and laws governing interstate conduct. It also incites to further research on the legacies of socialist interventions and their relevance for a possible alternative to the current crisis of liberal international law, ranging from peace to universal healthcare.