About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

32 N.Y.U. J. Int'l L. & Pol. 335 (1999-2000)
When Renewal Repeats: Thinking against the Box

handle is hein.journals/nyuilp32 and id is 345 raw text is: WHEN RENEWAL REPEATS: THINKING AGAINST THE BOX DAVID KENNEDY* I. INTRODUCrION I should start by thanking the board of editors for inviting me to contribute an essay to the journal's millennium issue. The editors seek new thinking and ask what international legal issues will consume your legal career and shape the pa- rameters of international law in the new millennium? At forty-five it is flattering to be solicited as a young voice with new views, although in developing my reply I have wondered if the editors share my ambivalence about calling for new voices and fresh perspectives. There is something energetic, optimistic, and open-minded in their call that really is excit- ing, and I am pleased to have been asked to participate. At the same time, it is hard to escape what seems an iron law of disci- plinary renewal, routinizing this sort of energy, absorbing its critical potential into a familiar disciplinary common sense. The discipline of international law today is cheek by jowl with people calling for new thinking and renewal, even as they offer up the most shopworn ideas and initiatives. The occasion in- vites thought about the role of novelty and innovation in the field-what is it, how does it happen, how should it be valued? As a teacher, I know I often have mixed motives in calling for new thinking. There is a good faith pedagogic intent to help students trust their own creative and critical impulse, to be confident enough to speak differently. There is my own mixed attitude toward the field-a conviction that we need new thinking to survive and a simultaneous hope that innova- tion will sweep the field away. A call for innovation can have a disciplining aspect, the sadistic pleasure of challenging stu- dents to innovate, calling the bluff in their resistance to estab- lished wisdom. I suppose there is also an element of voyeur- * Henry Shattuck Professor of Law, Harvard Law School. I would like to thank Nathaniel Berman, David Chamy, Dan Danielsen, Karen Engle,Ja- net Halley, Duncan Kennedy, Martti Koskenniemi, Alejandro Lorite, Hani Sayed, and the editorial board of this journal for conversations about this essay. 335 Imaged with the Permission of N.Y.U. Journal of International Law and Politics

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most