Call for Student Papers: Non-State Actors and International Law Conference at Yale

The Yale Journal of International Law and the Yale Forum for International Law in cooperation with the Junior International Law Scholars Association presents...

Call for Papers
NON-STATE ACTORS AND INTERNATIONAL LAW
A Young Scholars Conference
February 25-26, 2011
New Haven, CT

I. Introduction
The Yale Journal of International Law (YJIL) is delighted to announce that its seventh Young Scholars Conference will be held February 25-26, 2011, on the topic of ―Non-State Actors and International Law.  This year’s Conference will be held in conjunction with the annual workshop of the Junior International Law Scholars Association (JILSA). The Conference is designed to bring together young faculty, practitioners, and law students to explore the increasing relevance of non-state actors in the international system and the international law that governs their actions. The conference will take place at Yale Law School in New Haven, Connecticut.

II. Background
The twentieth century is associated with the rise of the nation-state and the organization of the state system, as it evolved from the Peace of Westphalia. The formal organization of world society accorded primary relevance to the state as political actor. International law, too, developed as a set of rules and practices governing the relations among states. In the last few decades, however, nation-states and the state system have been increasingly forced to share the global stage with a variety of non-state actors—global corporations, financial institutions, civil society actors, private military companies, and terrorist organizations, among others. Non-state actors are challenging the assumptions and limits of the existing international legal framework. At the Conference, we hope to explore this tension and examine proposals for reform of the legal framework to accommodate this new reality.

III. Student Panel
The conference will feature one student panel on the theme of ―International Law in the Wake of the Iraq War and Guantanamo Bay.  Student panelists will be expected to produce a paper between 12,500 – 17,500 words (including footnotes) for presentation at the Conference. YJIL will consider these papers for subsequent publication in the print journal and its online companion, YJIL Online.

Student recipients of this Call for Papers are invited to submit their manuscript, along with a brief CV, to be considered for inclusion on the student panel. Individuals who are selected for participation will be offered travel expenses and accommodations for the duration of the Conference. Material should be submitted by e-mail to Matias Sueldo (matias.sueldo@yale.edu), no later than Monday, January 21st. Applicants will receive notification of YJIL’s decision by the end of January.

We look forward to receiving your proposals.

Alex Iftimie, Co-Editor-in-Chief, Yale Journal of International Law William Perdue, Co-Editor-in-Chief, Yale Journal of International Law Catherine Rivkin, Co-Chair, Yale Forum for International Law
Agniezska Rafskala, Co-Chair, Yale Forum for International Law
Matias Sueldo, Conference Director, Yale Journal of International Law