It is our great pleasure to welcome the first issue of The London Review of International Law; a journal what promises to become one of the most exciting publications in international law – and given the journal’s self-proclaimed emphasis of critical, innovative and cutting-edge scholarship, we are convinced that this publications holds great relevance also for the readers of Allegra! Congratulations & thanks, editors Matt Craven, Catriona Drew, Stephen Humphreys, Andrew Lang and Susan Marks! Click here for the introduction of the first issue discussing – appropriate also for Allegra – the various notions of ‘beginnings’
The London Review of International Law is a peer-reviewed journal for critical, innovative and cutting-edge scholarship on international law. The journal’s essential mission is to publish high-quality research. At the same time, it is a specific aim of the London Review to support and foster the emergent body of work being undertaken in the areas of international legal theory, international legal history and international socio-legal studies. This work is reshaping the contours of international legal scholarship with profound implications for received enquiries and ideas, and the London Review gives it pride of place.
The London Review encourages transdisciplinary enquiry. Disciplinary boundaries are there to be transgressed, or at any rate problematised, and the editors are keen to publish research that expands the range of concepts, insights and manoeuvres deployed to analyse international law. Equally, however, the editors aspire to publish work that explores and excavates the untold stories and lost traditions of international law itself. The disciplinary affiliation of authors is not important.
Insisting on the notion that international legal scholarship can and should read well, the London Reviewprioritises excellence in writing. While the careful crafting of texts is all too often subordinated to the dictates of technical proficiency, the ascent of English as a global language has generated an array of registers and modes of expression. The London Review welcomes that diversity, and encourages an experimental attitude to the communication and development of international legal ideas.
The London Review is divided into three sections. The first section publishes scholarly articles. The second section is devoted to review essays. These may be critical explorations of one or more new publications or of older texts reconsidered in the light of new publications, but may also be structured, for example, around particular scholars, concepts or events. The London Review does not publish short-length book reviews. The third section supplements this writing with material designed to broaden and enrich the international legal conversation in a different way. Varying from issue to issue, this may include annotated reprints of classic texts, translations of foreign language scholarship, and reports of archival sources, along with photography, poetry and other non-traditional forms of engagement with international legal themes.
