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A Marxist Analysis of International Criminal Law and Its Potential as a Counter-Hegemonic Project

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International Criminal Law—A Counter-Hegemonic Project?

Part of the book series: International Criminal Justice Series ((ICJS,volume 31))

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Abstract

This chapter employs Marx and Engels’ theoretical and methodological contributions on the evolution of legal frameworks throughout modern history to allow for a better contextualization and constructive critique of international criminal law and the debate over its nature as a potential (counter-)hegemonic project. A line is drawn between the historical context dominated by bourgeois revolutions at the end of the 18th century and the current status of international criminal law. To do so, the tension between formal equality and material inequality is unpacked over three layers: the foundations, the drafting and the enforcement of the law. The chapter also looks at possible paths to overcome the triple material inequality through a historical materialistic conception that would make the counter-hegemonic project a more plausible goal.

This chapter is based on two of my prior works: Vegh Weis 2017/2018, and Vegh Weis 2020, pp 63–83

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Cerroni 1965.

  2. 2.

    Cudd 2005.

  3. 3.

    Zambrana Moral 2005.

  4. 4.

    Engels 1878, p. 2.

  5. 5.

    Marx 1871/1977, p. 66.

  6. 6.

    Davis et al. 2015; Von Bogdandy et al. 2016; Duve 2017.

  7. 7.

    See Chap. 1 by Jeßberger et al. in this volume.

  8. 8.

    Marx and Engels 1845; Marx 1993.

  9. 9.

    Marx and Engels 1845.

  10. 10.

    Ibid.

  11. 11.

    Marx 1875/2001, p. 31.

  12. 12.

    Pashukanis 1924, p. 149.

  13. 13.

    See Chap. 3 by Kotova in this volume.

  14. 14.

    Amin 2011; Harvey 2005; see Chap. 5 by Chakrabarty and Kaur in this volume.

  15. 15.

    Piketty 2014.

  16. 16.

    Cerroni 1965.

  17. 17.

    Marx 1875/2001.

  18. 18.

    Marx and Engels 1845.

  19. 19.

    Ibid.

  20. 20.

    Campagne 2005.

  21. 21.

    Foucault 1975, p. 89.

  22. 22.

    Campagne 2005.

  23. 23.

    Marx 1842.

  24. 24.

    Marx 1850/2001, p. 64.

  25. 25.

    Chambliss 1975; Michalowski 1977; Poulantzas 2008.

  26. 26.

    Thompson 1975.

  27. 27.

    Krasner 1993, p. 235.

  28. 28.

    Slaughter 2011, p. 758.

  29. 29.

    Marx 1875/2001, p. 26.

  30. 30.

    Vegh Weis and Magnin 2021.

  31. 31.

    See Chap. 2 by Iyi in this volume.

  32. 32.

    Härter 2013.

  33. 33.

    Hoffman 2006.

  34. 34.

    Saul 2012.

  35. 35.

    Walker 2012.

  36. 36.

    Szasz 2002.

  37. 37.

    Davis 2012a, b.

  38. 38.

    Von Bogdandy and Dellavalle 2011, p. 740.

  39. 39.

    Ibid., p. 746.

  40. 40.

    Brunkhorst 2014.

  41. 41.

    Walker 2012, p. 144.

  42. 42.

    Ibid.

  43. 43.

    Jakobs and Cancio Meliá 2003.

  44. 44.

    Galli 2012.

  45. 45.

    Marx 1844.

  46. 46.

    Vegh Weis 2017/2018.

  47. 47.

    Marx 1845/1976, p. 408.

  48. 48.

    See Chap. 7 by Aksamitowska in this volume.

  49. 49.

    Galli 2012.

  50. 50.

    Vegh Weis 2019.

  51. 51.

    Young 2007.

  52. 52.

    Galli 2012, p. 156.

  53. 53.

    Pantazis and Pemberton 2009.

  54. 54.

    Buncombe 2016; Wonders 2007.

  55. 55.

    Shamas and Arastu 2014.

  56. 56.

    Horn 2018.

  57. 57.

    Vegh Weis 2019.

  58. 58.

    Davis et al. 2012a, b, p. 72.

  59. 59.

    Ibid., p. 75.

  60. 60.

    Ibid., p. 77.

  61. 61.

    Marx 1844.

  62. 62.

    Härter 2017.

  63. 63.

    Marx 1844.

  64. 64.

    Marx 1909.

  65. 65.

    McEwan 2001.

  66. 66.

    Peterson 2005.

  67. 67.

    See Becker 1966.

  68. 68.

    Taylor et al. 1973; Zaffaroni 1982 and Zaffaroni 1988.

  69. 69.

    Vegh Weis 2017/2018.

  70. 70.

    Cerroni 1974, p. 5.

  71. 71.

    Marx 1847.

  72. 72.

    Marx and Engels 1845.

  73. 73.

    Marx 1844.

  74. 74.

    Marx 1843; Hirst 1975.

  75. 75.

    Kohen 1972.

  76. 76.

    Engels 1884.

  77. 77.

    Marx 1875/2001.

  78. 78.

    Acharya and Buzan 2007.

  79. 79.

    Vegh Weis 2017/2018.

  80. 80.

    Hickel 2015, n/p.

  81. 81.

    Marx 1993, n/p.

  82. 82.

    Taylor and Walton 1975; Vegh Weis 2017/2018.

  83. 83.

    Ravazi 2016.

  84. 84.

    Stuart and Woodroffe 2016.

  85. 85.

    Esquivel 2016.

  86. 86.

    Chandler 2013.

  87. 87.

    Lasslett and MacManus 2018, 642.

  88. 88.

    See Chap. 13 by Mudukuti in this volume.

  89. 89.

    See Chap. 12 by Swigart on language disparities in this volume.

  90. 90.

    See Chap. 7 by Aksamitowska on Syria and Ukraine in this volume.

  91. 91.

    See Chap. 11 by García Atehortúa on gender justice in this volume.

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  1. Universität Konstanz Zukunftskolleg, Konstanz Universität, Konstanz, Germany

    Valeria Vegh Weis

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  1. Juristische Fakultät, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Florian Jeßberger

  2. Juristische Fakultät, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Leonie Steinl

  3. Juristische Fakultät, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Kalika Mehta

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Vegh Weis, V. (2023). A Marxist Analysis of International Criminal Law and Its Potential as a Counter-Hegemonic Project. In: Jeßberger, F., Steinl, L., Mehta, K. (eds) International Criminal Law—A Counter-Hegemonic Project?. International Criminal Justice Series, vol 31. T.M.C. Asser Press, The Hague. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6265-551-5_4

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